There’s a reason they say the third day, or the middle of any cleanse is the most difficult. It’s the day they kick it up a notch. They day you don’t like what you’re eating. The day you’re ready to quit.

Which was kind of a bummer because I started  the day so positive and felt good after saying no to something that would’ve required too much energy from me and got to spend most of the alone, relaxing. Well, not entirely alone, I had Jackson, Mando’s sister Dolores’s dog that Mando’s mom now has. It’s pure joy having him here and I feel really blessed to be in his company. I believe just having him around has made me happier everyday.

To get back to my lunch, I just wasn’t enjoying it. I wasn’t enjoying it. I wanted to put some liquid aminos or soy sauce on it but couldn’t-part of the program is laying of soy as it may be bad for cysts and women’s health in general. I was bummed but determined to stick to it. The grocery list in the program listed rice wine vinegar. Why didn’t I get rice wine vinegar? It would’ve added such flavor! I was annoyed with myself. I tried apple cider vinegar but it almost made it worse.

I was eating outside, the weather was nice and Jackson was laying at my feet but I just couldn’t enjoy my food. I set it aside for later and asked myself why I couldn’t eat the meal I had in but was craving other foods and things. Wanting the salmon I’d had yesterday even though that had been two days in a row. I thought I was bored of it. I also eat mostly vegetarian so I thought today would be easier. Wanting something else to eat and unwilling to eat what I had, I decided to try focusing on something beside food.

Jackson. He’s always around, always there. To get you off of your electronics or at your feet. He’s a reminder of the other joys in life beyond food. Playing with him and going back to my food periodically helped. After that I set it aside and ate some extra breakfast I had. There was new juice from the blackberries becoming room temperature. The juice like a special, sweet sauce made for dessert in a fine restaurant. I loved it.

I was getting what I thought I was supposed to be getting out of this. Which is, learning to appreciate things beyond food. I think because I was able to, I could go back to my food and enjoy it. I was ready to focus BALANCE after this detox and be easy on myself too. We’ve all been there and obsessing over what to eat and ended up eating nothing because nothing is ‘healthy enough’ is just as bad as throwing in the towel, hitting the drive thru and getting diarrhea later that night. Or maybe that’s just me.

Later in the day Mando and I had an appointment to check out a house in Mt. Shasta. I made sure to eat before we left, take a snack and have something ready for me when we got back. It was a great experience to see the house and ask questions. I love looking at homes and it’s something we’ve been doing all summer because we really like it up here in Northern California. But this was the first time we actually went in to a house. It was a lot of fun and and I’m glad it coincided with my detox because it’s all about new beginnings, making plans and dreaming big.

When I got back to Mando’s mom’s house I was pretty tired and was experiencing quite a bit of pain. So I took a nice nap which really left me feeling refreshed. I could definitely feel sluggish energy before this.

The reading material for this day was detailed and broken down into a ‘Life Detox.’

• Appreciation challenge-There is no animal protein the in the eating plan today so it’s important to take today to enjoy each bite. Breath and take the time to chew, notice the tastes and flavors. How is it being vegan for one day? Is it normal to experience cravings and hunger and not always indulge. How are you emotions?

-Even though I eat mostly plant based, today it was difficult for me not to have salmon. It’s all I wanted to eat! Reading that last question about not always indulging brought up a good question. Were there others ways to satisfy cravings besides eating? It’s helped me realized how much mindless eating I’ve done in my life. Just because the bag of chips was there.

•  Ease your exercise-When doing the woman code detox it’s normal to feel tired and/or a little constipated. The best thing to do is stay well-hydrated and scale back on the amount of  activity done. For instance, take a walk instead of doing a high impact exercise.

-This one is easy for me as I’ve not been good with a regular exercise routine. Which may be the reason why I’m I have this problem in the first place! I say this because I’ve done a lot of research and found that exercise plays a hugs role in preventing cysts. However, the pain and size of the cyst may prevent a woman from being able to participate in certain exercise routines. Restorative, gentle yoga is on exercise that is recommended for cysts and I hope to add to that list as I do more research.

• Abundance Assignment-Take some time to think of the people in your life that mean a lot to you. Then create a list of the people who give you energy when you interact with them, who support you as you deal with stress in your life, and who support you being the best you. Brainstorm one thing that you can do to show each person how much they mean to you, spending little to no money.

-I thought this was a great assignment! I have my list and am currently thinking of how to best share my gratuity.

• Bath Product Detox-The products used to clean your bathroom and household are potential stressors on your health. New research shows that many of the chemicals found in everyday house-cleaning products are bio-accumulative and very toxic, which means that once in your system, they stay in your system and allow for increased free radical damage which makes you more vulnerable to autoimmune diseases and cancers. Throw away comet, ajax, windex, lysol, air fresheners, Glad plug-ins, cute toilet bowl cleaners and baby powder. Use BonAmi or Arm and Hammer baking powder in place of Ajax or Comet. Use white vinegar instead of bleach (it cuts grease too)

-Luckily this is something that I have done a long time ago but it’s never a bad idea to brush up on some products. I find ew.org very helpful for finding out toxicity levels in my products.

Breakfast-

Apples, blackberries, lemon juice, 1 tbls. ground flaxseed

Snacks-

Spirulina water-I forgot to add it to my fruit for breakfast so decided to have it with water.

Maca water-Maca is a cruciferous vegetable that’s ground into a powder to add to smoothies, etc. It works very well for balancing hormones for both men and women.

Tea

Banana

Pear-fiberous fruit that helps rid of cysts

Lunch-

Quinoa, purple cabbage, leeks, kale, ground flaxseed, green onion, red onion

Liver cleansing melody

Dinner-Lentil minestrone