What I love best about a cleanse such as this is it helps me get health supportive activities back to being a regular part of my day. The above photo I took bright and early this morning on my bicycle ride by Lake Ontario. And yes, I do live right downtown Toronto. This amazing view is just a 20 minute ride from my home.
With the good things about a cleanse, also come the challenging. With every cleanse type diet I have ever done. 5:00pm seems to be the witching hour. The time when my mind like to play these tricks on my will power. The games goes something like this.
Mind: ” You are so tired. You have a bit of head ache. It would probably go away if you just ate something.”
Will: “But I have already had two smoothies and its about time for dinner. If I can just get down the last one of the day, I’ll be good to coast through the evening on tea”.
Mind: “You have a fridge full of amazing fresh produce. Imagine the wondrous things you could cook up.”
Will: “But I am one of 94 participants. I can’t let the group down! I know that I can get through this.”
Mind: “You’re suffering. What’s the point? Why are you putting yourself through this?”
Will: ” Because its awesome for me, for my health. It tests my strength, my confidence, my self-control, my stamina, my commitment and my determination”.
Mind: “Fine… you win this time. But I’ll be back”.
And so it goes. So what I say to you is this- keep at it. Your determination might be waning but stick with it. You have likely realized this little detail that we all managed to skim over and that is that green smoothies to do not taste like vanilla milkshakes. They taste like liquid vegetables.
To temporarily distract you, here is my day in pictures. And I know I changed the order of activities around a little but I wanted to catch the sunrise.
Lemon juice + cayenne in water
Morning Sunrise- yes was ridiculously early.
Pre-shower skin brushing
Feel special now. I don’t let anyone up into my meditation space.
Breakfast!
Sure looks odd close up
After breakfast I began setting up for my Cooking Cosmetics: Natural Body Care workshop.
In the rush of organizing I did just before my workshop began, I forgot to take a picture of my lunch smoothie. It was green and looked much like breakfast. I believe It has banana, strawberries, kale, dandelion greens, cucumber, celery, and bee pollen in it. How did it taste? Green.
In action… cooking up lotions and potions.
Dinner about to made.
Dinner is served.
How are you doing?
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Hi Megan!
My roommate and I are doing the cleanse together and off to a good start. The smoothies are actually much better tasting than expected! One question…the servings seem to be really big! Are we supposed to drink the whole thing in one sitting, or can we save some for later? Are the servings supposed to be really big?
THanks!
Deeply honored to be granted a backstage pass to your sacred space, Meghan. LOVE the colors and your Vision Boards!
Okay, now I want to take the tour of the rest of the apartment.
Beautiful dawn/sunrise pics. Thank you.
That’s awesome that the two of you are doing it together. The smoothies do seem to be gigantic in size don’t they?
If you think about it though, what we are consuming is about five cups each smoothie of fruits and veggies. Five cups is about the size of a large salad plus two -three cups of water. I am having trouble drinking that much volume at a time so I have been pulling out the fruits and veg, splitting them in half and making two batches about an hour apart.
My withching hour is actually hours. It’s the time when the kids are in bed and I’m thinking of food. Just one apple. One banana. Funny that I’m wanting solid fruit and not the butter tarts that are sitting on my counter. Yes, my Hubby and children ate butter tarts this afternoon made fresh by a small bakery and I wasn’t even tempted. Now I’m being tempted by an apple!
Just blend it!
Oh Meghan!! I’m SO glad you posted this! It’s good to know that I’m not the only one arguing with my willpower!!! I love your honestly in this! It is around that 5pm timeframe that i start feeling the same way! i just want to CRUNCH on something!!
Your smoothies look GRRRREEEN! ;-P And delicious!! I have my alarm set early for tomorrow to see if I can get up 2 hours before work and take a walk instead of just one hour and rush! Let’s see if I can let willpower win!! ;-P
Thanks so much for all you do! You are simply inspiring!! I would love to go your cosmetics class! that looks like SO much fun!! (I’ll have to write that down if I am ever able to go to Canada to see PEI! lol One day!!) Did you paint the picture on your wall next to the table? So cute!!
Ps… those photos are absolutely stunning!! Wow! What an amazing purple!! I LOVE it!!
Carrie- Would love to have you in one of my classes. Canada is a big place. I think NC is closer to Toronto than PEI is
And the thing on my wall is a stencil. Whenever people come in for classes they are always like “oh so that’s where your picture is from. I though it was way bigger”.
My breakfast smoothie this morning is the Green Mohito. So far my favourite. Not too green, which seems to be a problem for me. It takes all my willpower not to just pop some cut up fruit or veggies into my mouth while loading the blender. I do miss chewing. Breakfast is the hardest for me, I really love my granola. So far I feel great, clean, light and fresh. I am fighting a cold but I think I am winning, adding vitamin C to the mix was a good idea.
Hubby and I love your granola too.
What a beautiful meditation space.
Didn’t sleep well last night, got up late this morning and have to work at noon, so I’m now doing a mixed up day 2, but I’m into mixed up. Better than no day 2 at all!
Very lovely photos Meghan! I am totally with you on fighting to pop veggies and fruits in my mouth while loading the blender! Agh!
As you know, I am modifying my version of the cleanse, especially with my flare up, but still participating. I must say I have REALLY enjoyed the exercise before breakfast. I do miss granola/hot cereal, but I don’t miss the heavy, overstuffed feeling of eating breakfast as soon as I get up. Going on a walk first and drinking all the water really makes me feel energized. Yay!!
enjoy reading your blog and am interested in your take on the powdered greens like Green Vibrance or Greens Plus. Thanks.
I am just observing at present, although I am subscribed. It is term break here in New Zealand and I have my daughter staying, so starting the cleanse right now would be difficult.
However, as soon as she goes back to university next week I’ll be on it. One thing has become abundantly clear to me however. I am going to have to invest in a blender. Any tips or suggestions would be welcome as I have never had one so don’t know what to look for or avoid in one.
I love this site and am so glad I accidentally stumbled onto it.
Lynne- In terms of a blender, you sort of have to work out what is in your budget. You tend to get what yoy pay for with blenders. I would suggest getting one with a substantial container and multiply settings- including one that says liquefy.
I have most definitely hit the witching hour — courtesy of my hungry boyfriend, cooking himself up some very un-raw grains and squash with lots and lots of salt. Nggghhh.
Thanks for all the support Meghan! The smoothie cleanse is a challenge, but it’s definitely do-able. I feel lighter and calmer, especially after morning meditation. Thank you for putting so much work into the tutorials and the blog. Your work is inspiring me to make positive changes in my life- and nourish my whole self.