Detox Week: Day One- Liquids Only

     Stage one of the detox diet is liquids only. Traditionally this is water. Adding a squeeze of fresh lemon to your water not only enhances the flavor, but also stimulates the bowels. Besides water, you can include freshly made fruit and vegetable juices, unsweetened herbal and spice teas such as ginger or dandelion, and broth, made from fresh organic vegetables simmered in water. I may cheat a little, while I realize that the detox is about purification and all organic, etc. etc. etc., I also have to work with what I have. I will be making a trip to the grocery store, but currently I don't have any fresh, organic oranges to squeeze.
   
     Suggested juices: Apple and Carrot Juice - for the best general tonic for cleansing and boosting the immune system, juice together four carrots and two green apples. Raspberry and Peach Juice - a juice great if you are overtired or anemic  juice together 4oz of raspberries and two peaches. Add an apple if you find the juice is too thick.

     It's lunchtime, and the headache has set in. Not sure if it's from no caffeine or just the fact that I have not eaten anything. It's most likely a combination of both. As I cleaned up the kitchen I saw the brownies, and in hindsight I wish that I had eaten more than two of them last night. I decided to go with a two banana and 1/3 cup orange juice for the smoothie. I'm too hungry and grumpy and headache-y to stomach the idea of blending carrots and apples as a drink. The smoothie is actually quite good. The bananas have made it pretty thick so maybe this can help me pretend that it's meal or something of sustenance. Hopefully the headache will go away. I've only been awake five hours and all I can tell myself is persevere, persevere, persevere.

     So, I am halfway through the smoothie and my headache is subsiding. Maybe it was all mental to begin with, who knows? I do feel better though and the happiness with knowing I'm halfway through my day of liquids only and that I haven't caved, is worth the mild headache and grumpiness that I had earlier. I feel good about myself and what I'm doing. Hopefully, this positive attitude will get me through until dinner-time.

     Headache came back and has pretty much been constant since mid-afternoon. Being at my house today stunk! I almost caved so many times. I tried the apple and carrot juice for my dinner. I do not own a juicer, so I made it in my blender on the "juice" setting and added some water to keep it from breaking my blender. The juice was alright. It tied me over, but I would never just make it and drink it on my own. Plus, there were some chunks of apple so I had to use a strain. Also, I added some cucumber slices to my water to flavor it. Then I could pretend like I was eating it. I refused to cook dinner on a night that I can't eat, so left-overs were dinner for my family. Too bad the pizza smelled amazing as it was reheating in the oven. There is just something about the smell of cooked peppers. This is hard. If I didn't have a pounding headache, I'm sure it'd be much easier. I know I can do this. My strongest motivation is counting down the hours until bedtime. I cannot wait for tomorrow when I can add raw fruit.