Cleanliness is next to...

The protein powders at Sprouts? Well...maybe not quite, but, that's where I found it at least! First off - HAPPY New Year, folks! It's been a while! Sorry, I've been a bit busy trying to teach myself everything I NEVER wanted to know about the tech world - building a website is, well, I'll just leave it at "detailed". So yes, my time's been consumed by totally un-culinary related issues for a while, but never fear...I'm still here.

Now, for my cleanliness post...I'm pretty sure bacon grease and red blood cells run through my veins at almost a 50/50 percent ratio... I'm ok with that...however, I'm NOT ok with how tired and groggy I constantly feel because of it!!! Not one to EVER give up the food that I love, I decided to try one of my most hated words in the English language - "moderation" - isn't it gross?! I mean, it's all or nothing, right?! Well....that's what I thought, but it doesn't have to be that way! I can have my bacon, and eat it too, just in...gulp...."moderation". Here's where "juicing" walks in...

I had heard several of my friends talk about juicing this, and juicing that, and how they feel sooo much better, and can focus more, and all these great things as a result of their decision to start juicing more - so I decided, what the heck, let's give it a whirl.  Now, for those who don't know, juicing is pretty self-explanatory - it's the process of using whole fruits and vegetables, herbs, greens, etc., and juicing them in a juicer to provide you with a nutritious, vitamin enriched drink that replaces a meal or two a day. This should be done with caution, of course. If you have any special dietary needs/restrictions, make sure you consult your physician to make sure it's a good choice for you.  Also, this is something you might want to ease yourself into, which is what I'm currently doing.  I also realized that since I work during the day, that I would need some sort of protein source to keep me going through the day so I could function at work - that's when I decided I would get a powdered protein supplement to add to my juice - I headed to my local Sprouts to check out what they had. Here, I met a nutritionist who suggested I try a cleanse first, because it would get rid of the toxins that my body's gotten "used to" over the years from eating poorly.  She said once my body was rid of most of those toxins, it would be less dependable on those chemicals, fats, sugars, etc., and juicing wouldn't be as difficult. She sounded pretty logical, though I rarely listen to suggestions from others without doing my own research, it sounded like a reasonable explanation, and I went with it.

I purchased a 2-week cleanse program, which consists of 4 pills that you take with each meal.  The pills are rather large, but don't have an overly "gross" flavor that most vitamins, etc. can tend to have.  These are naturopathic, kosher, and vegetarian pills - they're also gluten free, should any of that be of concern to you. I started the program not expecting much - most things you purchase do little to nothing close to what they promise - this wasn't the case here. I purchased Michael's Ultimate Detox and Cleanse, and let me tell you, coming from someone who wakes up having Coke for breakfast, and goes to bed practically with a can in her hand, I have had only one HALF a can of soda during this entire process.  I haven't craved or "needed" soda the entire time I've been doing the cleanse, and I've really been feeling the difference.  The cleanse detoxes your blood, colon, liver, and even fat! Yes...even your fat cells carry more than just "fat", they also carry toxins! It's said to help metabolize fat as well, and I think this carries some truth because even though this isn't a weight loss pill, I've managed to lose on average about 5 pounds during this process - true, most of that may be attributed to the fact that I'm trying to eat a little better and trying to cut out sodas, but I'm almost certain that none of that would have been possible without this cleanse. 

I'm on my last 2 days of this cleanse, and will hopefully start juicing when I'm done. The theory is to try and juice for 2 meals out of the day, and will allow myself to eat whatever I want for dinner. We'll see how this goes - I have a feeling the worst part of it is going to be cleaning my juicer every single day - ughhh! Anyhow - I'll keep you all posted on how this works out! Ta-ta! =)