Saturday, October 31, 2015

SFS Fall 2015: Positive Affirmations

I'm doing a six-week holistic diet with Liz Vequist in an effort to start feeling fit, active, and inspired. The diet started on Monday, October 26, 2015. 

*****

Week two of the diet starts on Monday, so I'm in prep mode this weekend. On the spiritual side of the diet, we're supposed to identify positive affirmations about our body that we can scatter around our homes, cars and workplaces to help inspire us to make the Slim, Fit and Sexy thing work. 

I actually feel pretty motivated already. This is, in part, a function of the pounds falling off (an indicator my body was ready to lose some weight), and the new Fitbit groups I'm participating in, which, in the first week, motivated me to amp my steps from 7500 each weekday to more than 10k. 

In the spirit of being "in it to win it," I'm creating affirmations anyway. I.m going to trust that even is my conscious self doesn't need them right now, the universe will hold them in readiness for me. 

So here goes:

I am grateful for (something positive about your body): my continuing good health.

I love my (something positive about yourself): enthusiastic and empathic spirit.

I can (positive habit): make better choices to maintain my health and soothe myself when I feel sad.  

What would your affirmations be? 

Friday, October 30, 2015

SFS Fall 2015: A Reason to Get Out of Bed in the Morning

I'm doing a six-week holistic diet with Liz Vequist in an effort to start feeling fit, active, and inspired. The diet started on Monday, October 26, 2015. 

*****

Four full days into this holistic diet and I've learned that I'm eating breakfast too early in the morning. By shifting my weekday breakfast time 75 minutes later in the morning, makes in difference in my feelings of hunger, particularly later in the day. 

I've long held the belief that I shouldn't get out of bed in the morning for the sole purpose of going to work. I want to get out of bed because I have a full and learned life. So, my weekday routine has typically involved the following:
5:45-6:00 AM: Wake up, make coffee, give the cats cookies
6:00-6:30 AM: Drink coffee, check Facebook, read news, play games
6:30-7:00 AM: Get ready for work
7:00-7:30 AM: Make and eat breakfast, get out the door
7:30-8:00 AM: Travel to the office
9:30-10:00 AM: Eat snack at work
11:00 AM: Start perseverating on lunch, walk around and snatch pieces of candy from the generous candy bowls scattered around the office
11:30-11:45 AM: Get lunch (eat at desk)
4:00 PM: Leave work
4:30 PM: Get home, ready to chew my hands off I'm so hungry. Grab a high protein snack. 
4:45-5:30 PM: Make dinner
5:30-5:35 PM: Eat dinner
5:35-9:00 PM: Think about eating sugary treats - either give in or try using wine or tea to satiate my sweet tooth
9:00-10:00 PM: Starting settling down for sleep

But, my routine means I'm often eating breakfast because of the time of day, not because of any hunger I might feel. And then I'm a hungry hungry hippo for the rest of the day. 

So, I'm experimenting with a new routine that looks like this: 
6:00-6:15 AM: Wake up, make coffee, give the cats cookies
6:15-6:45 AM: Drink coffee, check Facebook, read news, play games
6:45-7:05 AM: Get ready for work (I'm very low maintenance)
7:05-7:30 AM: Prep breakfast and lunch to bring to work, make lemon water for the journey, maybe blog or take care of house business (e.g., pay bills)
7:30-8:00 AM: Travel to the office
8:00-8:30 AM: Eat breakfast (at my desk)
11:30 AM: Eat snack
12:30-1:00 PM: Eat most (but not all) of my lunch (at my desk)
1:30-3:00 PM: Leisurely nibble on whatever lunch I couldn't eat at lunch time (at my desk)
4:00 PM: Leave work
4:30 PM: Get home, still feeling full from my afternoon of lunching
5:30 PM: Start thinking about dinner prep
5:30-6:00 PM: Make dinner
6:00-6:15 PM: Eat dinner
7:00 PM: Make evening tea and start settling down for a 9:00 PM bed time

It is amazing to me that shifting breakfast back just 75 minutes can make such a difference in how much I'm snacking and thinking about food. I am more focused in the afternoons, and am pleasant when I get home, instead of a bear because of how hungry I feel. 

Sounds like the shift is working in the interest of my good physical and emotional health. So what's the problem? 

In my brain, eating breakfast at work instead of home implies that my raison d'etre is working, instead of living. There is an inherent lack of balance in consuming two meals at the office instead of just the one. And, because of my commitment to work/life balance, this upsets me. Luckily, I have five more weeks of this diet to figure out if the rewards are worth the trade off. I'll let you know. W

Monday, October 26, 2015

SFS Fall 2015 - Goal Setting

I'm doing a six-week holistic diet with Liz Vequist in an effort to start feeling fit, active, and inspired. The diet starts on Monday, October 26, 2015. 

*****

Week one, day one! We're focusing this week on setting a healthy breakfast routine. I feel like I nailed this during the five-day cleanse, so this doesn't feel like work to me. Which is good, because I still need to finish my goal setting.

From the "diet" workbook:

List 3 goals that you would like to achieve over the next 6 weeks: 

My answer:
1. Beat the sugar addiction
2. Healthier relationship to snacking when I feel anxious
3. Sustainably lose another five pounds.

How will you feel as a result of achieving these goals? 

My answer:
1. More attentive in my marriage
2. More confident in my family relationships
3. Less fearful of health risks

Is there anything that could stop you from achieving these goals? 

My answer:
Those tapes that keeps playing, in spite of my knowing they are old. In spite of my knowing they aren't my story, but instead the story of the people who spoke the recorded words. The tape that tells a five year-old me, "You'd be so pretty if you could just lose some weight." And the tape recorded in Princeton that whispers conspiratorially, "I was told you are built like a linebacker...(but you are actually lovely)."

On a more practical level, my mother-in-law doesn't understand these sorts of shifts in eating (neither does my mother, but she lives 325 miles away).

Is there anything you can start doing now to make sure you achieve your goals?

My answer: 

  • I'm not cooking with my husband any longer. This change in my routine helps because our food needs are so different. (This also makes me feel sad, even though it is better for both of us. I can feel the tears welling up inside.)
  • I will give myself a daily 45-minute block of time - ostensibly after work - for exercise/movement. 
  • I need to let my mother-in-law know what I'm up to, so she doesn't keep asking me to come visit for food/wine/cake.

I want to find a way to symbolically release the tapes. And, I need to think about that a little more.

Sunday, October 25, 2015

SFS Fall 2015 - Before

I'm doing a six-week holistic diet with Liz Vequist in an effort to start feeling fit, active, and inspired. The diet starts on Monday, October 26, 2015. 

*****

I spent the last four days helping my mother downsize from the house I knew as an adolescent and teen to a new house. A newer, more manageable house in a quieter neighborhood closer to four of her six grandchildren. Thursday through Sunday afternoon I ate pizza, doughnuts, Chinese food, fast food, chocolate bars, beer and wine. 

I feel terrible. 

Tomorrow is a great day to start a whole foods, mostly vegan, definitely macrobiotic (except for that weird chewing thing they do), diet.

As part of our prep we need to take measurements and "before" photos, preferably in something form fitting. We'll do "after" pictures on December 10, when the diet ends. And hopefully, by then, I'll have new, life affirming habits. 

So, here goes. 




And now the measurements. 
Upper arm (ugh) - 13"
Bust - 40"
"Bra line" - 34"
Waist - 34"
Hips - 45"
Thigh - 25"

Come back in six weeks to see how I do. 

Monday, October 19, 2015

Good Vegan

I'm doing a five-day food cleanse followed by a six-week diet with Liz Vequist in an effort to start feeling fit, active, and inspired. The cleanse ran from on Monday, October 5, 2015 through Friday, October 9, 2015. The six-week diet kicks off on Thursday, October 22, 2015. 

*****

I hopped onto Facebook while eating lunch at my desk (mixed greens topped with a mixture of quinoa, black beans, corn, slaw veggies, guacamole, and salmon). I was surprised by the more than 10 alerts my page had, and dove in a little deeper. That's when I learned I won the week-long, #wholefoodschallenge, a seven-day contest the week after the cleanse, designed to inspire participants to continue their vegan, whole foods ways. And the 10+ alerts were fellow cleansers people congratulating me on my win.

If one wanted to participate, one needed to post one picture on the secret Facebook group for the cleansers on at least five out of seven days of a vegan, whole foods meal they were enjoying. And you had to complete the post-cleanse satisfaction survey. The prize was a $50 gift certificate to Whole Foods (or Amazon if there was no Whole Foods nearby).

I posted one picture a day for the entire challenge, along with the pictures of the food factory I created on my kitchen counter each time I made a batch of something. Sort of like this:

Dinner: Butternut squash, red lentil and carrot stew served on steamed kale.
 
Five more dinners made with butternut squash/red lentil stew and steamed kale.

I won! I won! I won! I feel like such a good vegan.

The kick-off call for the six-week diet portion of this program is on Thursday, October 22nd at noon. I can't wait to go shopping at Whole Foods for whatever supplies I'll need on the next phase in this personal health journey.

Monday, October 12, 2015

Kraft macaroni and cheese dinner - cleanse day 7

I'm doing a five-day food cleanse followed by a six-week diet with Liz Vequist in an effort to start feeling fit, active, and inspired. The cleanse started on Monday, October 5, 2015.

*****

The five-day cleanse is technically over, and I'm in the waiting period between the cleanse and the start of the six-week "Slim, Fit and Sexy" diet. 

So, it seemed harmless enough to ask my husband for a bite of the leftover Kraft macaroni and cheese dinner last night. This stuff, along with its cousin Hamburger Helper Cheeseburger Macaroni, are like crack for me. After seven days without food additives and dairy, I was curious to learn how it would taste to me, and if it would cause me to fall off the whole foods wagon. (Because crack will do that.)

I put one small fork full in my mouth. 

Blecch!

"It tastes like chemicals," I said, astonished.

My husband laughed. 

Later, I researched the ingredients in the product, The Wegman's website gave me the clearest information: 


The ingredients don't read THAT terribly to me, and I have no idea what tasted so awful. Was it the ferrous sulfate in the macaroni product? Whey protein concentrate in the cheese sauce? Or maybe the sodium alginate? 

It doesn't actually matter, because what I learned is that, so long as I maintain some commitment to whole foods eating, I won't have a taste for the product any longer. Which is good for my health, and good for my husband, who doesn't have to guard his beloved mac and cheese any longer. 


Saturday, October 10, 2015

After - cleanse day 6

I'm doing a five-day food cleanse followed by a six-week diet with Liz Vequist in an effort to start feeling fit, active, and inspired. The cleanse started on Monday, October 5, 2015.

*****

This is me after five days on the cleanse. 

Do I look the same to you? I look the same to me. 

Here's my before picture, as a reminder:

And yet I know I'm well-rested, have softer skin, and I'm eight pounds lighter.

In anticipation of the start of the six-week "Slim, Fit and Sexy" program, which I'm calling, "Fit, Active and Inspired," I need to continue to eat whole grain foods at least once a day. (Although the six-week program isn't JUST about food. It is also about being in right relationship with one's body - and includes a free hula hoop for every participant.) 

Nevertheless, being better about *what* I eat is the starting point. So, to keep riding the whole foods train, I'm going to strive to "be a vegetarian before 6:00 (pm) on weekdays. 

How am I going to do this? Careful and creative meal planning for breakfast and lunch. 

The newest Wegmans' Food Market is opening in Massachusetts tomorrow. In anticipation of a grocery shopping extravaganza, I've been scouring Epicurious for interesting whole foods recipes that I can easily make at home. 

What I have planned is the following:

Potential choices for breakfast:
  • Plain hot oatmeal with apples
  • Whole grains (e.g., brown rice, quinoa) with wilted greens, fried egg and siracha
  • Egg white omelet with avocado and wilted greens
  • Hot oat and quinoa cereal
And for lunch? 
During the week, I'll plan to add animal protein so BMG and I can share meals again. And on the weekends, if BMG and I have an adventure planned, I'll be careful about sugar, processed foods, and fried foods, but won't beat myself up about eating anything that isn't "on the list." 

I'll keep posting pictures of my food, here and in the Cleanse Group Facebook, to keep you inspired and to keep me honest. 


Friday, October 9, 2015

What's next? - cleanse day 5

I'm doing a five-day food cleanse followed by a six-week diet with Liz Vequist in an effort to start feeling fit, active, and inspired. The cleanse started on Monday, October 5, 2015.

*****

On our cleanse group phone call last night, we were invited to reflect on our experience of the last few days, and then write down three goals we have for clean eating moving forward. Next we had to circle the easiest of the goals, and then commit to making it happen. Once we've accomplished the goal, we try the next thing on the list.

My three things, in the order in which I'll work on them?
1. Drink a glass of water with breakfast.
2. Half caf instead of full caf coffee
2. Eliminate most refined sugar from my diet.

Other things I've learned from the cleanse that I want to integrate into my daily life?
4. Daily skin exfoliation in the shower - along with my new Cetaphil bar soap, my skin feels amazing!
5. Sitting at the table for breakfast, instead of standing at the counter.
6. When I have time, steeping turmeric tea while taking a 30-minute walk in the neighborhood.
7. At least one whole grain, vegan meal for either breakfast or lunch.

This last one is a requirement to help me ease into the six-week diet, which starts on October 22. AND, if I take a post a picture of my meal and post it to our Facebook group for at least five of the next seven days, I could win a $50 gift card to Whole Foods, #FTW

You've been with me on this journey for the last five days. Is there any part of the whole foods cleanse you would want to try?

Thursday, October 8, 2015

Colonic or no colonic - cleanse day 4

I'm doing a five-day food cleanse followed by a six-week diet with Liz Vequist in an effort to start feeling fit, active and inspired. The cleanse started on Monday, October 5, 2015.

*****

A handful of people, when they hear I've been doing a food cleanse, assume that I am (a) fasting, and (b) doing nothing but colonics all week long. Apparently there are cleanses that focus on pooping, but that's not this cleanse.

BUT, there is an optional colonic as part of the five-day cleanse. There are three ways to add this to your cleanse journey:
1. Ingest castor oil
2. Drink prune juice/eat prunes
3. Drink Smooth Move tea
We have a cleanse check-in call tonight, and will be discussing this optional portion of the program.

That's when I'm going to peel off. 

Because I am NOT doing the laxative portion of the cleanse. 

That is all I have to say about my pooping behaviors.

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

It's the sugar, dammit - cleanse day 3

I'm doing a five-day food cleanse followed by a six-week diet with Liz Vequist in an effort to start feeling fit, active and inspired. The cleanse started on Monday, October 5, 2015.

*****

Last night I didn't sleep as easily or as soundly as I did the first two nights of the cleanse. The only thing I did differently was add rice milk to my evening cup of turmeric tea.

While wandering around the house at 3:00 A.M., I opened the refrigerator to read the label on the milk. Without my glasses, the only thing I knew for sure was that the milk wasn't flavored with vanilla or chocolate. Therefore, I assumed, it was unsweetened. 

WRONG!

My box of original rice milk in fact has 10 grams of sugar per 8 oz. serving. 

WHOA.

Tonight, same routine but instead of the offensive rice milk, I added 4 oz. of unsweetened almond milk to the tea. 

And I'll be ready to head to bed with my book in about 5 minutes. 

It's a good experiment, and one that points towards sugar as the culprit in my poor sleep habits. (I wonder if there is such as thing as unsweetened red wine.) 

Turmeric tea - cleanse day 3

I'm doing a five-day food cleanse followed by a six-week diet with Liz Vequist in an effort to start feeling fit, active and inspired. The cleanse started on Monday, October 5, 2015.

*****

Turmeric, the yellow, vaguely musty spice that comes from root of the Curcuma Longa plant (a member of the ginger family), is oft cited as having powerful medicinal effects. These include:


  • Reducing inflammation (e.g., such as that associated with IBD or arthritis)
  • Protection against Alzheimer's and various cancers (including colon, prostate, and childhood leukemia)
  • Improving liver function
  • Reducing bad cholesterol


I've long thought of it as a key ingredient in curries and other Indian foods.

And never have I thought of it as a potential tea.

But, it is a key component of the five-day cleanse, so, like a good doobie, I've been steeping the tea nightly and drinking it.

The recipe we were given was adapted from one by Megan Telpner. The only difference I can see between ours and hers is that we aren't supposed to put the honey in it. As I skimmed the recipe, I imagined it might taste like a variation of chai. I was intrigued.

The first night, I steeped the tea as directed for 20 minutes. And it tasted NOTHING like delicious chai, Instead, it tasted like moldy hot water. #fail

The second night, I skipped the fresh ginger, and steeped a double strength recipe of the spices for 40 minutes. When it was a rich goldenrod color, I poured it into my mug, over four ounces of unsweetened rice milk.

MUCH better. (And if I could add honey to it, it would be even better.)

I typically drink a cup of "Sleepytime Extra" tea in the evening, as part of my effort to get myself to fall asleep. If the sleep benefits of the cleanse continue for the next three days, I can imagine replacing the "Sleepytime Extra"  ritual with a cup of turmeric tea, provided I can find a way to make it more spontaneous. (I don't want to wait 40 minutes every night for my evening cup of tea.) I may experiment with buying OTC turmeric tea (e.g., from brands like Numi, Rishi and The Republic of Tea), and may also experiment with making it "in bulk" and simply reheating daily.

And, if I *do* continue the turmeric tea ritual, I'll be really curious to see if it helps alleviate any of my daily complaints, particularly about allergies and foot pain. I'll keep you posted.

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Well-rested - cleanse day 2

I'm doing a five-day food cleanse followed by a six-week diet with Liz Vequist in an effort to start feeling fit, active and inspired. The cleanse started on Monday, October 5, 2015.

*****

Day two of the cleanse and everyone seems to be talking about their withdrawal symptoms: headaches, unregulated body temperature, stomach cramps, crabbiness, etc. 

I have none of these, at least none beyond my standard range of normal. I get headaches so often that I keep a log and was recently at a neurologist to figure out the cause. My body temp is so off that I went to my g.p. earlier this year to ask if I had started menopause. (I haven't.) And crabby? Shoot, I'm crabby almost constantly because I have a job and responsibilities and bills to pay. 

In the absence of noticeable signs of detoxing, I started wondering if I was doing something wrong. "Am I eating too much? Is my cheating on the "no caffeine" thing really affecting me? Should I have listened to the kick-off call audio recording - did I miss something important?" 

While scouring my brain for immediate signs of the efficacy of the cleanse, I realized I am experiencing a positive, rather than negative, form of detox. (At least I think I am.) 

I've been able to fall asleep for each of the last two nights without any sleep-aids. And, for the last two mornings, I've woken up well-rested. 

Did you hear me? I feel well-rested!

This is NOT typical. My husband snores and I have what the Buddha called a "monkey mind." In an effort to get some rest, I often  take OTC sleep meds at least an hour before my intended bedtime. If the sleep aids don't fully work, I supplement them with white noise recordings, or sleeping in a room separate from my husband and away from what he calls his "purring." 

What's the reason? Is it the miracle of just one day of the cleanse, or maybe a coincidence? I asked the Fall 15 Cleanse Facebook group. 

"Maybe it is a reduction in caffeine?" someone asked? I have switched to half-caf. Still only drinking one cup a day. Could the effect of the one cup I drink a day be so dramatic as to effect my sleep nearly 16 hours after I ingest it? 

"What about the Epsom salt bath? That''s supposed to relax muscles which should make sleep easier." Definitely a possibility. 

I then wondered if it is the effect of getting sugar out of my system, which allegedly has the same motor revving qualities as caffeine. 

Whatever the reason, I hope it continues. And it is definitely something I'll be watching for the remainder of the cleanse, and beyond as I elect which new behaviors to keep as part of my standard m.o. 

Monday, October 5, 2015

The opposite of fasting - cleanse day 1

I'm doing a five-day food cleanse followed by a six-week diet with Liz Vequist in an effort to start feeling fit, active and inspired. The cleanse started on Monday, October 5, 2015.

*****

So what does one eat when one is doing a cleanse in the fall? Take a look.


Breakfast: Standard serving of old fashioned oats with 1/2 an apple, "better butter," and a sprinkle of flax seeds and pumpkin seeds.

Morning snack: 1/2 a European cucumber, with heavily washed peel intact, dipped in lemon/sesame dressing.

Lunch: Homemade kitchari, which is brown Basmati rice with mung beans and aromatic spices, topped with steamed cauliflower and carrots

Afternoon snack: steamed cauliflower

Dinner: Steamed greens with zesty flax seed dressing and a bowl of pumpkin miso soup topped with cilantro

Evening snack (if I decide I want it): 1 cup of frozen grapes, again, heavily washed
I'm definitely not hungry. In spite of eating far less animal protein than I usually do (as in, no animal protein), and putting in 9,100 steps today, 1,600 above my daily goal.

It is 6:30 PM and I haven't yet had my evening snack. Not sure I'll want it. I may keep the grapes to bring to work for an afternoon snack, when I tend to want a sugar pick me up. For now, I'm off to take an Epsom salt bath, which I'll follow-up with a cup of homemade turmeric tea.

By this time tomorrow, I hope the headache that is settling in on the right side of my forehead is gone, and I feel less sweaty.



Before - cleanse day 1

I'm doing a five-day food cleanse followed by a six-week diet with Liz Vequist in an effort to start feeling fit, active and inspired. The cleanse started on Monday, October 5, 2015.

*****

This is my cleanse "before" picture, taken Sunday, October 4.


I'm lighter than I was in high school, but feel bloated, heavy and physically tired at least 60% of the time. I'm tired of carrying extra weight around, particularly in my middle and my bottom. You can see my FitBit on my hip; I am "somewhat active," at least by the Livestrong.com standards. But I rarely free strong or energized. You can't see the bags under my eyes. I am a poor sleeper and suspect nutrition and overall health, combined with the very earliest stage of middle-age, are to blame. (And I did not "style" my hair in the morning, and, as a result, am sporting what my husband calls my "Pebbles" look.)

I am not expecting miracles over the next five days.  

However, I AM expecting to:
1. Lay the groundwork to kick my sugar addiction
2. Lay the groundwork to get troublesome lactose out of my system, once and for all
3. Learn what it feels like to invest time and money in my health.
4. Cheat on the "no coffee" rule. 

The cleanse is the precursor to a six-week "Slim, Fit & Sexy" program offered by Liz . It starts on October 22 and runs through December 10.

My expectations for "SFS"? 
1. Kick the sugar habit
2. Kick the lactose habit
3. Reconnect with fast, easy, healthy and delicious ways to eat a vegetarian diet
4. Sleep better
5. Feel less bloated, overcome with allergy symptoms
6. Lose up to 10 pounds
7. Maintain my commitment to 7500 daily steps on weekdays, 10000 on weekends 
8. Cheat on the "no coffee" rule 
9. Self-love and mercy

Stay tuned to see how I do. 

Sunday, October 4, 2015

$48 per day: Fall Cleanse Preparation

I'm doing a five-day food cleanse followed by a six-week diet with Liz Vequist in an effort to start feeling fit, active and inspired. The cleanse starts on Monday, October 5, 2015.

*****

Preparations started on Friday, October 2nd when I created a five-day meal plan with three meals and three snacks for each day. From there, I was able to create a shopping list and cooking "to do" list.

I first shopped on Friday, at the hippie grocery store near my home. I spent $55 on the following items:

  • Cold pressed flax seed oil
  • Organic tamari
  • Two types of seaweed 
  • Stress relief tea
  • Red lentils
  • Old fashioned oats
  • Sea salt
  • Whole mustard seeds
  • Black sesame seeds

On Saturday, while at Target with BMG, I found organic, sprouted mung beans for the kitchari recipe I wanted to make on Sunday. That meant I didn't need to go to Whole Foods at the yuppie mall. Score!

On Saturday, I also went to my local conventional grocery store to buy the rest of the supplies I needed. This meant I didn't buy organic. as it was suggested. In this case, I decided the differential in cost combined with my willingness to wash the fruits and veggies well made it an acceptable deviation. At the conventional grocery store, I spent an additional $65 on the following:

  • Chopped kale
  • Chopped spinach
  • Lemons
  • Apples
  • Grapes
  • Carrots
  • Cucumbers
  • Shallots
  • Cilantro
  • Acorn squash
  • Sugar pumpkin
  • Brown basmati rice
  • Brown rice
  • Decaf coffee
  • Chia seeds
  • Almond milk

I didn't buy, because we had it already:

  • Another acorn squash
  • Sweet potatoes
  • Parsley (from the garden!)
  • Cauliflower (from the garden!)
  • Fresh ginger
  • Summer squash and zucchini (from the garden!)
  • Coconut oil
  • Miso paste
  • Sunflower seeds, ground flax seeds, ground pumpkin seeds
  • Piles and piles of spices (e.g., tumeric, cinnamon, etc.)
It is suggested that one also cleanse one's home and one's mind of clutter before beginning, ostensibly so to allow the mind to focus on the body and healing. So, with the okay from BMG, I cleared our shared office of clutter. This cost me another $122 in supplies, including a cheap DIY bookshelf and cubbies for storing the piles of paper that lived on the floor. 


All told, NOT counting the fees charged by the nutritionist, the cleanse has cost me $242. For five days of activity / That's $48 per day.

Spendy.

Nearly 15 years ago, I went through the Your Money or Your Life program, in order to build a budget that reflects my values and aligns my spending with things and activities that make my heart go pitter pat. As a result of evaluating my spending relative to my values, I stopped spending so much on Starbucks, and added a line item in my budget for "adventures."

There has never been a line item for "my health and well-being."

The cleanse guide suggests identifying up to three things one wants to "mentally detox." I'm going to reframe this from a positive perspective and instead ask myself "What are three things I want to gain emotionally as a result of this experience." And I'll start with understanding if I value my health and well-being enough to budget and spend generously on it.