1. Weight loss. I am down 6.5 pounds in a week. The change is noticeable in my stomach and my face. I usually have a rather large belly bloat, and that has diminished quite a bit.
2. Clearer skin
I am a 32-year-old who still gets zits. I’ve always noticed that it is directly a result of what I eat – after I eat a lot of sugar or a greasy meal, I break out. Well this week, those previous zits disappeared and I do not have any new ones.
3. No longer tired all the time
We all know that I used to be tired all the time. I blame this on a job that requires rising at 5 a.m. and kids that require staying up until at least 9 p.m. But after the first three days (where I might have caught up on sleep due to the withdrawal headaches), I have gone to bed at consistent times and woken when I felt I got enough sleep. No more groggy mornings. I’m awake before the kids, reading or doing yoga on days I don’t work.
4. I am trying new foods
I am non-adventurous with foods. I know what I like and I stick to it. But on this cleanse, with all those things I like no longer being options, I am eating new things. Like yesterday was my first time having sweet potatoes. Steve fried up some nice hashbrowns with them and they were delicious.
Also, Steve is a soup person. He loves soup. And we have one recipe that is tried and true so I always fall back on it – Pasta Fagoli (if you’ve had mine, you’ll agree there is no need for any other soup). However, it has beef in it. So today I am finally making minestrone, which we’ve been claiming we would try for months now.
5. Exercise is easier
My marathon training has just started, so I am taking it pretty easy to start, but even with my five mile treadmill runs, I have noticed I have been able to go farther and faster with less breaks (the curse of the treadmill – the breaks). The other day I finished and I thought to myself, “I could do this all day.”
6. I don’t actually need caffeine
And here I thought that coffee each morning was a necessity. I make it through each morning just fine without it, now that the headaches are gone.
7. My mind is sharper
Now this is hard to gauge, but I have noticed I notice things I didn’t before; I think in moments I used to zone out.
8. I’m at the grocery store a lot.
Like, almost every day. But that is because I am making fresh meals at home out of real ingredients rather than grabbing something convenient. Our grocery bill has gone up, but our eating out is oh so much cheaper (we’ve just had Chipotle once).
9. I am more productive
I am constantly complaining there isn’t enough time in the day to do everything I want to do between the kids and part-time work and housework and hobbies. But every day last week I was able to run and/or do yoga, read, and blog. I also took my kids to the children’s museum, the zoo, daddy’s work, and Fontenelle Forest (and don’t forget the grocery store). On top of that, I cleaned the house, which we all know is not my specialty. So maybe there really is enough time in the day, if you spend most of it productively. That is, once your kids are no longer babies, of course. Mine are growing towards independence and I am used as a referee mostly.
10. I miss bread though.
A lot. At first it was the caffeine I missed the most, then sugar. But now, I find it is hearty, filling foods I miss rather than the feel-good, nutritionless ones. Hopefully this means I am training my body to want the foods it needs, which was the whole point of this cleanse to start with. I can’t lose sight of that. I’ve got two weeks left. And then, Gandolfo’s subs.
holly pelesky 
Leave a Reply