Vegetarian Kale Soup

This is what I just finished making, and I just had a bowl of the broth. It was delicious, and super salty, maybe reduce the amount of bouillon. I will be eating the soup including vegetables tonight for dinner.

This combines the Caldo Verde soup recipe and the Vegetarian Kale Soup

Ingredients:

2 tbsps of olive oil

1 onion chopped

2 sticks of celery chopped

1 clove garlic minced

6 small potatoes, peeled, cubed

2 carrots, cubed

8 cups of water

6 tsps of vegetable bouillon

1 (19oz) can of rinsed cannellini beans (or I chose chick peas)

1 tbsp fines herbes or Italian seasoning

1 tbsp parsley flakes

1 bunch of kale, rinsed, chopped (remove stems)

fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large pot over medium heat, cook onion & celery in 2 tbsps of olive oil (not extra virgin, just regular olive oil) for 2 minutes. Add minced garlic, stir for 1 or 2 minutes. Stir in potatoes and carrots and cook, stirring constantly for 3 more minutes. Pour in water, bouillon and spices, bring to a boil, and let boil gently for 15 minutes. Add chickpeas and kale and stir, bring back to a gentle boil for 5 minutes, until kale is tender and jade green. Season with pepper to taste. ENJOY!

8 servings

First Day After The MC

Today, I feel like Alexandre Bilodeau! :oD Ok, slight exaggeration, but I do feel like a winner. What an accomplishment, I've successfully completed The Master Cleanse.

I am now 11 lbs lighter, (+ 5lbs through exercise in January= 16 lbs lighter since January 1, 2010). This wasn't a New Year's resolution, I was inspired while out for lunch with Sandi in late January. It was the day before she was starting her MC, which she successfully completed. Thanks again Sandi!

I thought today was going to be very difficult without the lemonade, and orange juice sounded so acidic to me and I figured I would be SO hungry - I couldn't imagine drinking that all day. But it's noon, and I've only had one 8oz glass of freshly squeezed organic orange juice (a touch diluted), and I'm working on my second glass now. My mouth has never watered looking at the inside of an orange before! Who knew how scrumptious they look? ha!

There's rumblin' in by tummy, too funny! I feel pretty good, I had a small b.m. this morning, so that's good. I found myself impatient this morning, I have windows of being hungry - but I get over those and try to focus on something else.

I have to keep eating very well for the next month in order to keep this weight off. G.r.a.d.u.a.l re-integration of food is key.

During my 10 Days, I never noticed that I wasn't chewing for that whole time period. Man, did I ever notice this morning! I was chewing the hell out of the pulp and pieces of orange, chew chew chew, YUM! I'm so crazy happy right now. What a high!

Now looking for soup recipes with kale - I picked some up yesterday, and I've never cooked it before but I've eaten it plenty of times in restaurants. How crazy is that? I will definitely make Caldo Verde (Portuguese Green Soup) some day soon, it sounds so good! Check out Best Fresh Kale Recipes for 20 recipes. Gotta try the baked kale chips - maybe this could be the snack to replace my chips! And when I went to Ana's for dinner, she had edamame - I've got to pick some of those up too, boil in water with sea salt, they are SO good.

It's 1:00pm, now off to cook my soup, yay! Have a great week everyone, keep healthy & happy! This blog isn't over, keep checking in! ♥ xSx ♥

The MC - FINAL DAY 10!!! I MADE IT!!

(still haven't figured out how to fix the date & time, it is Sunday, February 14, 2010)

I feel like a Gold-winning Olympian this morning! I made it, I MADE IT!! Who would've guessed that I could make it through. Well, Sandi did. Thank you Sandi for sharing your experience, and motivating me to succeed as well!

♥ Happy Valentine's Day everyone ♥

I'm thinking of doing the salt water tomorrow morning before breakfast. I saw someone mention that they did this on their first day off. Something to research & think about today. I don't think there's much to it since a lot of people do this cleanse for way longer than the 10 days. I read the longest was something like 374 days. Obviously they belong in a mental hospital. REALLY.

I've picked up some healthy food magazines, Nadia will be doing a consultation with me to do a Kitchen Cleanse (food content) on Feb 27th, since she's a pro at it, and she's even taking me shopping to the stores she knows, to pick up the food I need in my fridge & cupboards to replace the bad stuff, i.e., processed foods etc. If you're interested in her services, she is a Registered Holistic Nutrionist, contact me for her information. She ROCKS.

Robert is out with Maxine having pancakes & bacon in a restaurant, wish I was there!

My Goals:

• Buy & cook healthy food
• Continue to exercise 3 to 4 times a week
• Eat when I'm hungry (listen to my body)
• Stop eating when I'm full

Day 1 off-cleanse menu plan: (note: 1st day off the cleanse should be orange juice only all day)
Breakfast: diluted orange juice (drink very slowly)
Snack: if very hungry: orange, peppermint tea
Lunch: orange
Snack: broth from vegetable soup
Dinner: Vegetable soup with a rye wafer (small portion)

Day 2 off-cleanse menu: same as Day 1

Day 3 off-cleanse menu:
Breakfast: diluted orange juice (drink very slowly)
Snack: if very hungry: orange, peppermint tea
Lunch: vegetable soup
Snack: orange
Meeting Kayla for dinner :o)
Dinner: Vegetable salad and some wine! (was hoping to have shrimp with the salad, but the book calls for no meat, fish, eggs, bread, pastries, coffee, or milk)

Day 4 off-cleanse menu:
Back to normal diet - but I plan on keeping away from dairy (mucous forming) & meat (difficult to digest) for awhile.

Vegetable Soup recipe:
spring water, onion, celery, carrots, potatoes, peas, chickpeas, cayenne (do not overcook vegetables)

Through this cleanse, I feel like I have exorcised all of the bad shit from 2009, Goodbye! And Hello to 2010, a clean, healthy, happy, and prosperous year! Wishing you the same, with love.

Check in for my First Day After The MC!!

The MC - Day 9

DAY 9, NEUF! NINE!! DEVET!!! NUEVE!!!! NAIN!!!!!

Woke up feeling great this morning, pretty tired from Maxine's coughing during the night, but I beat my cold, and I'm feeling awesomely thin. Robert says even my face looks different/thinner and I have rosy cheeks today. I put my new watch on for the first time in a couple of weeks, and the band is one notch tighter to fit my wrist. I can't tell you how amazing I feel. (yeah, then let's talk tonight, and we'll see how I'm feeling, ugh. The mornings are always amazing.)

I went back to doing the salt water this morning, sweet sweet flush. (uhm, well it's really salty but you know what I'm sayin'.) It's 2pm, and I've only had 2 lemonades so far since I went back to bed & slept from 10am to 12:30pm. That felt great. Had 2 more by 4:30pm. Went out briefly to run some errands - nothing much to report. I had a total of 6 lemonades today.

I'm trying to plan ahead for the days I'm coming off the cleanse, so I started reading some healthy food recipes, it's riveting, but making me feel kinda ill thinking about the food, my mouth actually watered. I put it away, what was I thinking??

It's late at night and my cheeks are still rosy - like I got wind burn or some sun. It's a bit odd, but it looks good! I felt pretty good all day, but now I'm getting tired (it's 10:00pm), just drinking my tea & some water, then to bed! Tomorrow is a big BIG day. Sigh, I'm so happy.

The MC - Day 8

Day 8, REALLY??? Day 8? Thank the Lord.

I had a bad night's sleep due to Maxine's coughing, I'm also fighting a cold so I did some snoring last night unfortunately. Probably no workout today, I should take it easy since I worked out 4 times in the past 5 days I think, and I should focus on resting and getting better.

This morning, I decided to do a laxative tea instead of the salt water, which is an option in the book. I regretted it. Instead of being in the bathroom for one hour straight, I was in & out of the bathroom until 3pm! With the salt water, you just get it over with, you know? Way better, like taking off a band-aid! Whish! (without the pain). I also had more cramping with the tea. At least when I drink the tea before going to bed, the cramps don't wake me, or maybe I don't get cramps during the night? I had a total of 7 lemonades throughout the day. The first lemonade of the day was really delicious, love the warmth of the cayenne going down. The last few of the day are tough, I get a sore throat and I'm just basically sick of it to tell you the truth. Are you surprised??

(TMI coming up) I'm starting to see more 'stuff' coming out, coughed up some brownish mucous. Out Out damned mucous, toxins, et al!

Went to the Big Carrot to pick up more lemons. Lemons at the Big Carrot are the equivalent to hot cakes apparently, cuz they sure are selling like 'em! How do I know? Everytime I go, they are different kinds of lemons. And it's a HUGE bin! So this whole neighbourhood seem to be on this cleanse, or they're making LOTS of lemon drop martinis! (M-m-m Dirty Gin Martini.)

I lost another inch on my waist, so total of 2 inches!

I keep wondering whether this cleanse has made me more food obsessed. I seem to be thinking of food more it seems! Even when I'm not hungry. My brain is SO confused it's not funny. It's good to shake things up once in awhile, ha! So I will have to be super vigilant in the next month to eat slowly, chew my food very well, eat my meals on salad plates as opposed to dinner plates to watch portions, keep away from chips / processed foods / fast food, or else I'm going to gain all this weight back!! I will continue to workout, and hopefully I will be able to maintain my ideal weight.

I spent about 5 hours in my study, tidying up, clearing out, re-organizing. What a great feeling. That was a workout in itself! Overall, it was a productive day, but it was really tough. My patience is wearing thin, thinking of food too much, I'm restless! I think the last time I haven't gone out for this length of time is right after Maxine was born!! I need a good night out - wanna go to Velvet Underground Thursday Feb 18th?

Watched the Olympics Ceremony while watching for my sister Suzanne who's there!!! So exciting, and the ceremony was super trippy! Sipped my tea, then went to bedz-z-z-z...

The MC - Day 7

Wow, Day 7. It seems like Day 1 was about a month ago. Woke up at 7am, so too late to do the salt water before bringing Maxine to school. Woke up groggy, 8 hours sleep, very nice. I did a few stretches, no b.m. Once I get up, I realize something, how much lighter I feel! My body is definitely different overnight. I look in the mirror, and seriously, what a difference around my middle section. And when putting my face cream on , even my face feels skinny. THAT was weird. When I look in the mirror tonight, it doesn't look different I don't think?

I called Sandi today - she introduced me to this cleanse. I had talked to her when she was on her Day 7, so I wanted to call to give her an update AND set up a date for a lunch next week! Let's eat!! I remember her mentioning to drink a lot of water, and thankfully, she reminded me of that again because I haven't been drinking as much as I should I don't think. (straight water that is - - I've gone through 30 litres of spring water!) If you don't drink enough water during the cleanse, and once you first get off the cleanse, you will retain water and have swelling problems. It was great catching up with Sandi!

Regular routine in the morning, salt water, ........lemonade. I drank 8 glasses of lemonade again today. I'm feeling like I really need to drink more to keep my energy up and the hunger pangs away, especially with the morning workouts. (Yay! Keeping up my workouts which is great) I also went for a one-hour walk today, picked up more (gasp!) lemons. When people saw me with the dozen or so lemons in my basket, they knew what I was up to - it certainly is a conversation starter! Are you also using the maple syrup & cayenne? What day are you on? Do you know how to end the cleanse? etc.

Sometimes, I feel like I've had a glass of wine after I drink the lemonade. I feel a little whoozy - even yesterday, right before leaving to pick up Maxine with the car, I had just drank a lemonade and I stopped briefly to say - wait, you've been drinking you can't drive! I guess it's the warmth of the cayenne that goes down and warms my insides like a glass of wine? I definitely feel loopy as well at times. (Gee, I wonder why...I haven't eaten in 7 days, D-UH!) This is thee most surreal experience I've ever had. And the longest-lasting surreal experience.

Best time of the day: mornings! (and I am NOT a morning person)
Worst time of the day: dinnertime & evenings. Alternatively, right after Robert cooks a mouth-watering delicious smelling grilled cheese with hours upon hours of lingering smell "enjoyment". Crap! Robert promised to eat out for lunch tomorrow. Yes please and thank you so much!

Day 8 tomorrow, I feel great, I'm looking great, bring it on!
(10:55pm)

The MC - Day 6

Woke up at 5:50am - - Why?!?! Please tell me why?? I don't need to go to work, I don't need to be up until 8:00am, and I'm waking at this time? Seriously. Murphy's gotta get outta my house.

I had a small b.m., prepared my salt water & partial lemonade. Brought Maxine to school, and drank the salt water....lemonade...same old. Nothing much different, lots of flushing as usual.

I did a 45-minute strength & ab workout again this morning, got more organized at home, went for an hour walk. Drank 6 lemonades throughout the day before dinnertime. This morning, I thought of drinking 8 today to ensure I feel good tomorrow. (It's now 9pm and I've had 7, I will have another in about 30 minutes.)

At dinnertime, I hide in our 3rd floor bedroom away from the beautiful smells of the food I made for Robert & Maxine that are being warmed up. (I froze 10 days worth of meals to make it easier on Robert) After dinner, Robert brings me a tea. (Thank you Baby). Robert has been amazing, as usual. He's so understanding and supportive. I've been cranky with him about 4 times I think (is that about right Robert?) - that's not bad for someone who gets super cranky, nauseous and faint when she gets hungry. I have no idea how I ever thought I could do this cleanse, and even more so, no idea how I'm surviving this cleanse, none. I'm so proud of myself, I feel I can do anything!

Back to gross stuff, I don't remember when my tongue started getting white, I think Day 2 or 3. At least it's not as thick/velvety as some people have experienced. I hope it gets pink by Day 10 because I am absolutely, positively NOT extending this cleanse by even a day. No thank you! I mean the after-cleanse days are going to be brutal enough. I'm supposed to just drink freshly squeezed orange juice for my 1st day off the cleanse. Uhm,yeah, that's not gonna to happen. Orange juice is way too acidic for me. I know what you're thinking, and lemon juice isn't??? It doesn't make sense but with the maple syrup and cayenne, it works somehow. Lemon is alkaline is all I keep hearing which is very good & essential for good health. Anyway, so I'm planning on drinking orange juice for breakfast, making a vegetable soup at lunchtime and drinking the broth only, then for dinner I will eat a bowl of this soup and some of the vegetables. I can taste it already! 2nd day off the cleanse will be the same, and the 3rd day same for breakfast and veggie soup for lunch, and I will have a salad with shrimp for dinner. (Dinner out with Kayla, yay!)

I'm getting ahead of myself...I'm drinking my lax tea right now, and (mentally) preparing for tomorrow. It will be the best day yet, and after the griping I did earlier about getting up too early, I'll use it to my advantage and I'm planning on doing the salt water before I bring Maxine to school. (by the time I get back home from school, drink everything, eliminate it's 10:30am!) So this way, I will have an entire day to do stuff like: another great workout, long walk, organize, organize, organize! Wish I could go to the movies, but there is no way I could survive the smell of m-m-m-m-m-popcorn. So I'll keep away until next week. I'm psyched for Day 7!
(It's not 5:22pm, it's 10:20pm, I will add this to my To Do list, fix time on my Blog!)

The MC - Day 5

WHAT A FEELING! I'm on Day 5, I am so proud. Woke up at 7:00am and had a b.m., so I will do the same tonight with the tea (longer steep & drink more of it). I looked in the mirror and my body looks completely different today! (More so on my torso...) Robert could not believe it either. I'm so glad I took some before shots, it is unbelievable. I can see my ribs! And the 'back fat' is reduced substantially. My waist is shrinking, and my protruding stomach doesn't protrude so much. But above all, I feel fantastic and I'm no longer snoring. I know I say this every day, but I am so relieved of this change. I'd even gone to a sleep clinic in November because my snoring was so bad! (I don't have sleep apnea, just a case of the mucous & fat!)

After dropping Maxine off at school, I did the salt water, eliminated, drank a lemonade. I discovered that if you brush your teeth before the salt water, you don't taste the salt as much. So no brushing before lemonade, brush before salt water.

Received a cheerful call from my wonderful s-i-l Jasmine with a "Congratulations you're halfway there!!". Too sweet.

You know, I must say that I really love lemons. These lemons I'm buying from The Big Carrot are so plump and juicy, and I looove the smell. I learned my lesson yesterday though, and restrained myself from licking it. As for cayenne, the smell is still getting to me, I think because my throat was sore in the first couple of days (probably from toxins though), but I don't mind it anymore in the lemonade.

Well I'm certainly sick of doing dishes, since I need the juicer, measuring spoons, etc. I'm hand washing more than I have in, well, ever!

I'm glad the tug-of-war in my head is receding. It's a bit of relief. By tug-of-war, I'm talking about my brain telling my body to reach for food, to walk toward the kitchen, to tell myself I'm hungry and want a snack when I'm not even hungry! Unbelievable how loud that voice is in my head. I have to speak out loud to say, uhm, NO, I'm not even hungry why would I go there?? And it's making me realize how much I reach for food when I'm not hungry. It's exasperating! Where did this habit come from? In this book I read, "The Master Cleanse Experience" Tom Woloshyn asks the question: Do you live to eat? Or eat to live? GOOD QUESTION. I am getting rid of that habit of reaching for food when I'm not even hungry.

Overall, today was a great day. I felt really good, clear-headed, I did a 45-minute strength & ab workout with weights this morning, I had my 6 drinks of lemonade throughout the day, and I am now having my tea before bed. It doesn't hurt that I received and accepted a job offer at Indigo Books & Music Inc.! :o) Those were the distracting phone calls I was dealing with yesterday. Well worth it. (it's 10:00pm, not 6pm - don't know how to fix the time)

The MC - Day 4

Woke up at 7am, (no snoring! Robert is sooo impressed.) I didn't have a b.m. in the morning, maybe I should let the laxative tea steep longer & drink more of it.

Brought Maxine to school, and then did the old salt water flush let's call it. An hour later, feeling pretty good!

I started my own green bin bag aside from our regular one. Don't like seeing food when I'm throwing out my lemon peels, you know?? I've never looked at green bin waste wanting to eat the food in there, that.is.too.gross. But, you know, that food is starting to look good to me. Ha! And speaking of lemons, no matter how succulent and delicious those lemons look like after not eating for 3 days, I advise you not to lick them. Not so good!! At all. The lemon juice tastes awesome in the lemonade concoction, but on its own, shiver.

I was quite hyper in the morning, (I can hear everyone saying, "and how is that any different??) ok, so more hyper than usual, or as my friend Kayla called me sounding "manic". Had 2 lemonade drinks in the morning, and I started feeling quite sluggish and low on energy. So I decided to follow the book's instructions and rest, I slept for about an hour and a half. Didn't go for a walk, was feeling too tired. I started feeling a little better when I drank a lemonade, then another a couple of hours later in the afternoon, but then found myself at 7pm with having drank only 4 so far! I made myself drink the other 2 (spaced out some time), since I figured it may make me feel sluggish on the following day if I didn't. Wise choice in following instructions of minimum 6 lemonades per day. Drank my tea after letting it steep longer, and drank the whole thing. Feeling very positive going to bed.

I must echo the many people's suggestions to follow the Master Cleanse's instructions closely. Every day, I've been meticulous about following the rules / instructions and I had amazing days. On Day 4, I wasn't drinking enough lemonade, and I had an off day. I was also having cravings for food which really irritated me. But I believe if I had drank more lemonade earlier on in the day as I had on my first 3 days, I would've had an easier time. I was distracted by some very exciting phone calls that I will talk about in my Day 5.

On Day 4 is when my sense of smell really kicked in. Note to self: do not let Robert eat garlic while doing a cleanse. Oh.My.God. Our whole house was one big garlic, or whatever room he was in. And it did NOT smell good to me. In the past couple of days, I noticed how incredibly clear my sinuses are, to the point where when I breathe through my nose, I feel like I'm breathing through my entire face. No joke. (I had noticed a lot of mucous draining...) I feel like my head is lighter, clearer, empty, you name it. It's an incredible feeling. Most likely, my stuffed up head was causing the snoring, as well as the extra weight I was carrying. My nose wasn't stuffed up, I could always breathe through it, but it was the rest of my head that was full of stuff! Who knew?? Not I.

Did some research, and you should not change the ingredients of the lemonade, so I should not have had that 7th lemonade sans cayenne on Day 2. I'm finally getting used to the cayenne and liking it. I like just about anything that I'm allowed to put in my mouth - you would too! I thought I would get sick of the lemonade, the salt water, and the teas, but every time those hit my tongue, it's a treat! I know, it's weird. As my friend Christy said "Girlfriend, you're freakin' me out! /:P" Don't I know it. See you on Day 5!

The MC - Day 3

I woke up this morning at 6:30am. What a cruel world - my family's away and I can't even sleep in?

Prepared the salt water, prepared the lemonade, (took some pix) then sat at the breakfast table and read the paper in the 'sun' as I drank my salt water aka soup. (Someone compared it to a salty martini in one of the journal's I read, yuuummmm, Dirty Gin Martini, with lots of olives, come to mama, ...in 2 weeks.) Uhm, where was I? Oh, right, the soup. Took me a little longer to drink today, about 20 minutes, and ran upstairs to the w/c with all my 'stuff' (half-prepared lemonade, 1/10 tsp of cayenne, cup of spring water, newspaper, you know the drill if you read my Day 2 post.). An hour later, I was feeling pretty damn good. I waited longer to drink my 1st lemonade of the day since I wasn't hungry. Probably drank it around 10am I think.
I went into the fridge to grab some more lemons (you should take them out of the fridge 2 days before you use them, they are better for your health at room temperature), I'm bending over to reach for the lemons as my eyes zoom into a container full of pasta with my most deeee-licious tomato, basil, almond sauce. Oooooh Aaaaaah Yowza Hello!?! I never closed that fridge door so fast in my life. Funniest thing? My mouth.did.not.water. Wha?!?! In-freaking-credible.
So next, I'm wondering where Robert has hidden my other 10L jug of water since I finished the first already, and I can't find the 2nd. I mean, you saw the size in the photo, it's kinda hard to miss you know? Mistake #2 of the day: opened a cupboard door, where (get this) there are about 5 bags of (gulp) CHIPS!!! My biggest weakness in the world. Or in The Secret's lingo, shall I change that to my most favourite food in the world that keeps me thin. Wham! Cupboard door closed, no salivating (again, wha?!?!), phew. Close one, but I am on a mission. Decided to quit opening cupboards & fridge, and called Robert for help. Thank you!
Ok, so some people have said they feel very clear headed at some points in the cleanse. This morning, after attempting to add salt to the water that I had already put salt in, I'm realizing today, that I wasn't the sharpest knife in the kitchen if you know what I mean. When I took out the salt again from the cupboard, and removed the tape that I had just put on the salt box, I was thinking, wow, I put the tape on there yesterday, but it feels like I just did that moments ago, and I still proceeded to (almost) add salt to the water. Then I looked at the bottom of the pitcher, and yep, I already had some in there and I HAD just put the tape on the box. Hmm. Ok, this leads me to the part where they say that when your body starts to eliminate some of the stuff in your body, such as alcohol, medicine or drugs you may have done in the past, you may feel a high or stoned feeling. And when I was on the phone with my sister Monique today, I was definitely also feeling tipsy. That was fun. What a cheap party! Lemons & maple syrup, woohoo!
Speaking of parties, it was Super Bowl today. Do you understand how many times the word nachos is repeated on TV and the radio on Super Bowl Sunday? Even the LCBO ad on the radio mentioned freaking nachos!!! Note to self: do NOT do a cleanse during Super Bowl weekend. It's very sad. I couldn't even watch it, did you SEE the commercials? Ugh. (Sad for me, not for you).
With all this said, I had a fantastic day. I went for a 1 1/2 hour walk, did some ab work in the morning, talked to my parents on Skype, Allô! Did lots of organizing & tidying around the house; I felt great throughout, (truly!) Ok, with the exception of scaring myself badly when I was washing the blackberries & raspberries for Maxine and almost popped one in my mouth just out of habit!!
I cannot believe I'm almost at Day 4 already! Almost halfway there. I'm SO excited. Now off to finish drinking my tea, doing some more ab work, and off to bed. G'night!

The MC - My Evening Tea & Treat Tea

And finally, here we have the nice stuff. Aaaaaah. My evening tea (yeah, ok, so it's laxative tea, and your point is?!?!), and the tea I drink during the day is peppermint with ginger. This treat has to be non-caffeinated. I also have another type of peppermint tea for crazy indulgence.
Now, through these photographs, I've noticed how completely DULL my kitchen is - - I always hated the lame white counter, but how easy would it be to add a backsplash? Milan? How easy?? :o) Hmmm, just thinkin'...about shiny subway tile, a nice fresh colour...nice, non?

The MC - My Lemonade Ingredients Photo

Before I drink my salt water, I prepare my lemonade in advance and this is what I need: one juicer (a big thank you Marija & Milan!! you bought this for Robert, and I'm putting it to good use.), one lemon for 2 tbsps of juice, (1 small lemon makes 4 tbsps), 1 tbsp of #2 amber maple syrup (should be 2 tbsps but I don't have a sweet tooth, & want to lose weight so I don't need it), add 1/10 tsp of cayenne (hot hot yeow hot!), add 1 cup of spring water, stir, & voilà! I put aside the 2nd glass with lemon juice & maple syrup, and only add the cayenne & water when I'm ready to drink it as directed in the book. The maple syrup keeps the lemon fresh & tasty, but the cayenne would kill it. You are supposed to drink it within 10 minutes of making it. After I finish my salt water, and start eliminating it, I drink up the lemonade. Yum! (I don't breath through my nose, and drink it in one shot - gulp gulp gulp gulp - I find the cayenne just too strong & hot, so even after I'm finished drinking it, I continue to breathe through my mouth only. Even just breathing out through my nose kicks in my taste buds and the cayenne's too strong for me.
Looks like I'll have to buy more maple syrup! Daragh, I love this plate you gave us. :o)

The MC - Internal Saltwater Bath Ingredients Photo

Welcome to my lab. This is how I start my day (after visiting the w/c of course). See that 10 litre jug of water? See the water level way at the bottom? I finished it by midday on Day 3, so I basically drank a 10L of spring water in 2.5 days. Who knew? (I didn't do the math before starting) So, I put 2 tsps of sea salt into 4 cups of spring water in the clear glass jug, (that's a lot to drink eh?), mix, and drink up in approx. 15 minutes or so. The Master Cleanse book you see here is not the original. The original is a very thin book and was written by Stanley Burroughs. This one is the "experience", it refers to the original, there is some general information, tips etc, and there are also some people's journals. I learned from their mistakes, thank you!

The MC - Day 2

Woke up at 7am, I feel great! I'm still snoring apparently, BUT, I didn't get nudged, poked, turned on my side at all during the night, and when I woke up, Robert was still beside me!!! :oD After only 24 hours, it (my snorrrrrrring) has already improved. Used the w/c, not too much to report if you know what I mean. Set up Maxine with breakfast, and then returned to the kitchen to drink my internal salt bath. CLEAR THE PATHWAY TO THE W/C!! Still no hunger pains, even after serving Maxine her breakfast. Wow, very odd, non? Before drinking the salt water, I prepared the lemonade in advance without the cayenne & water (as per instructions to keep the lemon juice fresh) - you have to drink the lemonade AFTER you start 'eliminating' the salt water (I like that word, 'eliminating', it keeps it clean sounding eh?). Drank the salt water within 15 minutes. Then get this: I popped a dvd in for Maxine, grabbed the Saturday paper, my journal, another book, I set up a tv dinner table in the w/c and got comfortable. Yes, I was there for an hour, and didn't want to be running up and down the stairs like yesterday. Then had some lemonade, yada yada yada, went shopping for a bday gift, then dropped Maxine off at her party. Came back home and had lunch, WHA!?!?! Just checking to see if you're paying attention. Came home and made myself a fresh glass of yummy lemonade. Thinking of setting up a stand tomorrow, hmmm, make some cash on the side! Now I'm thinking! The Secret is rubbing off on me, ha! After picking up Maxine, I sent her off with Robert to Brampton to visit his family for dinner & a sleepover. As I told my neighbour Sharyn, I'm doing THEM a favour,... I was getting cranky by that time. I waited too long for my lemonade 'fix'.

I went for an hour walk, and it completely took my mind off of the MC. It invigorated me, made me feel so alive! I felt light on my feet. (Even passing by the kabillions of restaurants on the Danforth Ave Greek Village, yikes!)

I called my beautiful friend Nina on Skype and caught up on months' worth of news. Then my family including Baka & Dida called me on Skype, I was able to say goodnight to Robert & Maxine while I saw them, gotta love that!

Couple of observations:

• I'm not having as many b.m.'s as I'd imagined! Maybe because of the Bio-K I've taken in the past month? Or am I so toxic that my body hasn't been able to start detoxing yet?
• I have no specific food cravings like some people seem to experience. I just have these little blips of craving the act of eating, just out of habit. It's quite disconcerting to have these little moments where I have these comforting thoughts of food and then WHAM, my brain is like, uhm ♪ I DON'T ♪♪ THINK ♪ SO ♪ HONEY ♪♪ !!!
  

Great tip from my wonderful sister Suzanne: stop multi-tasking and spread the tasks around to make the time go by faster! She's so SMART! Hello?!?! Turn OFF your Project Management head and start s-l-o-w-i-n-g d--o--w--n. Got it, merci!!

For my 7th lemonade drink, I didn't put cayenne in - I'll have to research that to see whether that matters. I figured since I'd had my obligatory 6 drinks, that the 7th didn't have to have the cayenne? I dunno.

Before going to bed, I was not feeling that great, so I had another (my 8th) lemonade, and as I drank it, I realized, it was time for my tea. Woops! No biggie. Wish me luck for tomorrow, the first 2 days were too easy, and I fear a tough day ahead. But on "The Secret's" theme: I feel great, and I know that I will feel fantastic tomorrow! G'night all. x
Forgot to do my ab work - so must do that in the a.m. AND p.m. on Day 3.

The MC - Day 1

NOTE: Any of my MC (Master Cleanse) posts are completely TMI !!! Proceed with caution.

I definitely mentally & physically prepared: read 3 books on this cleanse, have been drinking Bio-K for the past month (thanks Nadia!), have been eating simpler & smaller meals in the past week, and cut down on my alcohol consumption.

My first ever cleanse!

Woke up at 7:30am, I feel like I'm getting a bad cold, sore throat. Bad timing! Had a long b.m. from the laxative tea I drank last night. Like, really long. Tried to get Maxine to school quickly. Drank the 'internal salt bath' (4 cups spring water, 2 tsps of sea salt) in 15 minutes - - not so bad. C'mon, I LOVE salt! It was a quick response, within 20 minutes, I was in the w/c for about 15 minutes, mostly liquid. I was getting hungry, so ran downstairs to make my lemonade drink (2 tbsps of freshly squeezed organic lemon juice, 1 tbsp of Grade 2 Amber maple syrup, and 1/10 tsp of cayenne in 8oz of spring water), I wasn't finished when I had to RUN back upstairs to w/c for another 10 or so minutes. Ran back downstairs to gulp down the lemonade, since there is a 10-minute rule. What surprised me most? HOT HOT HOT!!! Man, that cayenne burns! You're supposed to drink a minimum of 6 of these drinks during the day. After my third, at some point in the day, my eyeballs felt steamy from the cayenne. Sheesh! I felt pretty jittery all morning, I was quite tired and had a nap, but got around to some organizing in my study. Started reading "The Secret", which is great and made me feel even greater! It's definitely helping with the cleanse. AND my cold did not manifest itself, it is GONE! (probably scared away by the cayenne, ha!) Also watched a movie, drank more lemonade, watched a bit of TV, and didn't have my 6th lemonade until it was past 7pm! I figured I'd be drinking a dozen of those since you're supposed to drink one whenever you feel hungry. Did some ab work (crunches) and I felt fine! Drank my special (laxative) tea before bedtime.

Note to anyone attempting this: ensure your kitchen is cleaned up before you start your cleanse. I was frustrated with lack of counter space and left over food. D-uh!!

The Master Cleanse - En route!

Thanks to a new friend & colleague, I have made the decision to do The Master Cleanse. She finished hers about a week ago, and when I saw her on her 10th day, she looked fantastic, her skin glowed, and she spoke highly of it. One of my dear friends, Nadia, was also a huge influence on me since she lives such a healthy life, she glows, (inside & out) and she has definitely rubbed off on me through the years of cooking beautiful meals for me, and speaking to me about what she knows best: health & good food. What a gift.

This is a short description of this cleanse:

Stanley Burroughs (author of The Master Cleanse) and other authors say that The Master Cleanse will eliminate toxins (pesticides, hormones, prescription drugs, chemical fertilizers, heavy metals) and congestion that have built up in the body. For people in good health, the body is designed to eliminate normal everyday toxins from itself through the lungs, kidneys, liver, and other eliminator organs. Supporters of the Master Cleanse have credited it with helping them lose weight, increase energy, and even alleviate some chronic diseases.

My reasons / goals for this cleanse:

• Improve health
• Eat healthier
  
• Improve sleep (eliminate loud snoring!)
• Reduce alcohol to weekends (ok, and sometimes Thursdays)
• Maintain ideal weight of 130 lbs
  

Join me on my journey? You could send me some encouragement, but please, no mention of the "F" word. :o)

You can find out more about at The Master Cleanse website