Yum for once!

I want to write a post before my friend gets here!

Day 6:

I actually really enjoyed the taste of today's smoothie! I might have forgotten to put in protein this morning, because by lunch I was wondering about it and couldn't remember. The only difference is that I had to start my dinner smoothie earlier, but I will be eating a meal tonight once my friend arrives. I'm pretty excited about that. I haven't seen her in over a year and she was my best friend at college, so it's pretty cool that she is coming for a couple of days. 

I am still bummed I won't be finishing the cleanse, but I will still continue with the smoothies and am thankful that I've lost 10 of the 12 lbs I wanted to lose. It gets me back to a fresh start and that's what I needed. I will still continue blogging the rest of the days at least to comment on the smoothies and how I am finding replacing a meal with a smoothies and then eating regular food again. I'll just try to make better decision from now on. 

Love what the pineapple did to the colour AND it tastes great

I'm halfway there oooooooo living on some smoothays! but plans change

Today completes day five.....
This post was about to go in a completely different direction, but I just got some plans finalized, so it changes things. But before that:

Day 5:
It was actually an alright day. The smoothie was pretty good and today I could have went all days without snacks. I did actually, but more for a craving I did have a spoonful of peanut butter. It was pretty cool actually to know that you can actually go through a day with those smoothies. Okay now, since it's day five I needed to pick up a few more things for the remaining days, but I am completely confused about the shopping lists unless I am doing something completely wrong. I have so much leftover from the first five days shopping list. I wouldn't  have bought as many greens had I known. Kind of annoyed about that since salad ain't cheap these days. Oh well, it's a learning experience I guess. All in all an alright day.

Now... A friend of mine I thought was coming for Thanksgiving, cause she is going to school a little closer to me than where she lives with her family and she now has transportation. I sort of figured she might be coming for the week or something so I planned on finishing my cleanse even if she came this weekend if we had the rest of the week. However, it seems she will be coming tomorrow, so I'm at a little fork in the road and not staying the whole week. I was kind of excited to complete this cleanse as is, especially since I was doing it all the way and not even modified. I just don't know what to do. I just would feel weird being like "Here's your food, excuse me while I drink me smoothie and by the way let's reminisce about old times in which eating together was a part of..."

My options:

1. Finish the cleanse anyway and be unhappy but healthier
2. Finish with a modified cleanse but keeping to the book with healthier options
3. Smoothie for breakfast and lunch (or healthy salad with the greens for lunch) and then eat whatever the mood calls for with my friend.

There is no option where I don't continue with the smoothies because 1. It is healthier to get those nutrients anyway, 2. I bought the damn stuff and I'm damn well gonna use it, and 3. I do want to finish doing this for 10 days in some form. Plus I can still keep dong smoothies and maybe do a couple days of week where I do smoothies all day and work on switching more completely to healthier meals. I feel like this cleanse has been me quitting food I like to eat cold turkey and maybe I am more of someone that needs to be weaned off? I really don't know. I'm just talking out of head here.

I really don't want to quit. It's weird timing. If she was staying longer then I'd totally finish, but she will probably stay only until Tuesday at the latest which would be my last day of the cleanse and I know me; I would be unhappy during it. I would feel accomplished about finishing and I know probably healthier, but I think I would regret not taking full advantage of our visit which are very few and far between (I haven't seen her in over a year).

So far I am leaning towards option 2 or 3.

I basically just threw up all over this post which probably sucks for whoever is reading it, but hey! it's my blog. : P

No photo. No reason for one.

Battle of the Seeds

Day 4:

Blech! From the first sip of the kale based concoction, I knew it was going to be a hard cleanse day. As it turns out, I must not like kale. I've never had it before and am wondering if a smoothie was the best way to try it for the first time. As the day went on I must have gotten used to it, but that first sip of the day was shocking.

Thankfully I wasn't battling hunger as I was yesterday. The cravings are just as strong though. I guess I didn't help things by taking the opportunity to go through and organize my recipes. I was just going to look through it to find the Pecan Pie recipe I made before so I could make it for Thanksgiving, but there were so many loose papers in there I decided to go through them. There are a lot of good recipes in there I wanna try out!!! Maybe start a cooking/baking blog?

Okay... now the seeds from the fruits today are ridiculous. Normally I try to do some chewing like the book suggests to get the digestion going, but no way I was going to keep that up with those stupid seeds in there. Talk about annoying. Plus my chewing I was tasting it more and I was not about this smoothie today. This definitely does not go on the make again list. The previous three smoothies have been fine, but I haven't really tasted one yet that I really like enough to be like, "oh man I really am craving that smoothie right now over this cheesy deliciousness in a tortilla..." Yeah I'm still waiting for that!

No cleanse related pic from me today, so here is a picture of my pig eating pumpkin for the first time to hold you over:

Smurf it up

My smoothie life consists of these three cups. Notice I put a little more in the far left one for dinner!

I love blueberries. Blueberry pie. Blueberry muffins. Blueberry smoothies. They are all delicious and one thing I can add to the list of why I love them is their dye like juice. While I always kind of thought they were too messy and you have to be careful about what it touches, I now love the fact it takes over what it touches. If you look closely at the picture, particularly the tall cup, you'll see that the smoothie is not especially green today! Funnily enough, that does make it more appetizing.

Day 3:

I woke up hungry today and I have a feeling that's going to be a problem today. I feel everyone has days like that though. When you just can't seem to find enough to eat or can't find that one thing that will hit the spot. I know that midday through lunch I will be 1/4 of the way through and that helps. 

I definitely feel the benefits of the cleanse so far in terms of weight loss. I will admit I have peeked at the scale and am pleased. While I still have cravings for other food, especially something cheesy.... I know that I will love the end result of the cleanse.

I was right about feeling hungry today. I snacked pretty much as usual except I did have a handful of nuts in the evening. Cravings have been ridiculous today though!! My friend plays pool, so I go and watch the team play sometimes on Tuesday nights. She is pretty much coming from work, so she eats at the bar. She got something fried tonight and I was drooling just the tiniest of bits.... not to mention I wanted a drink. Just snacked on my nuts instead. Sigh. Coming home I looked around the kitchen wanting to eat whatever. I made the right decision and got a couple of baby carrots instead.

It;s hard at the moment, but I shall keep on keeping on....

If I drink green smoothies will I finally become the hulk?

RAWR!

It's not called the 10-day Green Smoothie Cleanse for nothing folks! I'm not really bothered by it although green liquid isn't the most appetizing look. I guess because I know what I put in it I'm not put off. Although later, on my third smoothie of the day (a.k.a. dinner), I did get a little tired of looking at it. ; )

Day 2:
I guess I'm almost surprised that I'm not that hungry throughout the day. I do get a little hungry after I drink my smoothie for some reason. I guess my body is just used to getting a lot more all at once. I end up snacking on a couple of carrots and I have hard boiled eggs after my lunch and then an apple with my dinner smoothie. The book is pretty good about what kinds of things to snack on and only cautions that snacking too much may affect weight loss.
I am not worried about that at all though.

I haven't been bothered too much about being more tired than I was before starting the cleanse. I think that scoop of protein I add is doing the trick. I am not doing anything really at the moment, so I can't speak for how much energy a working person or a more active person might have on the cleanse. For now, it's okay.

I had quite the number of temptations today when it comes to junk food, but I persevered. I plan on having smoothies in my life after the cleanse, but allowing for a cheat day here and there. That thought is really keeping me going and sticking to the cleanse. I'm not gonna lie, I was salivating at the smell of an onion being cut up. Hilarious, right?

I am a little tired of only having smoothies with healthy snacks, but I know once I get through the cleanse I will be happy and healthier, not too mention a tiny bit lighter. I can do it. So can you!

Smoothay with a side of carrots

Well, I am sure we can all guess what happened? Didn't really do much on that list. I really have no idea where my motivation goes. Every time it is so brief I wonder whether I had it to being with. So my life at the moment:

• I am now 27.
• I returned home in September having lived for a year in Manchester working on a Master's degree.
• Still awaiting the results of said degree.
• No job.
• Still obese.
• Still have anxiety issues.
• Still and more rapidly falling apart.
• Still trying.
• Mia-less. (RIP Mia)

That pretty much sums me up at the moment. Not sure what to do, but my friend Siouxsie messaged me one day and told about this 10-day green smoothie cleanse. She had been doing it and said that she really noticed a difference. I've always thought a cleanse was a good idea, but just never did it. I really liked the book and I liked how it said some things about diets that I've said for years. I really have little money, but I decided that it was worth it and bought the first five days worth of stuff (the book has a convenient shopping list). 

I made many a joke about a fictional bunny i was shopping for. 

I was going to wait until Monday to start, but I bought the stuff yesterday and couldn't wait. I think it was a combination of really wanting to try this out and the fact that it is frustrating as hell to buy food and not get into it straight away. Here goes nothing, right?

Day 1:

It really began last night. I know I have a problem with food if I was like an addict last night trying to get my last fix in before rehab. Had a glass of wine and tried to think of what I could eat, but I was tired and really was just over it. I settled for a handful of potato chips. 

I woke up with a killer pain in the neck that traveled up through the back of my head and stabbed my brain anytime I moved or, you know, breathed. I considered waiting until tomorrow to start, but then I could always be saying "tomorrow." So, I grabbed the blender and went to work. My mother is grossed out by the thought of drinking spinach in any form, so naturally when I blended the spinach and water together to make spinach juice (this is the first step to get the spinach all blended to which you then add the fruits) and offered her a refreshing glass... she didn't appreciate. 

Initial thoughts.... not bad, but not my favorite taste ever. I'm not tempted to drink them fast, so it actually is like a meal in terms of how much time it takes me to get through one. I like snacking. I had a couple of baby carrots throughout the day. I also had two hard boiled eggs with my lunch smoothie and plan on eating an apple later. 

I must say I do feel better already. When my killer neck finally died I was able to kind of think about everything so far and I notice now that I must have been super bloated. I feel like I have deflated some. I know I haven't even finished Day 1, but it is nice so far. I have been tempted with other foods, but I've resisted and it hasn't been too bad.

My worries.... this getting old after a couple of days, but then it is only 10 days and then I can figure out what I want to do next. Not to mention it'll be Thanksgiving right after I end this. If I can handle this okay, then I may do another one or even do a modified cleanse (2 smoothies a day and a healthy meal instead of three smoothies) after Thanksgiving. I worry about protein, since I have issues getting that anyway, but I did break down and buy some vegan, plant-based protein to add. It's vanilla flavored though, so it changes the taste of the smoothies a little. 

My only criticism of the cleanse so far is the amounts on the shopping list. I've never done this before so I wanted to get exactly what was listed. a lot of the amounts for the frozen fruit and greens were 20 ounces. In the store, however, most of the things available were from 5 oz up to 16 oz. So I had to get creative, but it was kind of frustrating. If I do this again, then I am going to have to figure out a better, and hopefully cheaper, way to get the goods.

Well let's just hope for the bast. Shall we?

Ready!

Ready to get this weight loss thing going. I realize I have goals and this sitting on my butt everyday doing pretty much nothing is not going to get my goals reached or my dreams realized. Time for things to change!

• I was accepted into Manchester Business School and I've already accepted my spot in the program. I start in September after my 26th birthday. Never mind fat... I WILL NOT start another school year OBESE. I refuse. 

• I will get another job and save. save. save. I don't need to be stressing about money. Also, will do my best to find more money for school through scholarships and loans.

• I will eat a salad everyday if I have to, but I WILL control my eating.

• I will remain active, whether it's through my new love: snowboarding, or through DDPYOGA, or Wii fit, or dancing embarrassingly in my room for an hour. I will lose to win.

• I will go for it even if no one believes me.

SO! That's a lot of "I wills" to stand by, but I'm ready to go for this! I am ready to stop sitting by and watching others do what I want to do. I'm ready to do it myself and surpass any expectations set for me. I am ready. Are you?