mean green day #10

I think I've reached the end of this juice cleanse/fast/detox.  I can't say I've followed the program to the letter but I have added something to my daily routine that wasn't there before (juice) and taken a few things out that were not-so-healthy (tobacco, alcohol and caffeine).

I don't know if that back pain was my nervous system purging itself or a true inflammation.  I thought the chamomile tea would sufficiently (naturally) reduce inflammation, but it wasn't powerful enough.  I definitely didn't lose any weight, in fact I gained some, but truth being that I didn't stop eating.  Today I weigh 145.0 lbs.

In the interests of full disclosure, yesterday I ate a handful of almonds and a large bowl of oats, peanuts, and dried fruit smothered in whole milk yogurt for an afternoon snack.  It was so filling that I didn't eat dinner until late in the evening (~8:30pm) when we had soup & salad buffet at Marie Callender's.  The soup of the day was mean and green (pea soup), though it contained a lot of ham.

This morning's juice is a motley concoction of whatever veggies were left: three handfuls of baby greens, almost a whole bunch of celery, 4 beets (with some of the tops), a small head of red lettuce, and a peeled lemon.  Probably I should have added strawberries for flavor, it pretty much tastes like dirt even though I scrubbed everything clean before juicing it.  I will say that I'd rather drink fresh juice than take a multivitamin.  But I will probably go back to eating raw fruits and veggies as much as possible, taking dairy for calcium and fat, and eating nuts and beans for protein.  I will also try to keep up with the fish routine, and keep eggs in the diet since both of those seemed to provide essential macronutrients that the juice alone could not deliver.  I've tried to stop eating red meat, but the beef jerky was my downfall.  It left me feeling bloated both days I ate it.  So no cured meats, I cannot forsake all red meat since dear husband brings home lamb and beef ribs almost weekly for a grilled feast and I cannot say no to that!