DAY FOURTEEN - CLEANSE DAY!

Cleanse Day Number Two.

I was actually looking forward to this day because of my disastrous Friday. I did everything the same as I did during my first cleanse day, so I pretty much had the same experience. I thought doing cleanse day at home (as opposed to work) would be easier since I could sleep off the cravings, if any. This was kinda true, but it's hard not wanting to go places (parties, etc.) because you can't eat and would inevitably just sit there miserably.

It's about 8:30pm right now and I'm pretty hungry... The only thing I do is guzzle down a good amount of water; it helps fill me up. Tomorrow will mark the halfway point for me on the program. I'm kinda nervous about weighing in since I "cheated"... But, I was really good at working out all week. I'm hoping that counts for something.

Gotta go sleep off the hunger now!

P.S. Rest in Peace, Whitney Houston. :'(

DAY THIRTEEN

Sooo, yesterday sucked. I refuse to weigh in today because I don't want to beat myself up about it. I just made sure I woke up early and ran 2.5 miles.

I stayed on track today... Tomorrow is my cleanse day and I won't be weighing in until Monday. Here's hoping I didn't undo all my hard work with that one bad day... SIGH.

DAY TWELVE

I really need to stop weighing myself everyday! I "gained" .5lbs from yesterday... and I know weight fluctuates so much based on water. ESPECIALLY if you are female and subject to monthly bloat. Nonetheless, I was irrationally annoyed this morning.

I think I'm the 3rd one from the left right now.

1:45pm: AHHHHH! It was a really busy (read: bad) day at work today and I didn't get a chance to go home to make my shake. I had planned on having a shake for lunch because I have dinner reservations with my boyfriend for dinner tonight. I ended up staying in the office and admist the mcdonalds and donuts, the only thing I could find that was "healthy" was a tuna sandwich. So, I removed one of the slices of bread so it became an open-faced sandwich. I did this because 1) I needed to try my best to keep it to 240 calories much like the shake and 2) because I didn't prepare it, I'm pretty sure it wasn't "light" mayo in there.

ARRGH. I'm pretty sure this won't kill me since I've been in this situation before (oddly enough, last Friday!)... and I still was able to lose weight. But this coupled with my scale annoyance this morning is putting me in an even fouler mood.

We're going running before dinner so hopefully I can work out all this random food AND my stress!

Dinner...
Well, ended up eating over 600 calories for dinner. To sum up today: program FAIL. I'm not gonna let this set me back. Tomorrow is a new day, so I can only make sure I stay ON TRACK from then on...

DAY ELEVEN

One more pound lost. Slowly but surely....

Here's hoping I'm losing actual fat!

1:45pm: My appetite has completely changed.... Wasn't hungry at all when it was time for my mid morning snack. Was kinda hungry during lunch but ended up not even finishing what I had prepared (fish, eggplant, and brown rice). I have ZERO cravings for anything sweet which, if you look back to week one, feels like quite the feat. It's really nice not having to WILL yourself not to eat a giant bag of skittles or a chocolate bar. Liberating, actually. I love it!

On another note, I've been calculating and even if I only lose weight after a cleanse day-- which on average is supposed to be 2lbs-- by the time my 30 day program is complete I'm looking at losing 12 lbs! This is nowhere near my goal... but a great start (I really hope I didn't just jinx myself there....).

I'm still on the fence about ordering more Isalean shake powder, but I know for sure I'll be ordering Cleanse for Life. On my cleanse day, I really noticed how great I felt. I thought maybe it was the wafers, but I've been eating those wafers since then and I don't get that same feeling... I really love that stuff!

Good to keep in mind!

4:00pm: Despite my alarm, I totally spaced on the mid afternoon snack because I wasn't hungry. So, I'm eating a couple of bites of apple right now. I plan on going running again after work. Every time I see another pound lost, it's motivation!

7:45pm: So here's the only problem I'm having thus far-- that's making feel very BLAH about having over 2 weeks left on the program-- I'm really over the shakes for dinner. Not because I'm hungry and it doesn't satisfy me, but because it's too SWEET! I think Isagenix sells soups but it doesn't come with the 30 day program. Bleh. I didn't even finish my shake tonight because I'm just over it. I'm DEFINITELY not ordering more of the shake. 52 meals of it is enough for me.

I think tomorrow I'll start breaking my meals up again to two 300 calorie ones. That way, I can eat something savory at night. Otherwise, I may just start skipping the shake all together.

Onward to day 12....

DAY TEN

No weight loss today. Boo.

It's about 10:30am and I really have no appetite. Again, I don't want my body to go into "starvation mode" (and slow my metabolism) so I ate one of the Isagenix wafers (the taste is now tolerable). I'm REALLY hoping it won't rain today. I really want to go running.... As much as I work out, running is the hardest thing for me to do so I'd really like to conquer this challenge and get better at it.

12:30pm:

Didn't really get hungry until about now. If you remember, during week one I was REALLY hungry around 11:30am. Today, I ate an organic spinach lasagna with some whole wheat garlic bread. It was around 550 calories. 

Earlier this morning the evil skittles spilled all over my desk in a freak accident! I'm happy to report I didn't eat a single one-- nor did I want to. Yay for the absence of cravings (I'm all about cheap thrills).  

10:00pm:

So, I ran two miles... and I'm happy to say all cravings for sweet and junk food are virtually gone! I wasn't hungry when it was time for my mid-afternoon snack (though I ate an apple anyway) and it's no longer torturous to just drink a shake for dinner. It really does get easier!

Here's hoping for some scale victory tomorrow.

DAY NINE

Week One Results:
(reminder:  I did my cleanse day a day late)

• Pounds lost: 5.5
• Inches lost: 7 

I'd been hoping for at least 6lbs, but I guess 5.5 will do! I don't really feel it... but maybe I will by next week.

Just a follow up to my first cleanse day:
I started feeling really hungry when I was trying to go to sleep. It was an uncomfortable feeling but I got through it. I think that was the hardest part about cleanse day. I also got a headache around that time as well.

DAY 9:

8:00am: I was feeling a little weak from the cleanse day so I added a little of the want more energy to my vanilla shake. It really did taste like a creamsicle... so that's a good tip if you ever need to liven up your shakes!

10:00am: I officially believe in the nasty wafers... so I ate half of one and half of a hard boiled egg today. We'll see if that gets me through til lunch!

12:00pm: LUNCH! Real food... ahhhh! I had salmon, brown rice, and small salad with organic balsamic vinegar... and I couldn't finish it! As hungry as I was I got full really quickly. I guess my appetite is shrinking. YAY.

I've decided to work out as hard as I can this week. I've heard you plateau a little after the first initial week and I really want to get as much out of the program and I possibly can. This means running longer and more weight training!!

I'm kinda glad it's coming off slower than with other diets I had previously tried. This gives me hope that the results will be longer lasting. I'm already planning on buying a new supply of Cleanse for Life so I can drink it daily. It really did make me feel great.

3:00pm:
Didn't have much of an appetite this afternoon so I just ate one of the wafers... It could be that my cravings have gone, but it could also be that I've had a really bad day today...

6:00pm:
It's a rainy day... so no running for me. Instead I did some turbo kick boxing (also helps with pent up aggression!) Still not hungry... but don't want my body to go into starvation mode, so I'll have my shake.

... and that's all for today!

DAY EIGHT - CLEANSE DAY!

Here I go! This is my "cleanse day kit" that I prepared last night:

Ionix Supreme, Isagenix Wafers, Apple (I'll slice them up later), Cucumbers (in case of emergency), one packet of Want More Energy (also in case of emergency), and of course the Cleanse for Life.

In other news... down 4lbs as of this morning. Hopefully, that'll motivate me to get through the day!

8:00am:

• Cleanse for Life: First off, I tried the liquid form a year ago... and it was VILE. Which was also one of the reasons I had been dreading cleanse day! I'm sooo HAPPY to report the new berry powder is quite good! Great, in fact! It kinda tastes like fruit punch! After drinking my first round, I began to feel better about today!

8:30am:

• Ionix Supreme. 
• Snack:
• So, despite my apparent GAG reflex for these vile wafers, I'm told they are key during Cleanse Day. I want to make sure I maximize my results so here is my plan of action for these so-called "snacks". I will stomach the wafers... but chase it with a small slice of apple. TRUST ME, a "chaser" goes a looooooong way with these things! I literally eat half the wafer, bite a slice of apple, half the other wafer, then the rest of the slice of apple. Yes, it's that bad.

10:00am:

• Snack number 2. Feeling okay... stomach is growling a bit, but I'm not feeling too hungry. I imagine this will change drastically in two hours when my stomach will be DEMANDING food. 

11:00am:

• Second round of Cleanse For Life. I'm still feeling okay... around 11:45am is when I usually start getting REALLY antsy for lunch. So we'll see how the next hour goes. I've already drank over 1.5 liters of water.

12:30pm:

• Lunch was another snack (wafer + slice of apple). I also drank a BIG cup of water with a lemon slice-- just to fill me up. Very surprisingly, I'm not nearly as hungry today as I usually am on regular shake days. Maybe there really is something to the wafers? Maybe the Cleanse For Life has magical powers... I don't know, but I still feel pretty good! 

1:30pm: 

• Accelerator. I still feel good! Half the day over... Maybe I was just expecting it to be so much worse or maybe these disgusting wafers really are the key! Who knows... I'm just HAPPY I'm surviving. I literally thought I wasn't gonna make it.

2:00pm:

• Snack number 4. The wafers are getting a bit more tolerable... and by a bit, I mean I don't have to hold my nose... as long. Hehe. Still feeling pretty good! Woot!

Random thoughts:

• I really hope I'm able to lose a couple of pounds at the end of the day. It would be ironic if this was so easy for me, yet I lost NOTHING! Ahhhhh, I dread the thought.
• Also, I've lost 4lbs total... but I noticed I don't feel all that "lighter"... the way I usually do when I'm on a strict diet. I'm hoping this means I'm losing actual fat rather than just water weight. Time will tell. 

3:00pm:

• Cleanse: Round Three. I'm still quite amazed at how great this tastes! I'm still not feeling too hungry and no other side effects so far....

4:00pm:

• Last snack of the day! I was feeling a little bit lightheaded around 3:30pm.... It's passed though. Again, I'm really amazed at how easy today has been. I guess I'm officially a believer in the wafers. I may feel a little "empty"... but I have virtually no cravings. It's pretty amazing. I don't think I'll risk doing any strenuous workout today (I don't want to overdo it); maybe some pilates.  

6:00pm:

• Okay, I'm not gonna lie... I'm quite hungry right now. Not ravenous... but obviously hungry. Also, the lightheaded feeling has returned. I'm gonna do some pilates right now, do my last cleanse, take the Isaflush pills, and go to sleep! Here's hoping for results tomorrow!!
• FYI: Aside from the Isagenix products... the only "extras" I had today were 5 small slices of an apple (less than one small apple). Didn't need the want more energy or the cucumbers.