Solid Food Again

I just wanted to let you know how the rest of the cleanse went that I did. I decided to stop after 10 days as originally planned. I was getting tired of not being able to go out to dinner with friends. So much of our socializing is done around food that it makes it hard build relationships when your not eating. Considering that I was incredibly happy to start eating again.

After giving my stomach a break from digestion, it was important to phase back into eating solid food. The first day after the cleanse I was only supposed to drink fruit and vegetable juices. Ideally it was supposed to be fresh squeezed juices. But since I don't own a juicer and wasn't about to go out I buy one; I opted to just buy juices. Let me tell you I have never looked forward to a glass of orange juice more than on that first day after the cleanse. And no orange juice has tasted better than that first glass did. I enjoyed many different kinds of juices that day and every single one of them tasted AMAZING.

The second day of the phase out allowed me to eat actual fruits and vegetables and soups. I woke up ridiculously early that morning, earlier than I had planned. So I decided to get up and make my vegetable soup. I had bought a bunch of fresh vegetables the night before. I cut them up and made a delicious vegetable soup with cucumbers, carrots, potatoes, bean sprouts, pumpkin, onion, lotus root and garlic. There may have been a couple of other veggies that I have forgotten. I had planned on eating the soup for lunch, but it smelled so good I decided to have a little for breakfast as well. Those vegetables were the best tasting vegetables I had ever eaten. It was so nice to be able to chew something again. I took my soup to work for lunch and ended up inspiring my co-worker to go buy veggies and make her own soup. I ate this for dinner too. It was DELICIOUS.

The third day after the cleanse I was able to eat about whatever I wanted, but I was encouraged to stay away from meat and dairy for a while. Now about two weeks after the cleanse I eat about whatever I want. I'm still not eating much dairy. I'm sticking to soy milk, and not eating nearly as much yogurt as I used to. I still haven't eaten any beef or pork. I'm considering becoming a vegetarian. But I still haven't decided if I can do it or if I want to do it. Anybody have any thoughts on the topic.

So what were the results of this cleanse. Well I did loose about 8-10 pounds, but they have all come back by now as I expected. My skin did not clear up. I ended up going to a dermatologist and he gave me some pills and cream. I got back to visit him in two weeks. So far my skin is looking a bit better but still not great.

The cleanse was good to learn that I can go 10 days without eating solid food. It is quite empowering to know that I have that much self-control. In that regard it was good to learn something about myself.