Spring Cleanse: The Results

The day before the cleanse, I went to my favorite spice store, Penzey’s www.penzeys.com and stocked up on new spices. I cleaned out the messy spice cabinet, the pantry, and the fridge. I headed to Whole Foods for a load of vegetables, lentils, and quinoa pasta. It was like Ayurvedic Passover. I was so excited!

Sunday began with an intense caffeine withdrawal headache for Brian. It was so bad we had to leave church early and he went back to bed for three hours and felt extremely ill. It was so bad we thought maybe he had a virus. I had given up caffeine for Lent this year, so I could totally relate. Luckily I didn’t go back to daily coffee, so I was just sympathetic to his pain and not sharing it. Monday brought another headache for Brian and the beginning of the work week. I kept reassuring him that it would get better and I hoped that was true. By Tuesday the headache had disappeared and Brian was feeling better. I think he was even enjoying the challenge of the cleanse.

I had fun experimenting with food and cooking—I’ll publish our menu separately—and was surprised that after I stopped trying to taste every weird bitter green out there this wasn’t so bad. With only a few hours to go, we’ve both lost a few pounds and feel great. I feel clear and filled with energy. I interrupted the cleanse yesterday by introduced wheat into my body and definitely felt the difference: I immediately felt bloated and foggy. I was so shocked that a little sourdough could do that! Tonight, I’ll share wine with friends, and over the next few days begin slowing easing back into a diet that is hopefully a more healthy version of our old diet.

This process was helpful in so many ways, particularly in making us both so aware of what we usually eat at and between meals. I was surprised that—with the help of quinoa pasta in particular—that going ‘without’ wasn’t so hard. We were much better at the "don'ts" than the "dos" (must be the Catholic upbringing). We weren’t super disciplined about following foods for our doshas; I forgot about kapalabhati and candle gazing until yesterday; we really didn’t eat as much greens as we should have; we probably shouldn't have had balsamic vinegar or tofu. And I never did teach Brian meditation. But wonderfully, I still feel a great sense of accomplishment. And I know there's room for improvement next time.

Yes, next time! And Brian said he would too. Who’d a thunk it?!

Thanks to Don for inspiring us to try and to Kelly for your guidance in making it real.

Namaste.