Well, the first day of the cleanse went better than I expected. I titled this post “diet” instead of “cleanse” because I decided that's kind of what I'm doing here. I ditched the cleanse.
BUT I will say that doing it for a day helped with the mental side of it all. Dieting, or as I would like to simply call it, eating right/healthy, is freaking hard. There's so much temptation out there, especially where I live (the Bay Area). I swear this place has the most amazing food in this country. It’s very eclectic—it has cuisine from all different nations/cultures. Anyway, the point is, starving yourself for one day is not necessarily a bad thing. It helps put things in perspective and for me, it said: Hey, you can do this.
So this is how day one went in a nut shell: I ate fruit such as oranges, a banana, strawberries and blueberries all morning and had the soup twice at work that day with the spirulina. Oh! I also had a large ice coffee with no milk or sugar. Let’s say it was so bland and flavorless that it was borderline unbearable. Just put your mind to it and drink that bad boy.
I decided not to work out too hard that day because I was really tired. This was the least calorie consumption I’ve had in a pretty long time. So I decided to bicycle (which I do anyway everyday), and decided to take on the more “hilly” parts in my neighborhood.
Before I did the bicycle ride, I decided to tweak this cleanse/diet. I decided to eat as organic (not man-made, comes from the earth) as possible and stick to a meal plan. I tried to find organic yogurt and milk, but I decided that as long it was Greek yogurt, non fat or soy then it’s all good. Also, I got the most AMAZING organic Martha Natha peanut butter. Check it out here:
MaraNatha Organic Peanut Butter
I went to Trader Joes to also get some chia seeds, more fruit, nuts, and flax seed bread (oh ,another not so organic thing) and went back home. I consumed an English muffin with the peanut butter, chia seeds, banana, and a little bit of organic honey. And that’s what I ate for dinner.
This morning, I decided to start a “diet.” I ate Greek yogurt with strawberries, bananas and blueberries, and then I sprinkled a little honey and chia seeds. I then snacked on a pack of mixed nuts. I then had some of that AWESOME veggie soup (insert sarcasm here) with the spirulina. I then had baked chicken and a sweet potato and finished it off with a juicy black plum. I finished worked, ran a few errands (bought kombucha drink to get me pumped for my workout) and back to Berkeley I went to the gym.
So my routine at the gym is pretty basic. I run for about 3.3 miles in 32 minutes. I then do an all over body workout. I do arms, legs (lunges, squats) and abs (use exercise ball, sit ups, crunches, etc). I'm feeling like my body is FINALLY getting conditioned. Now, I’ve been going to the gym for almost a year now and am just starting to see results. It’s been a long process, but one that I finally decided to take advantage of just a month ago. Meaning, I really decided to kick my ass and sweat/feel the burn!
I can TOTALLY see a difference. My legs, slowly but surely are definitely getting toned. I have abs, but there is still a bit of fat there—you know ladies, that small “pooch” and with a bit of love handles on the side. I want all that gone and completely toned. My face is thinner and is slowly but surely clearing up (started suffering from adult acne at 25). This has all really been a process, but again, you just have to wake up and one day say: NO MORE. And this week has FINALLY been the week I said that. NO MORE splurging on weekends. I'm keeping at a strict diet for a month. I am so freaking close.
Overall, I do physically and mentally feel better. I have a good amount of energy and my appetite has already been tamed! I used to eat a lot people. I could down fries for hours I swear (never did, but I know I could). Today I actually craved something healthy. I couldn’t wait to get home to have a banana, blueberry, peanut better smoothie! However, my aunt decided to boil seafood (shrimp, oysters and clams). Organic enough so I will eat that. But I kinda would rather the smoothie. Weird huh? Weird, but exciting! I am confident I will reach my goal.