No you cannot eat a steak on day 11! It is very important to EASE OFF the cleanse properly. One of my girlfriends had a turkey sandwich on day 11 and felt sick after. Yea, I warned her and she didn’t listen. You’ve gone this far you can last a couple more days. If you haven’t read my first journal, click here. For my second journal, click here. 

Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner for Day 11

Day 11 (August 11): I woke up this morning and was happily surprised with a pitcher full of freshly squeezed orange juice with the pulp…I LOVE my Mom!!! Freshly squeezed OJ has always been yummy but this tasted AMAZING! It made me realize how I take the littlest things for granted sometimes. In addition to the OJ, I aslo added a new tea today to my regimine….ONO Serenity Now. The base of this tea is a green rooibos, which aids in the relief of stomach and indigestive problems like nausea, vomiting, heartburn, stomach ulcers and constipation. I didn’t want to add caffeine to my system yet so this caffeine free blend was perfect and so delicious! The rest of the day I continued to have more OJ and alternated between Serenity Now and Holy Detox. Around 6pm Mom I went to the grocery store and it was pure torture. Everything just smelled so amazing. I picked up a bunch of parsley and it was as if I never smelled parsley before! I swear I could smell the dirt on the leaves. I bought a bunch of veggies for the soup I’m going to make tomorrow. Stanley Burrough’s Master Cleanse said to not add spices to the soup, but anyone who knows me, knows I’ve gotta have spice in my life.  :)  If I can drink cayenne pepper and salt water for 10 days, a little oregano and pepper is not going to kill me. I can’t wait to make my soup tomorrow!  A cup of Serenity Now and I’m off to sleep.

Day 12 (August 12):  Yay!!!  Food….vegetable soup!  I was so excited to make this today. I had 2 cups of freshly squeezed OJ and started making the soup. This is not one of my gourmet recipes, but trust me it will taste like 5 star dining after 11 days of drinking juice. Here is my recipe:

1.5 C pasta
2 C mirepoix  ( 1 C diced onions, 1/2 C carrots, 1/2 C celery)
2 C beans of your choice (I chose cannelloni)
1 c. stewed tomatoes
3 cloves garlic (crushed)
1  bay leaf
1 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. dill
1/2 tsp. coriander
1 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. cayenne
2 T parsley
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

* Handful of spinach (optional)

Combine the above ingredients in a large soup pot, cover with water. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  Throw in a handful of spinach about 10 minutes before the soup is ready.

You’re supposed to just have the broth but I couldn’t help it and ate everything! I know my body and I knew that it was ready for some substance. I ate mainly broth with some veggies for lunch with a cup of ONO Endurance. This tea has caffeine in it so I only had half of the amount of tea….1/2 tsp per 8 oz of hot water. Wow, I’ll have to tell you…I was ready to take on the world. The little amount of caffeine in that tea gave me so much energy. I had a great amount of energy already from the detox but the tea took it to another level. I did some vinyassa yoga and felt amazing! I enjoyed 2 cups of Holy Detox before bed and was excited for the next day! Salad,  a croissant…YAY…and Slimming Goddess for me!

Day 13 (August 13): You won’t believe it! I’m craving the lemonade today so I made myself 2 cups before devouring my yummy croissant!!! Yes, I had a croissant today, a chocolate one and it tasted so good! I had a cup of Slimming Goddess with the croissant to burn the calories. I wanted to maintain my weight so this was the perfect tea. I just loved how I felt and the way I looked the past few days. I had a spinach salad for lunch with delicious strawberries.  YUMMY! It was so nice to have real food and I wasn’t craving meat at all….only veggies, fruits, and of course croissants.  I felt amazing and so proud of myself!

YUMMY!

This was not just a 10 day thing for me. My goal was to start taking better care of my body both physically and mentally. Here are a few tips on achieving a long-term healthy lifestyle.

1. Small changes over time are the most likely to stick. If you want to eat more vegetables, then sneak in that extra serving. Add your favorite veggies into every meal. If you need more whole grains, add barley or whole wheat pasta to your soup.

2. Keep saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, and sodium low, while keeping fiber, potassium, iron, calcium, and vitamins A and C high. Be sure to look at the serving size and the number of servings per package. The serving size affects calories, amounts of each nutrient, and the percentage of Daily Value.

3. Watch what you drink! Did you know that Vitamin water is one of the worst drinks? Coca-Cola’s VitaminWater is more likely to increase a regular consumer’s chances of being obese or developing diabetes, says the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). Each VitaminWater bottle contains 33 grams of sugar…you’re getting almost a Coke’s worth of sugar and calories! Stick to natural, pure drinks that are loaded with antioxidants such as ONO Endurance, Antioxidant Junkie, Tee Time and Mighty Athena. Keep an eye out for my next blog : World’s Unhealthiest Drinks…coming soon.

4. If you’re looking to maintain the weight you lost, you should:

         * get at least 25 min of excercise a day

         * eat healthier (see #1)

         * stay away from artificial sweeteners. Please read my blog: My Favorite Sweetener For Your Tea.

         * incorporate energizing, SLIMMING teas into your diet. Please read my blog: Why You’re Not Losing Those Last 5 lbs!

                    * Slimming Goddess

                    * Endurance

                    * Mighty Athena

                    * Geisha Green

                    * Holy Detox - great everyday tea.

***ONO Tea offer until April 15th, 2009: Receive a Free ONO Detox Sampler Bag with any purchase over $25.

Disclaimer: Although this worked for me, I am not saying it will work for you or should be construed as any type of medical advice or treatment instructions.  If you start any type of cleanse or treatment you should always ask your primary care physician.