smooth sailing seven

Day 7 of this 12-day cleanse is going well so far! I'm past the half-way mark. Most of the odd internal workings have settled down. No headaches today, and definitely less washroom breaks. I'm feeling well, pretty much like I usually do, minus any heaviness or sluggishness that I experience after my chocolate bar indulgences or after a lunch with bread and dairy.

It's true, when I think about it, I don't have any of those bloaty, sleepy, foggy, dopey feelings I sometimes experience after meals with dairy, flour, or sweets. I feel pretty alert. Pretty clear headed.

Last night I did make that delicious spaghetti sauce with ground chicken (see ingredients in yesterday's blog). And for the first time I cooked a spaghetti squash and used that instead of pasta. And it was so so delicious!!

 



Look at how that spaghetti squash looks just like noodles! To cook the squash, I cut it in half, took all the seeds out, brushed olive oil and S&P on the insides, then turned it upside down on a baking sheet and cooked it, skin-side up, for 45 minutes on 400 degrees. When when it had a cooled a little, I took a fork and gently pulled at the flesh and it came away all noodly!! Add the fresh healthy yummy sauce (oh, I added Kale to the sauce as well), and it's a sweet dish! It is actually quite sweet, because of the squash, so I added a little salt, because I like my "Italian" salty rather than sweet.

I must confess that I cheated a little. I love stringy cheese on my spaghetti. But I'm sticking to this no-dairy thing. So I found this:

It's not dairy, not soy, but it has tapioca flour in it. Flour is banished from this way of eating,  because of how it sticks to the walls of the intestines, but I figured, as the only cheat I've done so far, tapioca flour, and the very little bit of it I ate, is, well, it's not that bad, is it?! And look at the finished product:

Deliciousness. The "cheese" actually melts and becomes wonderfully stringy, just like Mozza. And the fun thing about this meal is, I had it around 6:30pm, and seriously wasn't hungry at all for the rest of the evening. No cravings for evening snacks.

I will say, though the cheese was a fun addition, I did pay a little for the cheat. That little bit of flour, when added to a system that has been cleaned out and has only processed all whole natural food for a week now, hit my intestines hard. I really don't think it's sticking to my intestinal wall like wallpaper paste, because cramps and trips to the loo followed soon after ingesting.

But I slept well through the night, and woke ready for my herbal pills and drops and steel cut oats and berries and nuts and seeds. I'm loving this morning breakfast, though I think I may try some fun egg concoction tomorrow, to satisfy my need for variety.

For lunch today, I went out with a friend, and had a huge veg salad with beautifully done medium-rare steak on top. Skipped the dressing and had olive oil and salt and pepper on top. An hour later I think I'm a little hungry, so may soon have my apple slices and almond butter.

Tonight I may have leftover spaghetti, or I may try a fun ground-chicken/quinoa meatloaf recipe I found, with sweet potato fries. Seriously, you can eat really well on this cleanse!

The cravings have disappeared, I think - now its more of a mind game. I WANT pizza and beer and chocolate. But my body's not craving any of it. I will dig in to my wealth of self-control, and keep going. only 5 more days to go after today:) and a cleaner, healthier body with some unhelpful unhealthful habits broken. yes.