Day 28

I made it!!!! whooo hooo!!! Today is my last day of taking herbs and the shake, but I will continue to take the MoFlora until the jar is gone.

For breakfast I had eggs benedict with no sauce and no butter and no ham, just spinach, tomato and avocado. It felt good to have some animal protein, even if it was just eggs. Although shortly after I felt really tired.

I had a super light lunch of edamame and watermelon, and then for dinner I had a salad from Lazy Acres with tofu, carrots, hearts of palm, artichokes and garlic. Yum. Oh yeah, and some more edamame. I love it.

Okay, so here are some eating habits I've learned on this cleanse, which I intend to keep, even though they aren't all that fun.

1) Eat only when hungry, not because it's "lunch time" by anybody else's standards.
2) Eat only when hungry, not when stressed, distracted or bored, or because the food's there in front of you.
3) Chew throughly; it takes more time, and you process food better that way.
4) Only order something with cheese if the cheese will absolutely make the dish. For example, a normal salad does not need cheese to taste good (you can request no cheese added), but a salad which boasts cheese as a main character would suck without it (i.e. Greek salad, caprese), so go for it. Same thing goes for other fattening condiments like sour cream.
4) Water, water, water
5) The biggest portion of your meal should be from veggies and fruit. Eating only veggies/fruit for a month really showed me that I CAN be full from just vegetables. Pasta, meat, bread, and cheese should really just be a garnish to the meal. (This is a not fun one!)
6) Stop when full. Don't just continue eating because it tastes good. Throw the rest away (or wrap it up for later) before you have time to reconsider. This goes back to eating when distracted.
7) Sweets in moderation, try to soothe a sweet tooth with fruit first. (This is my biggest challenge by the way... if you know me at all you know I CRAVE cupcakes...)
8) Alcohol almost never. I really didn't miss it one bit over the month. In fact I liked having an excuse as to why I WASN'T drinking. Plus I don't mind being the designated driver.

I'm sure I'll think of more things I've learned.

The jury is still out on whether I'll go back to coffee or not. Maybe I'll wait until the winter, when the warm cup in my hands will more comforting then it is in the middle of the summer. I have to have some sort of vice!!

Okay, so the burning question. Would I do this cleanse again? Hmmm. I'm not going to lie, it was extremely challenging for me at some points. If I were going to do it again I would definitely start to wean off caffiene a week or so before starting. That was by far the worst part. I feel like my body is at the weight that it is designed to be at, because really I don't look that much different. I feel great, I feel like I accomplished something big. I challenged myself, and proved to myself when I put my mind to something I can do it. I would say my skin is clear but I woke up this morning with two blemishes on my face, which is a bummer.

Also if I were to do it again I would try to not be as busy during the month. I would try to not go out of town (it's really hard being away from home while juicing especially). When I started the cleanse I pictured taking way better care of myself than I actually did... I envisioned doing yoga every night, meditating, reading quietly, etc. Instead I only did yoga three times in the whole month, and two out of the four weekends I was in Albuquerque, staying up super late while dancing the night away. Not exactly nurturing and relaxing!

So Ejuva gives you enough product to last a long time (I still have an unopened can of Combi) so I am planning on doing a two week mini-cleanse in October to keep myself on track. I will have to order more MoFlora though, because that will be gone.

Okay so there you go! If anyone has any questions feel free to leave a comment or send me an email.

xo xo

Day 27

So I started transitioning off the cleanse... Ejuva says to take the herbs/combi once in the morning, and then just the herbs at night. After every meal you are supposed to also take the Moflora (probiotics). I'm assuming to replenish the good bacteria in my intestines.

So I drank juice in the morning, and for lunch I had a salad with grilled tofu and mushrooms with avocado and tomato. When I got home late from work I had some vegetable soup, with some watermelon after.

Tomorrow is the last day, and I'm really happy. I've lost 8.5 pounds, and am wearing the smallest jeans I own! Yay! But more than that, I've really learned some healthier eating habits. I'm going to try and limit processed food, and try to eat fresh, raw, organic fruit and veggies.

Last day tomorrow!!!!

xo xo

Day 26

So today was the last official day of cleansing (I'm taking the next two days to transition off the cleanse before getting back to normal eating.) I juiced a ton of fruit in the morning: peaches, pineapple, spinach, cucumber and oranges. I took my herbs/shake and drank a big juice after working out.

Throughout the day I just juiced, plus has some veggie broth I had saved from last week. I did all this in preparation for... *insert danger looming sound byte* the enema. I really psyched myself out about it.

When I got home from work I thoroughly read the instructions provided by Ejuva on how to do one. I was super scared and almost chickened out several times. I'll spare you the gory details, but let's just say it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I did it three times until the water came out completely clean. It was definitely a strange feeling, having all this water inside your gut, and then you hold it for as long as you can until you have to run to the toilet. Not my sexiest moment, that's for sure. ha ha

Later in the evening I had a light dinner of boiled veggies (leftover from the broth I made last week) and some watermelon and sliced peaches (with honey).

The next two days will be transition into a normal diet, and I will start to wean off the herbs/shakes. I probably won't add in dairy or meat for several days. It will be nice to not have to take the herbs and shakes anymore, I got real sick of it.

More tomorrow.

xo xo

Day 23, 24, 25

So I spent the weekend out of town in Albuquerque. On Friday (Day 23) I made it all day without eating, I just had juice and broth, and my herbs/shake. (That was my second day of no solid foods.) On Day 24 I started to feel really bummed about not eating! And when I'd get up from sitting down, I'd get really light headed and dizzy.

So I decided to revert back to eating once a day, which Ejuva endorses. They say if you can't handle the no eating part, go back to the previous week's program. So I thoroughly enjoyed lunch: some homemade rice and beans, with vegan corn tortillas and guacamole. These foods are not alkaline, but I wanted to have some native New Mexican food while I was there. My friend told me the life was brought back to my cheeks once I ate. It seriously was one of the best meals of my life. I couldn't even eat that much, I think my stomach has shrunk, but just allowing myself to eat felt damn good.

The next day I juiced in the morning (brussel sprouts, apple, kale, spinach and carrots), and had a similar lunch (rice and beans, guac). Then when I got home from Abq, I ate some of the veggie broth from last week. The program says to take the herbs/shake 4x per day during fasting, but I found that really challenging, so I did 4x one day and then went back to 3x/day.

Here's what I can tell you so far about this program: I'm frickin over it. I like feeling skinny and healthy, but I'm so over taking those herbs, and over having to go to the bathroom multiple times a day. So I'm thinking I'll just juice again on Day 26, and then revert back to eating once a day until Day 28, when I'll start to add in normal foods.

Ordering things with no cheese and no meat is a hard habit to start, but once the food is on the table I really don't miss the cheese and meat. So I really think I'll start to adopt healthier eating habits when this is all over. That's the goal right?

xo xo

Day 22

I made it with no food today!!! Yay!

I'm just about to do some nighttime yoga before bed, to try and relax and loosen up my lower back. Last night during yoga I was trying to meditate at the end, laying on my back trying to clear my mind, and all of a sudden a delicious tuna melt (on sourdough) popped into my brain. I don't even know when the last time I had a frickin tuna melt was... but anyway it got singed in my brain during yoga. How pathetic!

This morning I juiced a bunch of carrots, pineapple, oranges, apple, cucumbers, and a little kale, and filled up 4 mason jars with juice. I took two to work, and then had one after work. This week you are also supposed to up the dosage of the herbs/shake, and take them four times a day! Whoa! So right now (9:45 pm) I still have one dosage left.

I quickly realized that juice was not going to sustain me. Not necessarily my hunger, but more so, my soul! So on the way home from work I stopped at the store and bought a bunch of veggies (onion, parsnip, celery, carrot, potato, parsley, garlic, and some spices) and made a roasted vegetable broth. First I roasted the veggies for about an hour, and then made a broth with them. I saved the veggies for a salad next week when I can eat again! The broth is good but not salty enough, so I added a little reduced sodium soy sauce and coarse salt. It was very satisfying and soothing.

Tomorrow I leave for Albuquerque, where I will juice at Jordan's house. The next few days are going to be tough, I just know it, but I'm confident I can do this!!

xo xo

PS. According to the scale this morning, I've lost 8 lbs.

Day 21

My last day of eating! I went to Costco and bought a bunch of veggies and fruit to juice over the next 5-7 days (depending on how I feel, I may only fast 5 days).

For lunch I had a big plate of veggies: artichoke, eggplant, snap peas, asparagus, plus some grilled polenta, plus a side salad with avocado. It was a very nice and filling last meal. *tears*

I spend some quiet time at home last night, getting mentally prepared for not eating. I read, I did yoga, watered my plants, stretched and cleaned up my place. Oh, AND, *insert crying sound hear*, I bought an enema kit. I'm scared shitless, pardon the pun. I'm hoping by the end of the fast I'll feel ready and willing to do an enema. Hope hope hope.

Feeling pretty good overall, excited to get through the last week of this thing and start eating real food again.

xo xo

Day 20

So I'm here at work on the evening of Day 20, and I have to say today went way better than yesterday. I got up this morning and had my Nanogreens mixed with almond milk. It's so funny how relative everything is... when I first tried Nanogreens a couple of years ago I could barely get it down, I thought it was so disgusting. But now, it's actually my treat during the day! Mixed with almond milk it is super creamy and soothing. So that's the first thing I put in my stomach. I taught Pilates for two hours, and then went home to juice for the day.

I juiced kale, cucumber, carrots, grapefruit, oranges and an apple, and drank some then and saved some for later in the refrigerator. I did my herbs/combi combo, and headed to work. I'm now at the point where I am going to the bathroom (#2!) 4-5 times a day, which is really trippy considering I'm only eating one meal. That tells me that this may actually be working! I may actually be eliminating old stuff, since I'm not taking in enough to justify pooping five times a day. ha ha.

For lunch I had a salad with avocado, tofu, and tomato, with edamame and a potato, and half hour later I took my herbs/shake again. A couple hours ago I busted out the leftover juice, and sipped on that while I worked. But it's gone now!

I'm getting really nervous about the not eating thing. My goal is to get to 5 days of just juicing, and see how I feel. I'm kicking this cleanse's ass, and I'm proud of myself, so if I peace out on the last two days of starvation it won't be the end of the world.

So yesterday I was madly craving cinnamon/sugar/butter but today I'm dreaming of this:



Just one more day of eating left! Then it's the home stretch!!

xo xo

PS. skin issues are over... my skin is clearer than normal. yay.

Day 19

Today was definitely one of the hardest days for me. I had super low energy, and could not snap out of it! I got really frustrated and depressed about not being able to eat normal food. Jordan convinced me to juice a bunch of fresh fruit, which I did: kale, carrots, a peach, a grapefruit, a cucumber and an orange... and it tasted really good! Plus it pumped me up a little bit, which was good. Then I had my friends over for The Bachelorette, and I made some yummy snacks for them that I couldn't eat (flat bread with 3 cheeses, mini pizzas, etc.) but I did splurge and eat some edamame, and veggies with hummus and salsa.

Earlier in the day I worked out, which was hard with no energy. I had my one meal around 1 pm: a big salad, with a potato/walnut oil on the side. The other thing I'm thinking is that I need to get more protein, so I bought some tofu at Trader Joe's for tomorrow's lunch.

So probably because I am deprived of anything sweet and yummy, I've taken to being completely obsessed with food blogs (even more than I already was). I'm seriously like an addict, living vicariously through the baker of these wonderful treats. I've been craving a combination of cinnamon, sugar, and butter...

Like these beauties ...



Or maybe a big ol' helping of this...



Or maybe these...



Or I bet this would make my house smell delicious...



But sadly, this is what my dinner looks like instead: (insert crying sound here)



OKAY OKAY this is NOT helping!!! Ha ha. But it's still fun to fantasize with food porn. (The deliciousness on this page comes from my favorite blog, The Pioneer Woman.)

xo xo

Day 16, 17, 18

Goodbye coffee maker, hello juicer! I finally did it, I put my beloved coffee maker away for the next two weeks, and in its place there is a fancy shmancy juicer, lent to me by a friend. I bought a ton of fresh veggies and fruit from the Farmers' Market, including peaches, carrots, kale, tangerines, cucumbers, apples, and a 16-lb bag of oranges! So each day I've been making a glass of juice to substitute a meal, and then eating one meal in the middle of the day. The juice tastes good, but cleaning the juicer is the biggest pain in the ass... I'm not quite convinced that it's worth the effort.

All three of these days I ate a big salad for my one meal, with grilled veggies and tofu, plus a potato with walnut oil on the side.

There are definitely times when I'm feeling low energy, and other times when I'm feeling great. Like the Ejuva instructions claim, there are highs and lows.

I'm starting to really miss normal food. Not craving it necessarily, but just wanting something different than what I'm eating. I'm starting to think about how I'm going to return to normal eating habits after this is all over, and I'm thinking gradual is the key. I've lost 6 pounds so far, and I don't want to gain it all back!

It's weird because although I'll feel like I have low energy, I really haven't felt hungry, like when your stomach hurts and you feel sick because you need to eat. It really got me thinking: if I am capable of eating just one meal a day and living normally (working, working out, etc) then why the hell do we all eat so much? I think it is habitual and nothing more. Oprah has recommended this book I've been reading, called "Women, Food and God" and it talks about how most of us don't eat out of hunger, we eat out of stress, boredom, for distraction, etc. The book goes hand in hand with what I am learning in this cleanse: that is, instead of just eating to eat, or because "it's time for lunch" or eating as a social activity, we need to stop and think if we are actually really hungry, and if we are, what are we hungry for?

Ten days left!!!!!!!!

xo xo

Day 15

Okay so eating once a day sucks. It just does. Do you know much time you spend preparing, thinking about, getting ready for, and eating meals? A lot! So when that is not a part of your day, you suddenly have a ton of extra time! (Not to mention significantly fewer dishes to be washed!)

I worked out in the morning, and my energy was definitely lacking. When I got home I took my herbs/shake, and then headed to work. Around 1 o'clock I had my one meal, a big salad with veggies, a potato with walnut oil, and some edamame.

When I went back to work I had my herbs/shake, and then I had a massage, facial, and acupuncture until about 6:30. I've decided to start juicing now, because I think it's important to get the calories and have the energy. So I stopped by a little cafe that has fresh juice and I got a juice made with beets, carrots, apple and celery. Blech. Not tasty. How am I only going to drink juice for 7 days?!!? *tears*

Before bed I did some restorative yoga and took yet another round of herbs/shake.

Funny how much more time I had.

xo xo

PS. I have noticed a new side effect: my skin seems really oily over the last few days. Normally I have pretty clear and even skin, but I'm noticing an excess of oil and some acne. Not cool! But I expected it kind of.

Day 14

My last day of eating two meals. Sad.

I was super tired today because I put in a 17 hour day yesterday, plus I'm completely off caffeine (not an easy feat!) so I felt a little sluggish.

Last night I did decide to take the herbs and shake, even though it was close to midnight when I got home from work. I just took two of each tablet, so I wouldn't have a ton of stuff to digest when I went to bed.

For lunch I had a veggie stack from a local deli, and after being assured it was vegan, I was super bummed to find it had cheese on it. I was at lunch with a friend and didn't want to make a scene, but I was bummed. I ate around the cheese, but could still taste the flavor of it (NOT a bad thing, ha ha). I also had a side of baked yams... delicious.

For dinner (after a 2 hour afternoon nap! I love Wednesdays!) I had a big salad with grilled mushrooms, zucchini, squash, avocado and tomato, plus a plain baked potato on the side.

I'm halfway through, which is awesome. But tomorrow I start eating once a day, and I'm pretty freaked out by that.

Also, I've lost 5 pounds total so far. I'm really glad I haven't lost more than that, I want it to be a healthy and gradual weight loss, so it stays off!!

xo xo

Day 13

Well I'm still at work here on Day 13. I'm super starving and I just ate some baked potato crisps from Whole Foods that my co-worker had. I'm debating on whether I'm going to do my herb/shake combo when I get home or skip it; I'm not sure if you are supposed to take them right before bed, and I have at least an hour left here at work. Long day.

I started at 6:30 this morning teaching Pilates for 2 hours, drinking only water instead of my usual coffee and cream. That was a little brutal, I'm not going to lie.

When I got home I did my herbs/shake, and then had a big ol' bowl of cereal with a peach, banana, blueberries and almond milk.

For lunch around 2:30 I had vegan vegetable soup from Cantwell's, as well as some baked yams with olive oil and beets and arugula.

It's hard to work such a long day and not eat. Tomorrow is my halfway point on this cleanse, and I'm really excited. I know the next two Tuesdays are going to be hard, but I'll do my best!

xo xo

Day 12

Eating only twice a day is starting to get old, real old. But I guess I better enjoy it because starting Thursday I'm down to just once a day! AGHHH!!

I went back to working out today, and did it on an empty stomach. I was starving when I got home so I did the herbs/shake combo and then breakfast shortly after: cereal, almond milk, a peach, banana, and blueberries.

Around 1:30 I was starving. So I went home and made another salad with portabello mushrooms, avocado and heirloom tomatoes, with two small potatoes with walnut oil on the side. So yummy.

When I got done with work around 6 pm, I did my herb/shake combo again, and then I had my friends over for the Bachelorette.... and there were tons of yummy snacks and CHEESE.... but I did really good and just had some carrots and hummus with guacamole, and a few organic corn tortilla chips.

I'm frickin proud of myself ;-)

xo xo

Day 11

Whoo hooo I'm in the double digits! Day 11!!!

My first full day without ANY caffeine, and I feel good. I'm stoked I kicked that habit. (Although I plan on going back to drinking coffee after this is over.... I just love it! Decaf maybe?)

This morning I walked on the treadmill for half an hour, to try and loosen up my back after pulling it the other day. Tomorrow morning I'm going to try to go back to my boot camp class, gingerly. When I got home from the gym I took my herbs/shake, and had a big bowl of sprouted cereal, a cut up peach, a banana, and blueberries, with almond milk. About five hours later I had my second meal: a salad with tomato, avocado, and half a portabello mushroom, with walnut oil, lemon and balsamic. Plus a small potato with some walnut oil, my new favorite treat. That was at about 4:30. It's now 10:00 and I'm doing my second herb/shake combo.

It's funny I really haven't been hungry. I get a few pangs here and there, but they are rare. It's really about patterns, and getting used to eating a certain way or at a certain time, that is what is hard to overcome.

Tomorrow is my first full day back at work after my vacation, and I haven't quite yet figured out how I'm going to spread out my meals. I'm thinking I will pack up cereal, fruit, and milk, and eat that at work around lunchtime. Then I will eat my second meal when I get home around 5:30. I'm trying to not be too high maintence at work and bring all the bottles of herbs and stuff. That will have to happen though next week, when I start taking the herbs three times a day...

xo xo

Day 10

Today was my first full day at home while detoxing, and actually I'm finding it harder to do at home because I'm used to certain eating/drinking patterns here. So today was tough, I felt sluggish and feverish towards the end of the day. And right before bed I had this headache that would not let up.

As far as eating, I got really hungry in the afternoon, so I snacked in addition to my two meals. For the first meal (around 1 o'clock) I had a salad with tofu, beets, and avocado, with some baked fingerling potatoes drizzled with walnut oil. Delicious. Before this meal I had gone to the Farmers' Market and Whole Foods to stock up on healthy stuff for the week. At Whole Foods I tried a small Green Giant juice from their juice bar. Blech. It had apple, cucumber, kale, spinach and wheat grass. I couldn't finish it, I did NOT care for it at all. Makes me a little nervous about how I'm going to get through 7 days of just juice!!!

Around 6 I got super hungry so I cut up an heirloom tomato and 1/4 of an avocado and drizzled balsamic and walnut oil over it. I had a late dinner with a friend, we went to sushi, where I had edamame, grilled portabello mushrooms and two vegan rolls. So good.

Aside from not feeling great overall, I was pleasantly surprised that my clothes are fitting a little looser, that is fun. Also my skin is super clear; I had heard that detoxing can make you break out, which I was concerned about. I haven't had that happen.

I'm glad this day is finished, it wasn't a fun one.

xo xo

Day 9

Travel day from hell. So last night while we were moving a couch, I threw my back out. I felt it as soon as it happened, and I knew it was bad. Really bad. Sleeping was terrible. I could hardly move from side to side and I had a hard time finding a comfortable position.

So we got up around 3:30 (about 3 hours of sleep), so I could be at the airport by 5:50 for my flight to SFO, where I would connect to SBA. I had a banana in the airport (around 5 am) so I could have something in my stomach to handle FOUR advil. I knew I would be even more miserable if I didn't take anything to help the inflammation in my back. I decided not to take the herbs and shake until I got home (which was supposed to be at 10 am) because of the need to use the bathroom so urgently. Maneuvering around an airplane/airport is hard enough, let alone with a tweaked back and an urgent need to crap. ha ha

Anyway long story short I got bumped off my connecting flight because an earlier flight was canceled and so all the standby spots were then accounted for on my flight. The only option was to drive the 5.5 hours down the 101, even though renting a car was retardedly expensive. The thought of driving that long with my back killing and on so little sleep really put me over the edge, but I decided to stick with the detox (good thing I carried on the kit, as my luggage was still on the plane to SB). So I took my herbs with an apple juice from the airport before I got in the car, and then a couple hours later I took the shake mixed with Mango Madness Naked Juice shake from Starbucks. Right after (I didn't wait the half hour) I ate some cereal I had packed with a banana, with vanilla soy milk from Starbucks (I know it wasn't a good choice, but really my only option). Immediately after eating I had to use the bathroom. Good thing I was still at the coffee shop.

When I rolled into town around 5:30, I ate a yummy salad from Lazy Acres with tofu, sprouts, artichokes, garlic, beets and mushrooms. Two hours later I did the herb/shake combo again. I am exhausted. Completely drained. I'm calling it an early night tonight.

Okay, so the silver lining on the day from hell... when I got home I got on the scale... and I've lost two pounds!! Almost 2.5 :-)

I'm pretty proud of myself that I still stuck with it today, when I was so stressed out. I have no groceries and I plan on hitting up the farmer's market and Whole Foods first thing tomorrow!!

xo xo

Day 8

Today was my first day only eating two meals, and I have to say it actually wasn't that bad.

I woke up with energy, almost too much, to the point where I woke up too early and couldn't fall back asleep. I got up and took Jordan to work and then went to Starbucks (brutal when you can't have coffee) and ordered some herbal tea while I searched the internet for craigslist furniture for his apartment. When I got back home I napped and then took my herbs (3R, 3P, 4B) and half hour later took my Combi shake, this time mixed with a Naked Juice Green Power smoothie (about 1/2 a cup full) and that was a good combo. I finally ate "breakfast" at about 12:45: my cereal, blackberries, a banana and a pear.

I really didn't think about food the entire rest of the day, and I wasn't hungry. I took another round of the herbs/shake around 4, and we ate dinner around 7. We went to Jason's Deli, where they have an awesome salad bar. Plus I ordered a plain baked potato. I'm thinking because you are only supposed to eat twice a day your meals can be a little bigger? Wishful thinking maybe?

So now anytime after eating I have about a 30-45 min window before I need to RUN to the bathroom. It comes on quick, I'm telling you.

I wasn't hungry really at all today, even though I didn't eat as much as I normally do. I'm feeling positive about the 2x a day eating.

xo xo

Day 7

Moving day! It was a super chaotic day moving Jordan, so I had no internet access. Right now I'm in Starbucks using their internet but not drinking anything (*tears*).

I did pretty well, I upped the Balance formula so now I'm taking 3 Renew, 3 Power and 4 Balance. I'm not sure what is affecting my sleep but I woke up around 5:30 unable to fall back asleep. Maybe this is what they mean when they say you may have too much energy? Hmm.

I had my cereal with blueberries and banana for breakfast. For lunch I had leftovers from Japanese the night before. I had an orange and some almonds for a snack and we had a late dinner (post-move) at this cute little Italian place. They made me a huge salad with spinach, roasted red peppers, onions, artichokes, sun-dried tomatos and pine nuts... and I put on olive oil and balsalmic, with some lemon.


We found this super cute market (similar to Whole Foods) where I stocked up on some fresh fruit for today (bananas, pears, oranges, blackberries).

Today (Day 8) I start on only two meals a day. Wish me luck!

xo xo

Day 6

Today was a spa day!!! Whooo hooo!

I started my day with 3 of each tablet and the Combi, and my cereal, almond milk, and a banana for breakfast.

I walked to the Spa across the street from our hotel, and had an oceanic detox wrap (where they cover you in seaweed mud and roll you like a taco in a heating bag) and I sweat so much! Then I went right into a gorgeous seaweed soak, to aid in the detoxing. Afterwards they massaged shea butter into my skin. Heavenly. I also treated myself to a pedicure, which I rarely get! I spent about 4 hours at the spa, and didn't get hungry until the Ghirardelli chocolate they put in my locker was calling out for me. But I had some willpower and didn't eat it! That is a first!

Afterwards I walked over to Anthropologie to check out their latest price cuts (for those of you who don't know they always have markdowns on Tuesdays)... I bought a super cute skirt, out of my box a little which was fun.

Jordan picked me up from there and we went to our sushi place for an early dinner since I didn't eat lunch. I got a taste of what it's like to only have two meals. I had edamame, miso soup, Kung Pao tofu (sans MSG) and a vegetable roll with tofu and mushrooms. Super yummy and lots of leftovers for tomorrow!

Tomorrow is my last day of three meals. Sad. I will definitely be upping the Balance formula, because again today I literally had to RUN back to our hotel to use the bathroom. I'm thinking that's not normal. ha ha.

xo xo

Day 5

After sleeping in, we decided to drive up to Santa Fe (about an hour away) and check out the city. It was really cute and quaint, with clay adobe buildings everywhere, just like you'd imagine.

I upped my tablets today to 3 of each, to help get my body used to having more herbs in my system (which will happen when I take the herbs/Combi twice a day starting on day 8). I ate my sprouted grains cereal with almond milk, blueberries and a banana for breakfast. On our drive up we had to make a frenzied stop at a gas station for me to use the bathroom. The urge to go comes on really quickly on this cleanse! My advice is to never be too far away from a bathroom!

We ate at The Shed, a historic restaurant in the plaza in downtown Santa Fe. I was told by a friend I would be able to find yummy vegetarain food, and indeed they did have a lot of options, none of which were vegan. So ordering was a little tricky: I got a garden burger (not even sure if that is vegan?) with no bun and no cheese, with a side salad with balsamic vinegarette. I also got a side of guacamole... so yummy. And I splurged and ordered a vegan, handmade, blue corn tortilla to sop of the rest of the guac. Yum. You are supposed to avoid corn because of its acidifing properties, but this was the first time I'd had a corn product in 5 days so I justified it.

For dinner I had a salad with artichoke hearts, hearts of palm and grilled eggplant and zucchini, as well as a little vegan tomato soup from Whole Foods.

xo xo

Day 4

Happy 4th of July! We went to Balloon Fiesta Park in Albuquerque to watch fire works... it was a beautiful night!

The cleanse is going well. Started off the day by upping my tablets: 2 Renew, 3 Power, 3 Balance, and then I did 1.5 scoops of Combi half hour later. For breakfast I had my sprouted cereal with blueberries, banana, and almond milk, with a half of a nectarine.

Lunch was leftover Japanese food from last night: Kung Pao tofu and stirfried veggies. pineapple for dessert. Later I snacked on watermelon and dried apple.

We packed some snacks to eat during fireworks, and at the park it was a fair-like set up with TONS of yummy, bad-for-you food. I was able to find a plain baked potato, which I ate with a little BBQ sauce, a definite splurge as the first ingredient is most likely sugar. But still, it was a better option then a hot dog, taco, cotton candy, funnel cake, sno-cone, burrito, pulled pork sandwich, etc. I also had a sprouted grain sandwich with banana, almond butter and honey (which we brought from home) and later in the parking lot we ate some watermelon, pineapple and mango. Oh, and I had a few of those pretending-not-to-be-a-potato-chip-but-that's-what-they-really-are "veggie straws" from Costco. My second splurge for the day. Damn.

I felt pretty good today... my usual caffeine headache emerged around noon so I took half an excedrin with lunch. Tomorrow I'm planning on cutting the excedrin tablets in thirds, so I can wean down gradually.

I'm actually feeling ready to start ramping this thing up, and am I'm looking forward to upping the dosage of the tablets and shakes when week 2 starts in a few days!!!


xo xo

Day 3

I made it another day! Woke up feeling pretty good, which was in stark contrast to how I felt when I went to bed last night. I took a turn for the worse after blogging; my headache intensified, and then I began to feel extremely nausous. But like I said, after sleeping I felt pretty good. I took my tablets: 2 Renew, 2 Power and 3 Balance, this time with apple juice which made them go down WAY easier. Then I upped the amount of Combi shake: 1.5 scoops. For breakfast I had my special cereal with bluberries, a banana and almond milk. I made some green tea on our way out the door... we went to the longest tram in the world, which starts at 6,500 ft and goes all the way up over these amazing mountains to 10,500 feet.


We hiked about five miles at the top, and I was SO ready for lunch when we got back. The restaurant was awesome and modified a delicious salad for me: mixed greens, cucumber, avocado, peppers, and a grilled portabello mushroom with homemade blood orange vinegarette on the side.

On our way home from the hike, my caffeine headache started to return, so I decided to take a half of an excedrin. Half of a pill contains the same amount of caffeine as a half cup of coffee, so I figure with that and the green tea I'm still taking in less then normal. I know it was kind of cheating but I really didn't want to ruin a good day with a miserable headache, especially after my terrible night last night. I researched caffeine withdrawals, and it can take as long as 9 days for your body to get used to cutting out caffeine cold turkey. As long as I'm not having actual coffee, my plan is to wean myself from the caffeine gradually, as obvioulsy doing it cold turkey was cruel and mean.

Later in the afternoon I snacked on pineapple, and had a little vegan tomato soup from Whole Foods that I bought the other day. We swam for a little bit, and then got ready for dinner.

We went to a sushi restaurant that was so yummy. On this diet they say to eat soy products in moderation, and rice is an acidifying food so they say to try and avoid it. We ordered miso soup, edamame, Kung Pao tofu with no MSG, and stirfried veggies. Oh, and a vegetable roll, vegan style, with no eel sauce on it. It had very little rice, which was good. My eyes were way too big for my stomach and I ended up bringing more than half my food home for leftovers. I'm just stoked that japenese food is an option, if you order carefully.


My biggest lesson of the day is that I can be just as satisfied eating a big salad as I am eating something more substantial. I was FAMISHED after our hike, and was super jealous of Jordan's ham sandwich and fries. But then while I was eating my salad, I began to feel full, just as full as I would be binge eating those delicious fries! And of course I ordered no cheese on my salad, which I thought I would miss, but the avocado really made up for it. After lunch Jordan felt guilty for eating a ham sandwich and fries, and said he wished he ordered the same salad as me! Ha!

I'm very excited that I made it through another day!

xo xo

Day 2

So I woke up with no headache, which was awesome. I got up and took my tablets right away, and upped the dose on the Balance tablet to keep me from running to the bathroom every couple of hours. It was tough swallowing the tablets, for some reason they were making me gag. Half hour later I mixed the Combi shake with apple juice... and it is MUCH better with juice than water. So that went down pretty well.


I found sprouted whole grain cereal at Whole Foods last night, and I was SUPER stoked to have that for breakfast with some almond milk. It actually felt like a real meal which was nice. I also had some green tea and a banana a little later.

Midday my caffeine headache came back. I felt pretty tired at that point, plus we were running around all day doing errands, lifting stuff, etc. I snacked on blistered almonds and blueberries.

For lunch I had a baked potato with peppers, onions, and olives, with ketchup. I'm thinking ketchup is on the "no" list but I decided to have a little anyway. I also had a small side salad with olive oil and vinegar. I had a little unsweetened iced tea to try and dull the headache, but to no avail. The headache is really the worst part of this whole experience.

Here's a piece of advice... do not go to Costco while detoxing. You think those tester stations are irresistible when you can eat anything you want? Wait until you can't have ANYTHING they are taste testing. It is soooo depressing. I finally found one station where the little old lady in her hairnet was serving up sliced watermelon.

I did find some fun snacks from Costco though... well, one is legit and the other is a glorified potato chip. The legit one are these packets of freeze dried fruit. Literally they have nothing else but strawberries, apples, and pears, in little snack packs. No preservatives, no sugar, no nothing. And they even retain some fiber in the drying process, which is good. The non-legit purchase were these "veggie straws" which looked to be a vegetable in some form, and the ingredients were pretty clean. But when I busted into the bag before we even got out of the parking lot, I quickly found they were nothing but a potato-chip-like-specimen. I had a small handful before I started to feel guilty. But I let the guilt go because truthfully, my INTENTIONS were all good.

For dinner I had a mixed green salad with artichokes, hearts of palms, balsamic vinaigrette and a grilled portabello mushroom. I also tried out these "Marinated Grilled Eggplant and Zucchini" from Trader Joe's... which tasted good but had canola oil on them, which upped the fat content, so I only had one slice of eggplant and one piece of zucchini. That will definitely be a splurge. Ha ha, imagine, grilled veggies are a SPLURGE!!!

I just took a long bath with the Vibram drops and now I'm going to have some fruit salad made up of watermelon, a nectarine and an apple.

Day 2 down, only 26 to go!

xo xo

Day 1

So it's about 9 pm on the first day of the Ejuva cleanse, and I have to say I am EXHAUSTED. More about my day in a minute... but first I wanted to reiterate why I'm writing this blog.

If you know me at all you know I research EVERYTHING before buying it, using it, believing it, trusting it, etc etc. And when this cleanse was brought to my attention I did a TON of searching for other people's experience with it, and I found some super weird blogs... nothing I really related to. So I decided to do my own blog about the Ejuva cleanse, for people who are interested in detoxing, or are researching this product. I haven't quite yet decided how detailed I'm going to get here, I'll see how it goes. Not trying to gross anyone out. :-)

Okay so first let me tell you what comes in the kit. Three herb formulations: called Renew, Power, and Balance. Renew is designed to rid the body of toxins, parasites, and yeast organisms, and regenerate the cells of the intestinal tract. Power is designed to break up the waste material in the colon, rid the body of hardened mucoid layers (the crap that sticks to the sides of your intestines. yum.) and clear the lymph system of impurities. Because the combination of these two formulations can take a toll on the body, the Balance formulation was designed to restore energy in the body, and help the body experience vitality and harmony. Basically the amount you take of these three tablets can be altered at any time, depending on how you are feeling.

Also included in the kit is the Combi shake, which is made from Psyllium seed husk, Slippery Elm, Flax seed meal and chia seeds. It looks like ground up shredded wheat. You mix it with water or juice and take it half hour after the herbs on an empty stomach. It too is meant to clear out the mucoid waste in the colon. Also in the shake you mix in 3 pinches of MoFlora, which are probiotics to replace what is lost in the cleansing process.

You also get a bottle of Vibram, which is aromatherapy designed to calm your nerves and emotions during the cleansing process. Or they recommend putting some drops in the bath each night. It smells yummy and soothing.

As far as diet, Ejuva recommends a raw, vegan, alkaline diet with no caffeine, and no alcohol, no processed foods, and no added sugar. I'm following this loosely, and eating vegan, mostly alkaline - it's hard because online there are many conflicting reports on what is and is not alkaline. So basically I'm eating veggies and fruit, unsweetened juice, sprouted bread, nuts and other various foods. Organic honey = yes. Coffee with cream and sugar = no. Almond milk = yes. Pizza = no...

Okay, so about my day. First of all I started this cleanse on a road trip. Stupid. Jordan and I drove from Phoenix to Albuquerque today... he is moving to Albuquerque for work for a year, so we drove with all his belongings in the car, with a uhaul trailer attached. This morning we made a special trip to Sprouts in Phoenix to get my food for the day, as eating clean on the road is near impossible. Not five minutes after we get on the freeway the tire on the uhaul busts and we are stuck on the side of the road in 102 degree weather. Not cool. ESPECIALLY not cool when I haven't had any coffee. I was cranky. A little.

Before all that I took 2 tablets of each formulation, followed a half hour later with the Combi and MoFlora mixture. Half hour later was breakfast: carrots and hummus, a nectarine, and some blistered almonds (they recommend you eat nuts without the skin because they are easier to digest... I got the blistered almonds at the Farmers' Market last weekend). An hour later (while waiting for the tow truck guy to fix our tire) I had some unsweetened green tea (trying to get SOME sort of caffeinated product into my bloodstream!) and a pear. Lunch consisted of an avocado and hummus sandwich with two pieces of sprouted bread, and some blackberries.

I snacked on more blistered almonds, pomegranate juice and more carrots and hummus. Dinner was a salad from Whole Foods (which I know will be my new BFF in the next month because of all the healthy choices there) made with greens, beets, mushrooms, cucumbers, tomatoes, tofu and olive oil and vinegar. I picked up some groceries for tomorrow to make my life easier, including organic, filtered, apple juice to make the Combi go down a bit easier, as well as a vegan tomato soup, and almond butter.

After dinner I had a banana with almond butter and honey. And after I sign off here I'm going to have a bath with the Vibram.

Throughout the day I felt a little lethargic, and I had a dull headache all day which I recognized as being caffeine withdrawal. My stomach felt super gargly and bloated, and I went to the bathroom several times. I need to change the formulation combination for tomorrow because I'm thinking I'm not supposed to feel icky like I do. But also I think it could be the heat I'm not used to... plus the fact I was in a car for 8 hours straight.

I'm hopeful tomorrow will be an easier day. Just gotta get over not having coffee! It hurts!

More tomorrow hopefully.

Oh, one more thing. Last time I weighed myself (about 2 weeks ago) I was 128. That's heavy for me so I may not be still 128 (I've been working out a lot in the last few weeks) but that is a my starting point for this cleanse.

xo xo

My Ejuva Experience, Coming Soon!

Check back July 1st!