Kaeng Raeng Cleanse: Day Four

This morning I started with a Day Break smoothie and a bosc pear.

By the time I got to work I was already hungry. Yesterday I only wanted my smoothie for breakfast, but today I'd added a piece of fruit with my smoothie and was hungry two hours later. Hmmm.

For a snack I had an apple and six raw cashews. 30 minutes later, I was still hungry. It was a hungry day. I wondered if it was my body telling me, “I’m all clean. Please feel free to return to your normal life.”

For lunch I had the Into the Blue smoothie. I watered it down more and it was easier to drink. Since this one is my least favorite, I wanted to be done with it as soon as possible. Later I had a salad.

By 3pm my belly was grumbling again. I had a banana.

I feel like the whole day was about keeping hunger at bay. So weird. I felt very annoyed. I wanted some Chex Mix.

I trudged home in the snow. It's been snowing all day in Chicago. By the time I got to my door I was hungry...again. I sat on the couch and contemplated all of this. Then I decided that I was done and ate some steamed Brussels Spouts with a little Earth balance and a tiny sprinkle of salt. They were the best steamed Brussels Spouts ever.

When I got home from rehearsal I ate a piece of seared tofu, some lightly sauteed spinach, and some black beans.....and it was clean and blissful.

7am Day break smoothie, pear
10am Apple and six raw cashews
12pm Into the Blue Smoothie
1:30pm Salad
3pm Banana
6pm Steamed Brussels Spouts and an apple
9:30pm Tofu, spinach, black beans
Hot tea and water all day.

I am feeling a little failurey, but hey, I would be a huge success if I had just tried the three day cleanse right? Right.

My Take-Aways from the Kaeng Raeng Cleanse Experience

1. I feel a little cleaner and lighter.

2. I feel a little less tired by the end of the day.

3. I broke some bad habits that were forming like extra and not so healthy snacks (damn you Chex Mix) and too much added salt. I also don't desire diet soda.

4. I would suggest doing it in the summer when raw veggies and fruits are more desirable.

5. If you already have a pretty clean vegan diet, this isn’t for you. I think I would have cleaned out just as easily by watching my processed foods, diet soda, alcohol, salt, and striving for clean whole/real foods, and drinking lots of water.

6. If you’re a junk food vegan or are overloaded with meat and/or dairy and/or alcohol and/or rarely eat fruits and veggies you may find this helpful to get back on track.

7. Three days is enough.

8. Perhaps the most important take-away. I realized I was already doing great. After a year of weight loss, followed by a year to committing to the gym, over two years as a vegan, and sadly, over two decades of yo-yo dieting and weight gain/loss, my body and system have been through a lot.  Maybe there are some trouble spots that I will always obsess over (who doesn’t have those), but I am in great shape and I am a really healthy person. These are things to be proud of. I knew I worked hard, but I gained much more appreciation for what a good job I'm doing.

Maybe this cleanse didn’t do oh-so-much for me, but I am glad to sort of reset and break some bad habits. I think I needed to experience it so I could be certain and know for sure that I was where I needed to be and there was, in fact, nothing magical about it. I'm a Taurus. I'm stubborn. And now I know. And knowing is half the battle. GI Joe!