Logan here wishing you and your family a very happy Thanksgiving! This is a wonderful opportunity to stop and realize what is important in your life and refocus on family and food. Many people get a day or two off so you hopefully have some time to spend with family. Also, since food is a big focus of Thanksgiving so this is a great time to reexamine your thoughts on what you are putting into your body and think about healthy eating. How ever you choose to spend your time, I hope it is good.
Thanksgiving Meal
I find it unfortunate that there is so much focus on turkey for Thanksgiving. With all the other traditional side dishes we never miss the turkey and always feel full. We have made an effort to create our own family traditions around the meal without the turkey. We have the typical fare of cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, stuffing (if using store-bought, check the ingredients – not all are vegetarian), and green beans. One year we tried to cook a tofurkey and it was a unanimous failure – we all hated it. Our vegan friend swore that tofurkey really was great and that we needed the tofurkey gravy, but I don’t think any of us are willing to try it again. I have also heard of other families that make a tradition out of trying new recipes for main dish turkey-replacers. What ever you choose to do, it is a good opportunity to build family traditions.
Holiday Hype
I also find it unfortunate that Thanksgiving now gets overshadowed by the beginning of the Christmas holiday season and the hype of the black Friday shopping. As a non-Christian it seems like we are overwhelmed by people who think that everyone celebrates Christmas. I’m not looking forward to another month of cashiers wishing me a merry Christmas and having to decide to either tell them I don’t celebrate or just grit my teeth and respond with a yielding nod.
Staying Positive
Anyway, the real think to focus on for Thanksgiving is exactly what the holiday is named for – giving thanks. It is a wonderful time to stop and think about what we are really thankful for. I suggest you take this time to think about what you are thankful for, what you want from life, and how you can get there. Stay positive, and be thankful.
Finished Dish - Rice and Tofu
This was a really simple dish which I was surprised that I got the kids to eat and enjoy pretty easily. There is a little cooking involved if you count the rice, but hopefully that is easy enough.
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Build your own taco bar
Build Your Own Tacos
This is a very simple idea and was a really big hit with the kids. I called it a “build your own taco bar” and they were sold instantly.
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This post collects all the posts about my recent 14 day Master Cleanse. If you start from the beginning, I have helpful tips as I go through, and you can follow along on my progress and experience. I hope you enjoy this and I would love to hear your feedback on this. Was it helpful or inspirational? Are you considering or have completed a Master Cleanse? Make sure to comment and let me know.
So yesterday was my last day of a 14 day Master Cleanse and today I’m drinking just orange juice per the directions I covered yesterday about how to end a Master Cleanse. Today I thought I’d wrap things up with some facts, figures, and observations.
Facts And Figures
Over the course of 14 days, here is what I consumed:
- 85 oz – almost 3 entire jugs (32 oz each) of maple syrup
- 60 lemons
- 30 limes
- 21 tsp cayenne pepper
I started out at 180 pounds and ended up this morning at 163.5, so I lost a total of 16.5 pounds or about 1 1/4 pounds a day.
Observations
I had the same experience as my previous time in regard to hunger and desire to eat. I found it easy to manage the hunger by drinking more lemonade. I found it hard to manage the “not eating” part. Eating is so ingrained in us, and the process of eating is such a large part of our lives. I found that I was thinking about eating quite a bit and missed the ritual and process of actually eating.
My system of making all the lemonade in the morning really works well. I like having all the squeezing done right away in the morning and it makes it that much easier to follow through with drinking just the lemonade.
I really feel I benefited from the extra days past day 10. As I stated, day 11 was my Master Cleanse turning point. I feel renewed and energized following the cleanse. I also feel mentally in a better place and I want to work to keep myself going on this good path.
Going Forward
I think that now more than ever it is a critical time. It will be very easy to slip back into bad habits and lose some of the benefits of the cleanse. Here are my plans and goals for myself:
- Eat healthier and more raw foods. I plan on bringing a salad to work for lunch as often as I can. I also want to eat more raw organic nuts and other raw, simple foods.
- Regularly do strength training. I am pretty good about getting 1-2 bike rides in every week, but I haven’t done much with strength training. I plan on doing push ups and sit ups on a regular basis and try to build some muscle.
Now it is your turn – if you are thinking about doing a Master Cleanse, go ahead and start planning for it now. If you completed one, or if you have no plans to do a full cleanse, then write down some goals and plans for yourself. Let me know what you think too.
So tomorrow is my last day and I’m feeling great having made it well past my goal of more than 10 days. Now is the time to start thinking about breaking the cleanse. Today I’ll cover some ideas and tips for ending your cleanse.
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