Recap on The Cleanse, Finally It's Over!

Lunch

For lunch I made the last soup of my cleanse! I went with the "Metro Mex Avocado Soup".

I ate half of it for lunch and saved the other half for dinner on the go.

Dinner

I had my soup out in the sun during the opera break. I watched a video on how to make nut butter in preparation for my return to food! More details on that in just a sec!
Magical Friday= out of opera early! We got out when the sun was still out can you imagine that!? It was just setting as I was riding back home so I busted out my camera while still on my bike and decided to snap a shot.
I whizzed by Freebirds with my camera out. I'm sure I looked pretty crazy! I decided it's time I give a little mini-tour of my town.
Here is my beloved Co-op! This is where I do basically all my shopping.
Look at me go!
This is the view down the intersection where my apartment is. Nothing special? Well if you look closely at the horizon, that's the ocean!!
I realized that I haven't made an appearance on my blog in a while and I wanted to show that I am cleansed! Do I look cleansed? haha I wasn't completely satisfied with this picture and I would've stayed outside and attempted to take more with my auto timer but then some weirdo boys pulled up in a car right outside so I retreated.
I came inside and tried again using a shelf and was successful until something awful happened...this is the last picture I took with my camera...before it fell to it's death! My camera committed suicide off the shelf and now I am camera-less and distraught!!
I am definitely going to try and get a new camera tomorrow but I will miss my old one. I had the baby for four years and it was a gift from my best friend Billy. Any suggestions on what kind of camera I should go for?

Dessert

I don't have a picture :( but I had my last coconut shake after I got home. It was great!

Feelings on The Cleanse

Overall, I am very glad that I decided to do this cleanse and that I actually stuck with it. I didn't cheat and I followed the rules! (except the wheatgrass shot..) It's really satisfying to see something through till the end and complete a goal.

The Cons: I was HUNGRY! This cleanse was no where near a substantial amount of calories to keep me feel throughout the day and dealing with the hunger pains was not easy. I had to really stretch out my 'meals' so that psychologically I wouldn't lose it. Also, there was a lot of preparation involved in each recipe and I had to account for that time each day.

The Pros: I did this cleanse because I was feeling totally out of control of my portions. I was just eating way too much! Going on this cleanse really put things into perspective for me in that I don't need so much to be full! It also exposed many moments when my hunger was completely related to appetite as opposed to actual physical hunger. Sometimes I just want to eat to eat and I am much more aware of those moments now. Not to mention I lost a few pounds! I also noticed that since doing the cleanse, the head aches I was having for days in a row are gone, and in the morning I have energy to get up and go. I hope that my system appreciated the discipline it took to pull through and is now a blank slate of cleanliness!

Coming Off The Cleanse

After doing a fairly intense cleanse as the one I did, it is recommended to start slowly and stick with raw fruits and veggies and some cooked veggies. After a few days you can decide if you want to start eating cooked protein again. In preparation for my return to food, Kelsey and I have decided to go raw for a week!! We have spent the last hour (at least) planning out each meal for the coming week. I am just excited to eat food for breakfast tomorrow! We have made sure to chose recipes that have common ingredients and scheduled prep time when we have the time to spare. We are so busy during the week that going raw is a pretty ambitious ordeal. (As if a cleanse wasn't!) It's also tough when you're dealing with produce that can get pricey and go bad if it goes unused. Having Kels for a raw partner is going to make this a breeze!

Get ready for some ridiculously tasty raw food coming your way!

I am putting myself to bed! The plan for tomorrow is an early departure for the Farmer's Market Downtown and I am so stoked!

See you in the AM!