which reset button works for you?

this week i did my third 3-day juice cleanse.  i raved about it the first time around, daydreamed about cheese the second time, and this time i spent the 72 hours crafting a list of all of the things i would eat when i was done.  i even ate avocado at midnight on the last night because i was jittery and nauseous.  i get that it might be a good reset for your body, but i've decided that i no longer need to reset my body in that way.  i like food too much, and i don't know that NOT eating solid food for three days is the best thing ever.  especially when i almost lunged at a 9 year old because she smelled like cool ranch doritos. as summer vacation approaches, i am going to "reset" my body by replacing lunch or dinner 3 times a week with healthy salads, and breakfast 3 days a week with a smoothie.  i will reset by being physically active every day and keeping to a schedule.  and i will reset myself by not feeling bad if i want to eat a handful of white cheddar cheese-its as a snack.  ok, two handfuls.

the list!

summer!  sweet, sweet summer vacation!  everyone loves summer but teachers love it more than anyone.  it's not just because we don't have to go to work--don't get me wrong, that is pretty great, but there is something so wonderful about not talking all day and sleeping through the night without waking up in a panic and making a mental to-do list.  i haven't heard my last name once in an entire week and i have read every night for at least 20 minutes without falling asleep with the light on.  it's pretty magical.  as usual, i have set some summer goals for myself.  i have a tendency to be super motivated for the first two weeks and then fall into summer insomnia where i sleep all day and watch netflix/troll the internet all night.  i need a list because a) i need structure and b) i love making lists in little notebooks!

1. read!
i have so much reading to do!  i set a goal for myself to read 25 books in 2013 and after a fantastic start, i sort of lost my momentum.  i'm on my 10th book and i need to make the effort to read every day.  i am also starting a new job in the fall where i will be teaching reading and writing for the first time in a few years, and i am definitely behind in my knowledge of children's literature.  i have a couple of trips planned this summer and i'm hoping that sitting poolside will be the perfect setting to help me reach my goal.

2. catch up on projects around the house
mike and i moved into our apartment a little over two years ago and, while i decorated like crazy for the first few months, i definitely hit a wall with some of the projects i had planned.  there are a couple of pieces of furniture i need to buy, a wall to paint, and some closets to purge and then our apartment will almost be done!  someday we will get rid of the cheapest of the ikea furniture, but for now it is serving its purpose.

3. sweat it out
i was doing sooo well for sooo long when it came to eating healthy and going to the gym and then the last month...yikes.  seamless = dangerous.  outdoor patio happy hour = kryptonite.  this summer i need to make going to the gym a priority and keep healthy snacks around the house so that my netflix addiction is not paired with a junk food addiction.

4. new york city
get out!  do things! live in new york city not just in my apartment! sometimes oppressive heat and humidity makes leaving my central air cave of an apartment difficult to leave, but i need to take advantage of how light the crowds are during the week at some quintessential new york locations.

i think that's it.  i have obvious goals with regard to my new job but those goals are separate and will be for a post later this summer!

oh get cleansed

i basically had a stomach ache for the entire month between thanksgiving and christmas.  holiday parties, birthdays, drinks with friends "before the new year" (which always ended with me eating pizza for dinner)...there was no end to my consumption.  i decided that in the new year i would get back to tracking with weight watchers, use couch to 5k to get into jogging, and do a juice cleanse.  the juice cleanse was less about weight loss and more about resetting my system.  i was also very nervous about it because 1) i couldn't imagine not eating for 3 days and 2) i don't really like juice.

 

i decided to order the blueprint cleanse because a blogger i follow did it, they had a "beginner" level, and they have really fantastic and attractive marketing.  

blueprint recommends preparing for three days by cutting out meat, dairy, caffeine and alcohol.  i had cut coffee out of my diet in october after some serious caffeine withdrawal headaches, and i had been doing weight watchers since the beginning of the month, so i was already in pretty good shape as far as restraint was concerned.  

day 1

i had my hot lemon water and was basically procrastinating that first green juice.  it seemed like a really intense way to start my cleanse!  i would have preferred to start with the pineapple-apple-mint or the spicy lemonade.  the green juice was not as scary as i thought.  it definitely had an intense after taste so i will admit to not breathing through my nose as i drank. the rest of the juices were decent.  the pineapple-apple-mint was a little too sweet, i really liked the lemonade, the apple-carrot-beet was on par with the green juice, and the cashew was kind of chalky.  i didn't quite finish this juice because i had taken it to the movies (in my cooler bag!) but it tasted kind of gross when it was no longer cold.  i wasn't hungry at all and experienced none of the side effects listed.  i took a VERY long nap in the afternoon but i think that fatigue was based more on being tired from my work week, not from the juice. 

day 2

this is the day i was most nervous about.  from the reviews i had read, it sounded like most people were excited for day 1 so they didn't feel hungry or cranky, but that day 2 was really difficult because they wanted real food.  for me, day 2 was no different than day 1 except i actually liked all of the juices more.  i'm convinced that the reason i have been side-effect free is because i gave up coffee so long ago.  i think i would be a mess right now had i tried to give up caffeine 4 days ago.  i also think the veggies/fruit only prep helped me because, honestly, i was hungrier then than i have been on the cleanse.  tomorrow will be my last cleanse day, but my first day at work while on the cleanse. 

day 3

this was my only day at work while cleansing.  the green juice, while not horrible while lounging in my pajamas watching west wing on netflix on sunday morning was very difficult to face at 6:00 in the morning.  because i stand and talk all day at work, it was harder to hydrate i felt a little lightheaded a few times.  by the time i was down to my last two juices i had really come to enjoy the red juice and i decided that i didn't really like the cashew milk as much as everyone else did.  i appreciated that it made me feel more "full" than the other juices, but my preference was for the more refreshing juices.

overall it was a positive experience and i'm thinking about doing another one before summer starts.  i've lost some weight and i definitely feel lighter and smaller.