Juice Cleanse

Want to tear up three times, be tired and fairly dizzy, and lose 8 pounds? Try a juice cleanse!

I met with Seetha after getting back from Chicago. I told her I needed to push a reset button. I confessed all of my horrible food sins I'd engaged in over the last two weeks (they ended up getting really bad) and that I had gained 11 pounds throughout the process. How did the wonderful Seetha handle the news? With kindness and humor, plus strict orders to stop eating food stat!

That's right. No more food for the rest of the day (Monday), plus all day Tuesday. Starting Wednesday morning (today) I was allowed to eat again - reverting back to the "no starch" rule. I was SO fine to go back to eliminating starch from my diet... in fact, I kind of like eating that way. But not eating food for over a day? Yikes. I was nervous.

Here's what I could have...

Water. Duh.

Juice. Fresh Juice. Straight from a juicer. No added anythings. Just 100% juice.

Thankfully our grocery store sells fresh juice

Tea with honey, only twice a day, on Tuesday only. Can I tell you how delicious this was? I've actually never tried putting honey in my tea before.

And...

the kicker...

3 Tablespoons of apple cider vinegar Monday night, Tuesday morning, and Tuesday night.

Bottle of Evil

See how the top of the bottle is empty? Yeah... that's because I drank it. If you have never taken a (giant) shot of apple cider vinegar before, here are some tips and what you can expect...

DO NOT BREATHE BEFORE YOU DRINK IT. I mean... it's vinegar. It smells awful. I also found it helpful to have Andy pour the shot for me so I could spend as little time with it as possible. And while he prepared it, I ran laps back and forth between our living room and dining room, giving myself an out-loud pep-talk. "Come on Larson. You've got this!" (I am dead serious... there was also some "arm pumping" involved to get myself psyched up). When it's ready, take it as fast as you can. Don't wait, because if you do, you will feel your throat start to close up on you (especially if you've already taken one and know what's about to follow). Ok, so you down it. It's a little sharp, but not completely the end of the world. But then seconds later, it's in your nose. It's coated everything. And it's disgusting. Your eyes will water. You will start burping apple cider burps. Shivers and shudders will go through your body. And no matter what you do, you will not be able to get rid of the taste. You will brush your teeth. You will use mouthwash. You will chew 4 pieces of gum (seriously). You will drink water. And then you will give up and learn to live with it. Oh and just be warned, if you spill a little in the kitchen and later walk back in and get a whiff of it, you will want to vomit. 

If I ever get the urge to eat an bakery's worth of donuts again, I will unscrew the cap of a bottle of apple cider vinegar and take a big whiff. I'm sure that will do the trick.

So! 42.5 hours later, I was allowed to eat food again this morning. 

Glorious Breakfast

Even though I'm not supposed to be weighing myself right now, I did hop on the scale this morning, just because I was so curious to see how effective (or not) my day+ of detox really was. I lost 8 pounds. Wow! That's a good lesson for me - now when the scale jumps up I can know it's probably not because I just got fat overnight. Instead it's just bloating, inflammation, and a lot of poop (sorry). 

It was a good challenge and interesting experience, but Lord knows I don't want to do that again anytime soon! 

Now I'm off to get my MRI. Good luck knee!