*After The Cleanse*

[LWW]

Hey Lissa,

THere are a ton of vegetable broth recipes in the veggie broth tab of the raw food lifestyle file of the BB. I used A TON of herbs and spices to give my broth some flavor. I id not use salt, isntead I used organic dried seaweed and it was FANTASTIC!!! Personally, I am extremeley sensitive to salt and I bloat up like crazy in mad doses so I try to omit as much sodium as I can . Good Luck with everything =) Oh yea by the way, I like to use grapefruit juice too instead of OJ or I do a mix and match cuz i like variety.

Take Care,

Laura

[gillmoli]

Thanks, Laura.

I'll just have to experiment I guess. I just feel like I have to do this all "the right way" or else! I know that we're all different and that some of us can move over to more solid foods more quickly...I'm just super hesitant since this is my first MC. I know it will all work out just fine in the end!

Thanks again!

~Lissa

[lovejones596]

The end is near for you Lissa! Just one more day! You go girl.

I was thinking how I was going to get off the cleanse about halfway through the cleanse. I am very cautious as well. I've lost some weight and just don't want it coming back on. I made my veggie soup last night and just used some organic veg broth cubes. That was enough salt for me. I didn't put any other seasoning in. After having lemonade for 11 days (I'm still drinking it) it tasted devine! I look forward to actually drinking a cup of it tonight for dinner. I've also had a couple of bites of watermelon. It tasted so good.

Ok - going off the food subject... How shall I put this. Now that I've ended my cleanse, I haven't eliminated. When should I expect to? My guess I probably won't until I actually eat something, right?

Stay strong everyone in your original commitment to good health. This weekend is coming and will be VERY tempting.

Happy day all.

Elisa

[gillmoli]

Elisa,

Thanks for your well wishes and support! Almost done!

In regards to your eliminations post-cleanse, I wanted to quote this from Laura (LWW)...it took her a few (9) days to have a bm once finishing the cleanse. This is how it went down:

Hi EVERYONE!!

Res: I finally had 3 BMS today!!!! WOO HOOO!!! I had a spinach apple and Lemon green smoothie. Within 10 minutes of finishing it I had a BM and then ANother and then ANother. THough the BMS were kinda difficult to go through....Its odd... I dunno why i was constipated for so long either.

I definitely believe that we are all so different and that the time it takes for our bodies to readjust varies. Don't give in to drinking the tea...give your body time. I'm a little nervous about that too...not fun to be constipated!

Your veggie broth, did you add pureed veggies to it or just had that alone? There's a recipe for a raw veggie puree which sounds absolutely amazing, but I don't know if it will be too much for me to take on day 4.

Thanks again and congrats on finishing your MC!

~Lissa

[gillmoli]

Elisa,

Just one more quote here about the post-cleanse eliminations:

If anyone is having issues with "eliminating", may I suggest a Green Smoothie... Just make one that doesn't taste like hay and you'll be happy you did, uh, once you get past the texture.... gag :

See ya all soon!

Cheers!

Good luck!!

~Lissa

[lovejones596]

Lissa,

I didn't add any pureed veggies, I just cut up zucchini, celery with leaves, carrots, potatoes, onions, peas, corn, green beans, garlic, some canned whole tomatoes (organic) and then the bullion cubes (they were organic as well). I brought it to a boil and then simmered for about 15 minutes. I'm not much into zucchini so I may puree that, but the rest I love.

I didn't realize that there was a veggie broth thread, I'll check it out.

Thanks for the quotes - I'll try a green smoothie on Monday if I don't have one before then. I'm out and about the next couple of days and don't want to take any chances having to "go" while I'm no where near a toilet.

Have a great weekend! And take it S L O W.

Elisa

Hi Res!

[gillmoli]

Elisa,

That soup sounds fantastic too! I'm so excited!

Actually, I just went to the Lemonhead Recipe Box thread to find recipes. There are some amazing ones that I can't wait to try out. It will be hard to go slow, but I know I must!

I have a question for you (I know it's in the book, but I don't have it with me at the moment--sorry if it's redundant): on the last day of the cleanse, do you do the swf? And...the night before the last day, do you do the tea? And do we do the tea the night of our last day?

I've been a bit confused as to whether or not I should do those on the last day...I think I'm reading into it too much but I just want to be sure!

Thanks so much and have a great weekend too!

~Lissa

[natrlnslim]

Hello Everyone,
I am pleased to announce that I have made it to Day 15!!!!!! Tomorrow I will be drinking my juiced oranges. I can't wait. I have lost a total of 16 pounds! My goal is to try to eat 50% raw. For now I plan on drinking the lemonade during the day and then eating dinner. Hopefully my stomach will adjust well.

[lovejones596]

Congratulations natrlnslim! Way to go.

I have this fancy idea of begin 75% raw. Let's see if I hold up to it. There are many temptations here in the office, but I've manage to avoid them for 12 days, so I probably can. I figure raw in the morning (juice or fruit), veggies for snacks, salad for lunch with maybe a piece of bread and cooked for dinner with veggies or a salad. That's about 75% right? I plan on limiting my meat as well but I can't give up pasta or rice.

Lissa - this is what I did for my last day. (not sure if it was in the book or not) I drank my tea the night before, did my swf as usual, had my lemonades all day (I did cheat that night and had 5 grapes sans the peels and 3 bites of a watermelon. It didn't bother me any). I did have some tea that night but just a little. I actually like the taste of it. And that was it. The next day I made some oj and lemonade and I switch on and off between the two. Made my veggie soup and tasted that. I look forward to that tonight. Even if there won't be anything to chew on.

I read your blog. Let me know how your juicer is. I have a juiceman jr that is about 11 years old. If it dies I'll be shopping for a new one.

Ta Ta All

Elisa

[llemmers]

Hey everyone,

I'm still cleansing, but I wanted to share some thoughts... I've checked out this thread from time to time but never posted. I was posting on another thread and ended up typing quite a bit of things that were on my heart about this cleanse and what the pros and cons are. I guess I was on a roll and a lot more came out than I planned on, but I think it's good stuff to think about so I am copying it in it's entirety here too. Sorry for the length, I guess I just had a lot to share... sooooooo here it is:

Hey everyone,

Just thought I'd check in on this thread. This is my first MC and today is day 22 on my way to 40+. I'll decide if I want to do more than 40 when I get there. My main goals are to continue until the solid stuff is totally gone. Yes I've eaten crap food for many years and I just want to "clean house". Disolved solid stuff is still coming out every morning, even 22 days later!!! Kind of scary!!!

Overall it's been a good experince. I've had some days where the cravings were pretty intense, but I just take it one day at a time, sometimes 5 minutes at a time if I need to.

One observation that was new today is the "butt pee", after the solid stuff comes out is more of a pale yellow today. Normally it is bright yellow. I'm not sure if there are less toxins, or less nutrients in my body. Probably less of both.

This brings up a point I've been thinking and learning about lately. Cleanses like this are beneficial, but they can lead to nutrient deficiency. I know Burrows says the lemons and maple syrup provide all we need, but I don't believe that's a true statement. Perhaps they provide all we need for the short term, but we also need protien and fat, as well as a host of other things, to be healthy. I'm not disputing this cleanse, as I have been very pleased to see all the junk exiting my body. The weight loss has also been a pleasant goodbye. It's just that I am concerned with all the people that do repeated cleanses or continue with a really limited diet after the cleanse. I can't believe that is healthful in the long term.

While it's true I have consumed years of crap food most of my life, our family has experienced a complete turn around in eating habits for the last 6-8 months or so. We had a baby girl and that made my wife and I take a good hard look at our food intake and decided we need to make a major change. Leading up to this cleanse, I was eating organic, nutrient dense foods, feeling better, and lost about 10 pounds. I plan on continuing that when done with this. I know this is a raw food site and much of our diet is actually raw, but we still do meat (locally grown, organic) and dairy (organic whole raw milk - not pasturized), raw cheeze, and fresh locally raised organic eggs. Fresh salads with a variety of vegetables, great smoothies in the morning packed with quite a few different nutrient dense items like goji berries, raw cacao, banana, blue berries, cherries, nutritional yeast, maple syrup, pine and macadamia nuts, egg yokes, kefir or raw milk, and melted raw butter / coconut oil, and palm oil. I'm not sure if that sounds appealing or not, but it tastes great and is so jam packed with nutrients that one serving is totally satisfying until lunch. We have enjoyed homemade chicken soup loaded with veggies made from broth that slow cooks for 24 hours to extract tons of calcium and other nutrients out (again, not a raw vegetarian concept, but very nutritious none the less)

My wife is still nursing, so she isn't able to do this with me. This board has really helped a lot. I'm kind of going on and on, but it has been on my heart to share a few things for a while. The cleanse is good... very good, indeed, but I believe it is imperitive to eat a variety of nutrient dense foods after the cleanse. Weight loss is important, but disease can come back in if our immune system is weakened and lack of nutrients leads to a compromised immunity. One of the reasons the weight comes off for most people is the sheer lack of caloric intake. If a person does this cleanse, depletes the bodies stores of nutrients, and then continues with a very limited diet to continue weight loss, they are setting themselves up for problems. I'm not suggesting to pig out and end up right back where we were before, but just to make sure the diet is balanced with a variety of good foods. That's also why organic, locally grown, naturally ripened fruits and vegetables are so important. While they may cost more (there are ways to buy better like CSA's and farmers markets), you actually get more "bang for the buck". Commercially produced foods tend to come from soils that have been depleted of vital nutrients and rely on chemical fertalization, rather than putting back natural elements as is typical with organic farming.

OK, I'm probably going into way too much detail, now, so I'll stop. I just care about people and want to share some of what I've learned. I'd be glad to share more if anyone cares, but I guess that's all for now. There are a number of resources I could share if anyone wants to know more.

Best of luck to you all. May God bless you on your journey,
Luke