Days 10 & 11 ------ Cravings Subsided!

Thank goodness, these past two days I haven't had the desire to quit the detox, though I haven't lost any more weight. Hopefully those two days when I wanted to gobble up everything in sight will be the worst for me. Today marked my halfway point and I really feel like I will be able to complete the program.

I notice that I haven't had the "healing crisis," just the one tired day. I attribute that to my good health as well as a basically healthy diet and no caffeine before the detox.

I have skipped the walk the last two days, but I have been so busy with baking banana bread (7 more loaves) and cleaning up around the house, that I am going to consider that as exercise. My sister and I are planning to go to the gym again tomorrow night.

Tomorrow it is back to class, hopefully I can throw a few more pots, last Thursday I only threw two vases. I'm wanting to make some more cups and bowls this week. I also need to find a subject for my upcoming painting. I love art.

Days 8 & 9 ------- Constant Cravings!

I'm thinking maybe the only thing keeping me on this diet is that I am still losing weight. 11 pounds in 8 days!

I just constantly want to eat something, anything! My family is really supportive though. They keep encouraging me. Every time I whine, "I want some food", they say something like, "I know you can make it, Mom" or "You are almost half way there, it won't be much longer."

So, that's about it. I am going on sheer will power right now. I'm no longer interested in the drink mixes, the juices or the soups. I'm just moving towards that 21 day goal. I keep telling myself 2 weeks will go by quick and life is fast, what's 2 weeks. I hoping to hit a point any day now when I will no longer want to scarf down everything in site. At this point I'm afraid that when I come off the detox, I'm going to go crazy and want to eat up all the things I have been missing in one day, thereby gaining back a bunch of weight. Yet, when I read about other people's experiences on this detox it is helpful. They always seem to get to a point when they are no longer interested in chewing at all and when they get off the diet they are eating very small portions. If they can do it, I can do it.

9 days down, 12 days to go!

Day 7 ------ Made A Mistake

I was so busy that I missed almost all my tea today. Then when I got home after I picked up the kids I took a nap. I slept for 2 hours, it was 4:30 when I got up, so I missed a drink. It was close to dinner, so I decided skip the drink and just make another sweet potato puree for dinner while I made my family hamburger helper. It was a huge mistake. I couldn't quit thinking of food all night. I just wanted to eat something. Everything sounded good. I kept imagining quitting the detox.

But I resisted, I must have some will power. I even did a lot of baking. Bananas again, we have too many. My husband's Dad brought us a ton of them in from Florida. They are all starting to ripen at once so I've been trying to use them up so they won't go to waste. Wednesday I made a banana pudding with chocolate pudding. Thursday night I baked 5 loafs of banana nut bread, I can give a few away to friends and take one to school. Next I'm going to try out fried bananas and also toffee bananas. But there are still plenty, so I am going to have to find more recipes.

I went to bed hungry again. It seems to be a big part of this program to go to bed hungry every night and get up starving every morning. And what's more, I dreamt of food again, I didn't lose any weight this morning and I did another circuit workout at the gym.

--This morning I dreamed that I was slicing potatoes, one of the potatoes turned into a chocolate egg. Then I gobbled it up.--

Day 6 ------ Not Much Going on Today

Today, I'm just taking it easy. Trying to get a few things done around the house. Hanging out laundry, doing dishes, cleaning up a bit, checking email & handling a few bills.

I did lose another 1 1/2 pound. A total of 8 1/2 pounds so far! Wow! And it's getting easier to go without my normal foods. No crazy cravings, though I am making a mental list of things I want to eat once I get off this program, but none of them are junk food. If I get a craving I just tell myself I can have that in 21 days.

I'm going to go for my pomodoro soup again for dinner and I'm looking forward to my detoxifying bath tonight.

Day 5 ---- First Day of Classes

I went to bed a bit early last night so I didn't take the time to blog. I took a few notes before bed so I could blog this morning.

I was a little worried I'd be tired again or hit my healing crisis while away from the house. I should've known I'd be fine. I love taking art classes. My spirits were high.

I drank the kidney cleanser this morning. I thought it might have me back to peeing constantly again, but it didn't.

I took my cooler to school and had my drinks on time. I didn't get hungry all day. I had a pureed sweet potato for dinner, yum! Instead of walking, my sister and I went to the gym and did our regular 35 minutes of circuit training. I got through it just fine but I wasn't my normal energetic self.

Day 4 ----- A Low Energy Day

This morning I felt weak and hungry. I did lose another pound. I had expected to feel pretty bad & have headaches the first few days, but all in all I have felt pretty good the whole time. I think that a lot of the people who get headaches are coffee or soda drinkers. I haven't had much caffeine for years, only the small amount found in dark chocolate.

I hoped my coffee enema would give me some energy. A lot of people say that it does. I was sort of worried that the caffeine would make me jittery. Next time I will make my coffee water before I take the kids to school, so it will have plenty of time to cool before 9am when I have it scheduled. I didn't put my little dog in her crate this time, which was a mistake because she scratched & whined at the door a lot. She thinks she has to follow me everywhere, separation anxiety. I guess it gave me a little boost, because I didn't feel like napping anymore afterward. I wasn't all energetic though, like I had hoped. Maybe if I had held it in a little longer than the few minutes I managed.

My dinner soup was good tonight. I juiced lots of tomatoes, lots of garlic, some spinach and basil, then cooked the pulp and juice in a pot for a few minutes. It kinda tasted like the pomodoro that I make with pasta. It tasted good, but gave me bad breath & a stomach ache. So I had a cup of hot peppermint tea & an all natural peppermint oil mint. It helped a little, but my stomach still feels yucky, so I'm going to have another cup of hot peppermint tea before bed.

Though I've been little tired all day, I still took my evening walk with my sister, her daughter and my dog. This evening I had a real sense of pride in myself for doing this and I really feel like I will be able to complete the entire 21 days & the 7 days of easing off the detox.

Day 3 - A Strange Dream, 2 More Pounds & A Sketch

--Last night I dreamed of chewing food ... then suddenly I was in an old car of mine, a '79 maroon Cougar. It had no brakes. I sped downhill into a wooded area and ran smack into a bookcase. The bookcase broke into many colored pieces, then I woke up.--

Because I slept in, I was able to avoid the VegeSplash altogether. I really hate that stuff. I may do the diet with just the other 2 mixes. I got the juicer today and used it to make my green bean & onion soup. I added red pepper & Bragg's, it tastes pretty good. Thanks Sonya, for reminding me to juice when I make soup.

I weighed in this morning at 145.5, that's 2 more pounds! A total of 5 pounds in 2 days! Even if this is water weight, (no salt & alot of peeing) I'm impressed. It takes me so long and so much work to lose 5 pounds. I could never have imagined losing that much in 2 days. I can tell the difference in the way my body looks too, I was doughier before I began the detox. I decided I better measure up so I will know how many inches I'm losing.

I drew a sketch of what my body looks like & put my measurements on it:
arms-11 1/2", breast-35 1/2", under breast-31", waist-31", at bellybutton-37 1/2", at belly pooch-42", at butt-42 1/4", at saddlebag-43", thigh-24 1/2". A year later I removed the sketch.

DAY 2 ------ 3 Pounds Lighter!

I woke up this morning hungry and said to myself, "I don't know how I'm going to make it through another day." Then I stepped on the scale and saw that I lost 3 pounds since yesterday! So, I said, "I can definitely do this."

Not much difference between today and yesterday. I find that I really enjoy the BerrySplash and the Essential Greens, but the prospect of the VegeSplash was daunting. So I had another green drink in place of the first VegeSplash. Then for the 2nd, I decided to just mix it with half the water and chug it. It was a no go, I got through half of it again. So I was pretty hungry by the time my next drink came around. My soup wasn't much better tonight. So I decided to boil up a sweet potato while I was on my walk. I pureed it with cinnamon, stevia and vanilla. It was really smooth and pretty good. I enjoyed that. I know I'm supposed to stick to mostly greens in the soups, so I promise myself that I won't do that again (very often). Tomorrow I'm going to try just green beans and onions, that is a familiar taste, so I'm hoping it will be okay. I also think I might like the creamy broccoli recipe in the book.

Day #2 finished, 19 more days to go!

DAY 1

All right, I've almost made it through day #1. I kept track of everything today so I could blog it tonight.

I weighed in this morning at 150.5 & I haven't measured up yet, but I will.

The first 2 drinks aren't too bad or too good either. I've been blending them, adding raspberry tea ice cubes & a packet of stevia. I've been drinking them through a straw, seems quicker to get them down. The Berry Splash is better than the Essential Greens (very berry flavor).

My home version of a colonic (a water enema with lemon as per the book) was okay... I took the opportunity while everyone was gone this morning, put my little dog in her pen, tuned the radio to Spa 73 and set up in the bathroom. It took me about 45 minutes start to finish. I couldn't hold all the water the way she describes in the book. I had to get up 3 times to go, then go back to "refill."

I've been pretty busy (cleaning carpets) so I didn't think about food much all morning. I must have peed 4 times an hour. By noon, I was hungry, so I was glad the VegeSplash was coming up, but it tasted horrible. I added stevia, but only got through 1/2 of it. By 2pm, I was really hungry and kept eyeballing the bananas on the table. But Vegesplash was on the schedule again, so I made some blueberry tea with stevia and put it in the freezer to mix the VegeSplash with. It didn't help much, it was still pretty horrible. I tried to get it down, but could only sip it here and there. To ignore my hunger I made a few phone calls and began prepping my soup in the crock pot. It smelled pretty good and I decided to scoop some out to cook quickly on the stove so I could get some "free" soup broth. I'm thinking tomorrow I may trying making the VegeSplash with the "free" soup. So when the soup was done, I separated it and pureed the vegetables. It didn't taste too good. I was hungry, so I spent some time nursing the 3 options I had: the soup, the broth & the VegeSplash. I don't know which tasted best or worst. I just kept switching between the 3 different textures although similar flavors. I got through about 1/2 of the VegeSplash again. I decided to go ahead and start a different soup to try for dinner, Roasted Garlic Cauliflower. I told myself I'm not breaking this diet! I can do this!

So by this time I have lost interest in cleaning the carpets and having thoroughly enjoyed my 3 o'clock raspberry iced tea, I am ready to lay down for a short nap, trying to get through to the next hour when I have another drink mix. No such luck on the nap, about the time I go to sleep, my old man calls and I go run a short errand for him, but it's 4 o'clock when I get back and time for my next drink. Essential Greens is on the schedule but I decide I deserve the tastier BerrySplash after the yucky VegeSplash afternoon. I decide that it is tasty, but I see that it turns my teeth and lips VERY purple, more so than my wine ever did. So that's something I have to watch out for.

My garlic cauliflower puree wasn't as bad as it smelled, but I'm saving it for tomorrow and eating my spinach tomato that I made in the crockpot for dinner tonight. It wasn't too good but I managed to eat most of it and 1/2 the broth. I have another serving to put in the fridge, but I'm not sure if I will want it again. I left dinner thinking that if I could eat that then surely I can chug the VegeSplash tomorrow.

So, I'm finished with eating for the day, as I sit here my belly is growling, but I'm filling it with raspberry iced tea and water. I still have a shot of aloe vera juice to drink for the night and maybe some hot tea before bed. I'm leaving now to go for a walk with my sister and tell her about my day. I'm ready to go to bed and start day #2 tomorrow. I hear my husband downstairs cleaning the carpets. How nice, but I know he worked all day so I feel a little guilty.

I'm totally going to do this for 21 days!

20 days to go!

Pushing My Start Date to Friday

Unfortunately I didn't get my products in the mail today. However they are on their way, so I haven't lost hope. I got Dr Roni's book yesterday and have devoured it already.

I'm actually glad to have a couple extra days to prepare. I need to get my kitchen cleaned up and prepare myself a counter and shelf space. I need to rework my schedule to add in the elimination therapies she talks about in the book. I have checked into colonics and even though they are affordable in my area ($180 for 3 sessions) I can't really afford them right now. If I decide to do the detox again I think I will do the colonics. This time I will be doing a home version (an enema) weekly. I am also going to do the coffee enema, the kidney cleanse drink and I'm looking forward to the detoxifying baths. Each of these are done weekly while on the detox to help flush out all the toxins I'm releasing into my body.

I have picked up a few more items. My expense tally is growing by leaps and bounds. I'm to the point now where I only have a few things left to buy: goldenrod tincture, the juicer, vegetables and spices as needed, distilled water as needed, and herbal tea as needed. I may or may not need an extra bottle of the drink mix, most people buy 2 of the Vegesplash. When I finish the 21 days, I will also have to buy the protein shakes ($20 at GNC).

My sister is being really supportive. She is excited about seeing how I do and wants to start on the program herself as soon as she can. She says she will take this week to prepare herself (more mentally than anything else) and she wants to start the detox next Friday, 1 week behind me. This makes me feel great. I'm happy that she wants to do it too. It's nice to have a close detox partner.

I'm Getting a Little Anxious

I'm ready to get started on this diet and get it over with.

I am still really focused, checking the google group daily, gathering soup and juice recipes, typing up my schedules.

I have decided to go the first few days without a juicer, but I figure by this weekend I will be ready for a change from the mixed drinks. I have a $15 coupon I can use at KMart on the 19th to pick up a juicer.

My sister really seems to want to do the detox diet too. She even tried to get me to wait until she got her stuff before I started, but I was like, "No Way." I am in the mindset to do it now, I'm not holding off any longer. I'd start tomorrow if I had my stuff.

I checked out the price for colonics in my area. I can get 3 for $180, which seems reasonable compared to what I have read others saying. But, I still don't have the money for it, so I doubt I will be doing that part of the diet.

I have decided to add an expense tally to the blog so I can track how much this is costing me, so far a little under $200, but I will be adding more.

I am pretending today is my birthday, because my birthday will occur in the first week of the diet. My family is going out to dinner tonight. I am going to have a prime rib and french fries, followed by a glass or two of wine. I may even have a dessert. My last supper. I plan to eat light for the next couple days so maybe I won't be so shocked at the fewer calories once I start the detox.

Feeling Good About Doing This

I think I am finally in the right mindset to do this detox. I can't wait until I get started next Wednesday. My sister is considering doing it too, but I think she will wait to see how I do on it first. She keeps telling me it's "hard core." She's right, no chewing for 21 days is hard core. I'm ready for it though. I have been obsessively meticulously making hour-by-hour schedules for each day of the week while detoxing. Focusing on this so much is getting me prepared mentally.

Yesterday I had a mini-crisis with my detoxing products order. Turns out the A1nutrition site was 'out of stock' on most of the items. I didn't want to move my start date so I canceled my order from them and went to another site, 911healthshop.com and got the 4 main items with priority shipping for around the same price. I do still have to buy the aloe pills & enzymes. I also want to get the Bragg's Liquid Amino. From what I read on the Google group, this makes a big difference with the soup flavoring.

I'm proud of myself for working out everyday this week and for not going crazy eating all the foods I want before the detox. I have to confess I have been eating a lot of grilled cheeses with cheddar and feta, but those aren't too bad, only about 210 calories each. I have also been eating dark chocolate everyday and last week I was having wine every night. I have decided that on Sunday when we go out for my early birthday dinner, it will be the last day I have beef, bread, wine and dark chocolate before the detox. I want to eat light on Monday and Tuesday so my body is not too shocked when I go down so much in calorie intake. I have already made the switch to drinking the distilled water and caffeine free herb teas. I have read some people complaining about the taste of the distilled water but it tastes fine to me and I've been a spring and tap water drinker for a long time. So far, the tea I like is Raspberry Zinger, it smells wonderful and with the stevia tastes a bit like watered down kool-aid.

5 days until the detoxing begins!

I'm Committed Now

Or maybe I should be committed. We'll soon find out. Yesterday, I ordered all the stuff I needed to get started on this diet.

I got everything for less than $100 at A1nutrition.com. This was much less expensive than I could find at the MV site, Ebay or GNC. I will have to go back in a couple weeks to order the protein shakes, which I will need when coming off the detox. I also ordered the book, 21 Pounds In 21 Days from Amazon, that was another $20. I will still have to make a trip to town to get distilled water, more herbal tea choices, organic soup vegees and the Bragg Amino Acid for seasoning my soups.

I should receive everything by Monday or Tuesday, so I have decided to start the diet on Wednesday, August 15th. That will give me 6 days on the program before I start school.

I have made pages and pages of notes from all the information I have found about the diet.
I downloaded my personal daily schedule from 21pounds21days.com.

I have written myself up a workout routine for the 3 weeks I will be on the plan.
The diet only calls for a 1 mile walk per day. I am thinking that since I already workout vigorously 3-4 times a week, I am going to continue my regular routine 3 times a week and add in the 1 mile walk on the other 4 days. 1 mile doesn't seem like much to me, so I am going to increase the distance by a half mile per week and add in speedier intervals twice a week. I also added in a yoga workout once a week for relaxation and most importantly, I am definitely doing an ab routine 4 times a week. I have a 9-week Ab book routine that I have tried to get into several different times, but have never gotten past the 1st week, not because it's hard, it's not, it takes about 10 minutes. Maybe that's why I can't get into it, because it seems so minimal. But I know these exercises will work and getting rid of my belly is my greatest desire.

Hopefully, spending the money, setting a start date, making a schedule and really focusing on this constantly will keep my motivation up and I will be detoxing next week.

I'm Getting Ready To Change My Life!

Hello World! Welcome to my diet adventure.

I've been contemplating doing the Martha's Vineyard Diet Detox ever since I heard Robin Quivers talking about it. She actually did the diet everyday for 3 weeks while doing her radio show. Dr Roni was in the studio with her bringing her drinks and stayed in her home at night. The diet promises to shed 21 pounds in 21 days, Robin lost almost 30 pounds!

When I started researching this diet I found the blog of a girl called chickycola. She blogged every day of her 21 day detox. I found her experience inspiring and was riveted to read every detail of her detox. She had a lot of bad days and even more good days. At the end of her 21 days, she was full of energy and had lost about 25 pounds. It is because of her that I have decided to blog my own detox experience. Thank you chickycola.

I would also like to say thank you to all the people in the '21 pounds in 21 days' Google group. I have found their experiences with the diet to be a great source of information.