Cleansing: Straighten Up and Fly Right

Erin posted in the comments about how she was straying off course since the challenge ended. I'm with you, sister (she is actually my sister)! This is why I have always loved the various challenges I do through the fitness threads I have belonged to over the years on BeachBody. It's like I always need to have that accountability to keep myself on the straight and narrow and only enjoying treats on occasion.

I, too, melted down a little last week. I definitely traced my bad eating behavior to PMS--gets me every time. So when I weighed last Friday, I was up two pounds from the week before. Which isn't wildly out of the realm of possibilities for having PMS and given the fact that the week before I had been down a statistically impossible two pounds. But regardless of why I was up again, I was annoyed and I knew it also had to do with my poor choices.

So Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, I did a short cleanse using my Shakeology shakes as the basis (it's a cleanse that BeachBody designed).

My thoughts on cleansing: I like it. I like it a lot. I definitely feel like it's not a long term weight loss solution, and depending on the type of cleanse you do (I've done short ones like this and then some as long as two weeks--that was hard), you shouldn't be on them for too long. Typically, you're removing all processed products and most meats, really concentrating on fruits, veggies, maybe some broths, and probably shakes or drinks of some kind (there's this one I did two years ago where you drink this stuff that pretty much adheres to your innards and "moves" a lot of stuff out of you. It's pretty cool.). It's about eating well and ridding your body of toxins.

So this cleanse went like this for 3 days:

-Pre-breakfast: green tea
-Breakfast: Shakeology made with ice and water only (usually I use almond milk)
-Late AM: Fruit
-Lunch: Shakeology made with ice and water only, followed by green tea
-Snack: Shakeology made with ice and water only
-Dinner: Salad with 2 cups veggies, 4 oz. white meat, 2 tbls. salad dressing (I used 1 tbls. olive oil instead--I don't dig salad dressing)

I have to say, I didn't find the cleanse hard at all. The only time I struggled was late morning today. The other days, it was pretty effortless, which is nice. There have been others that I thought were really mentally tough.

So what was my goal? To get my head back in the game. I really just needed to reset my brain to remind myself that I don't need to be picking at the kids' leftovers, I don't need to be popping stuff in my mouth at random, and I don't need to have sweets and snacks on a regular basis. It was really just a wake up call.

I worked out during the cleanse, except for today, which was a rest day anyway.

BUT, here is the big bummer. I did so well these three days, and then. AND THEN, I kid you not, I ate onion rings tonight with dinner. With my lovely salad and 4 oz. of white meat, I fricking flipped out and ate onion rings (baked, not fried at least) that I had made for the boys. Dang it. I feel certain that onion rings are not even close to being cleanseworthy.

Such is life. I am happy with the overall result of feeling like I am back to portion control and my cravings are gone. Unless we're talking about onion rings and then apparently I have craving issues.

So what's next? A recent Shape magazine had some great mix and match meal ideas that sound really tasty, so I'm going to cook and plan from that for awhile and see where it gets me. Maybe I'll get nutty and photograph my food for you.

For me, it's all about trying new stuff and seeing what works and what doesn't.

FYI: Onion rings don't work. Just in case you were wondering.