GYPSY GIRL'S GUIDE

Cleanse Juices, Spring Cleaning, 2007

Cleanse Day 1:

Yesterday I started my detox cleanse.

My boyfriend has done a cleanse several times according to Linda Page's book and he swears by its benefits! So he decided to coach me on it and also join in for motivation!

You can also check her site for specific programs and recipes.

Here is how it works ~ recipes included!

At Rising:
Mix psyllium husks in a glass of juice or water. We're using a tablespoon of ABC aerobic bulk cleanse mixed with half a bottle of Synergy/ probiotics drink per person.

Breakfast:
Soak dried figs, prunes and raisins in water; add 1 TB. molasses, cover, leave to soak over night. In the morning, discard dried fruits from soaking water and eat with a small glass of the liquid. Drink it about 10-15 minutes after the "rising drink" in the morning.

Mid-morning: (around 10 am for me)
This is one of my favorites: Glass of aloe vera juice with herbs/juice. I'm actually mixing the aloe vera juice with an once of apple juice for taste.

Lunch:
Small glass of potassium juice or glass of fresh carrot juice.

POTASSIUM JUICE
This is the single most effective juice for cleansing, neutralizing acids and rebuilding the body. It is a blood and body tonic that provides rapid energy and system balance.
For one 12-oz. glass:
Juice in the juicer 3 Carrots, 3 Stalks Celery, 1/2 Bunch Spinach, and 1/2 Bunch Parsley.

Mid-afternoon:
Large glass of fresh apple juice

~5pm:
Small glass of fresh carrot juice or glass of personal best v-8 juice

PERSONAL BEST V-8
A high vitamin/mineral drink for normalizing body balance. A good daily blend even when you're not cleansing.
(For 6 glasses)
Juice 6 to 8 Tomatoes (or 4 cups Tomato Juice), 3 to 4 Green Onions with tops, 1/2 Green Pepper, 2 Carrots, 2 Stalks Celery with leaves, 1/2 Bunch Spinach, washed, 1/2 Bunch Parsley, 2 Lemons, peeled, (or 4 TBS. Lemon Juice).

Supper:
Large glass of apple juice or papaya juice

Before Bed:
Repeat the herbal cleansers that you took on rising with a cup of mint tea.

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I'm using only organic vegetables and fruits. We have a juicer at home. Richard juices all the organic fresh ingredients for us in the morning and off we go with our labeled bottles to work! :D Did I mention I'm lucky to have a lovely "juice(y) man" at home?

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More detox juice recipes here!

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Day One

Yesterday was my first day ever on liquids only! I think I did great! Well... Actually, I think it helped that last week I was already cutting out wheat, caffeine, sugar, processed sweets, chicken and red meat as well as dairy products. I called it my prep cleanse and, honestly, that week was overall harder on me. The first 2-3 days without my morning latte gave me a huge headache!

So here is how things went on liquids... You may say I'm weird, because I actually like how the stuff tastes. I got up around 7:30am and had the rising drink right away! The psyllium husks with Synergy (guava/ kombucha) at rising is actually pretty refreshing. One could say it's a yummy sparkling drink! Today, (I'm getting ahead here) I had it with apple juice instead and it turned out to be a thicker drink (like a smoothie) with blueberry taste. Okay, That's wishful thinking! :) But its not bad, I promise. Drink slowly... It made me feel really full really fast.

Then, onto the prunes, raisins and figs water. Yum! It sure looks odd, but it's not hard to swallow. The molasses actually help balance the taste and almost make it less sweet (if that makes sense (?)). I would think it would be the opposite... But anyhow... I kind of liked it. It's very syrupy... Almost like pure maple syrup diluted.

By 10 am, I was actually ready for my mid morning snack. Hmm... Aloe Vera Juice! Lots of people hate the stuff. But again, I like it. Especially with a splash of apple juice in it. That worked really well as far as getting me to the next drink at 1pm. If anything, I felt only a bit light headed! Around noon I started to feel hungry and drank lots of water to compensate for the wait till 1pm!! The only thing I could say (complain) about the morning drinks is that they kind of made me cold. You know, I'm used to the hot foamy latte and I'm getting just cold juices here! Not even tea? I ended up drinking a couple of glasses of hot water through the morning to counter the cold feeling and that helped a lot!

Okay, but when it got to lunchtime, I confess that it was more of an emotional hunger. Getting my small glass and filling it with the potassium juice looked like a pretty sad lunch to me. :( At my office, people were heating up their food (which smelled delicious), others were going out to eat together... And the take outs kept coming in the door and flooding the room with curry and french fries aroma. Damn! So I decided to go for a walk with a friend, enjoy some sunshine, drink my juice on the way and top it with water, if needed. We had such a lovely walk (and talk), that by the end of it I realized: "My drink was actually enough!" So I guess I was just concerned with how small my portion looked! Good lesson...

The rest of the day went fine as well. Overall it was a fabulous day! Only a minor feeling of body ache towards the evening... It felt like I had gone to the gym (which I didn't... cuz I'm laying low this week ~ only walks). I was worried about dinner time too, because Rich and I always come home and have a glass of wine, cheese and crackers and then dinner... But when I got home, luckily, my wonderful man was waiting for me just so we could juice together. We had our one full glass of apple juice w/ ginger... And I'll tell you... It tasted so goooood!

At last, when I had my mint tea before bed, I just started noticing how light I felt. I was calm and with not one bit of anxiety regarding food. I was actually pretty giggly... Not sure if this was any (cool) side effect... I'll see if it keeps repeating itself... ;P

And as I write this, I'm almost through my 2nd day. I'm doing good, guys! Tiny bit hungrier today... But really energized! Tomorrow I'll let you know how Day 2 went!