New Beginnings: CLEAN Program Day 1

The University of Dreams Girls' Night went fairly well. Only 3 of my girl friends ended up coming with me, which proved to be pretty helpful since only about 8 Dreamers showed up. We stayed with them until midnight, had great conversation, and didn't even need to bust out the wine!


This morning I started the 21 day cleanse from the Clean program (www.cleanprogram.com). It's a detox to help eliminate built up toxins and let the digestive system rest for a bit. I've been "pre-cleansing" for about 4 days now, and today starts the real thing.



Here is a snap shot of what they call "the elimination diet". A list of foods you can and can't eat. Since I've been studying veganism, raw, and clean eating for a while now, this list makes sense to me, and I already try to eat this way normally. The only problem is, I can't cheat. At all. Blah. So, no pizza on the weekends, no wine or cocktails, and no bread. For 21 days. Honestly, I'm okay with it. This is the most prepared I've ever been for a cleanse, and it's coming at a good time in my life. I have the money and time to keep up with it, and my body needs it. My skin is bad, I'm not sleeping well, my eczema is flaring up like crazy...it's time.

The day is as follows: A shake in the morning consisting of these ingredients:

The powdered greens are something I added in myself because it's easier to drink them than eat them, especially that many in a day. You'd need about 6 sturdy greens salads to make up for what's in that little packet, and even with the blessing of Whole Foods and in LA there's a farmer's market everyday, I still wouldn't be able to readily find some of the super greens that are in the packet (spirulina, sorel, etc.) The Move powder is a soluble fiber that helps with "elimination" (a nicer way to say "pooping") and the Nourish is a protein powder fortified with nutrients and a few minerals; I have a canister of vanilla flavored and one of chocolate flavored. I've been having smoothies or juices in the morning for a while now anyway because breakfast has never been a favorite of mine, but I've learned from the way my body reacts that I need breakfast or I'm cranky, or binge around noon, so this shouldn't be too hard of a change for me. Thanks to Gina, we have a Vitamix, so I'm lucky to have such a bad ass tool to make my shakes with. My shake this morning was a scoop of Move, scoop of chocolate Nourish, packet of greens, small handful of organic no sweetener added coconut flakes, and about 6oz. unsweetened almond milk. Pretty good actually!


Here are the supplements I must take each day. The bottles on the left are the normal things I take anyway (whole food, gluten/dairy free women's multi, omega 3-6-9, and Holy Basil, only in the morning), and the rest are 3 times a day. There is also a refrigerated probiotic I have to take every morning on an empty stomach.

Lunch is a meal from the elimination diet, and more supplements. There is no portion control, just eat until you're about 80% full. You should be drinking plenty of water (duh).

Dinner is another shake, same ingredients as the morning, although I'll probably leave out the green packet, plus the supplements. THIS is going to be hard for me. I've made a very bad habit of making dinner the biggest meal of my day, which is probably why I don't see any change in my body or sleep regimen even though I'm working out 4-5 times a week. My friends work 9-5(ish) jobs, and the only time I can see them is in the evening, and what do normal Americans do in the evening? Eat dinner after work. Birthday parties, and weekend get togethers are going to be hard as well since I can't drink or eat. I'm planning on downing a smoothie and my supplements before going to a party so that I'm full and won't want to eat or drink.

I'm sure I'm going to get lots of shit for this, especially when this cleanse has to bleed into social settings. "Why? You're not fat!" "You don't need to lose weight!" etc.
1) Thank you, but yes I do. I'm not happy with the way my body looks, especially in a bathing suit, so I'm going to trim down a bit.
2) My insides need some serious cleaning. If you know me well, you know that I've had a lot of random and a bit scary health problems the last 7 years or so, and I need to nip them in the bud.
3) I've been going through a ton of stress lately, and this is something that I can control and be proud of. Working on my health, and eventually doing cleanses is something I've been looking forward to for a long time, but never had the funds to do. My horoscope in August says to not start anything new, but work on things you've been putting off for a while, or started and never finished. Well, this is something I've been building up to do for a while now.

As you know, I love food very much, all kinds, so this is going to be both the most difficult thing ever, and the best thing ever. Cooking is my passion, and I constantly think of food and meals. Food Network is my drug of choice and Ryan has the Cooking Channel so I've been indulging in that while I'm living at his house, which then leads to cravings, which then leads to me randomly making broiled steaks and gratins at 9pm at night like a weirdo. I need to fill my headspace with something else. I want to read more, walk around my neighborhood more, find new music.

So, if you'd please encourage me and pray for me during this process. I'm excited for the rejuvenation it will garner. It will be tough, but I've had tougher, right? :) I will keep you updated each day. If you have any questions, or want to know more, please ask. I love raw, organic living and if you want to get started, it's a lifestyle I wholeheartedly recommend. One of my many goals in life is to become mostly raw, and continuously learn about my body and the way nature intended it to be.