7 Day Cleanse

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, a nutritionist, nor a fitness guru. The purpose of this cleanse was to give an account of my overall experience and should not be used as your sole source for dieting information. Please consult your doctor before any diet changes or regimen.

I found this cleanse on a site off of Pinterest, but it has disappeared from my board.  I googled the Wonder Soup (see below) and landed on the Live Strong website.  By the end of the cleanse it said you could “lose 10-17lbs by the end of the week and feel energized.”

I really do feel great.  I’ve been waking up earlier than I’m used to, I’ve had a burst of energy all day, and my mind seems clearer.  By day 5, I noticed I had to go one more belt loop tighter!  So I definitely lost something.  If I was keeping track of that, I would have done a scale test all week!

Below is the 7 day experience in one post!  For each day, the bolded text came from the site I landed on and to show you what the day’s parameters consisted of.  The rest is my day to day experience on the cleanse.  Questions, let me know!

CORRECTION: The original site I visited was not too specific on the soup and when I was allowed to eat it – except for day 4.  HOWEVER, the other sites I’m reading say you can eat this soup in UNLIMITED quantities ALL WEEK EXCEPT only in limited quantities on the day you eat bananas, milk, and the soup.  I only ate it all day long on day 4 & 7.  No wonder why I had so much left over…

This cleanse cost me $52 for 7 days.  I was eating all of this in unlimited quantities, so I would say this was a good deal because each day cost me under $8 a day to eat.

• Fruit & Veggies: $28.47
• Potato: 41 cents
• Beef 20oz: 13.05
• Soup: 12.20

Day 1: All the fruit you want – no bananas – and 10 glasses of water (each) day. Recommended to stick to lots of melon and cantaloupe, but all fruits in any quantity is ok.

I started off the day hungry!  I didn’t go shopping the day before – I’m guessing that was the problem.  Make sure you get something to eat for breakfast the night before.  I did have black coffee when I woke up – that helped to hold me over until I got some fruit.  My day consisted of:

• Watermelon
• Cantaloupe
• Strawberries
• Grapes
• Apples

After buying all of this, I had a bowl of watermelon, a few handfuls of grapes, strawberries, cantaloupe, and 2 apples.  As I’m writing this post, I’m eating a bowl of grapes.

What I like about today is that my sweet tooth is adjusting to the sweet fruit.  When I feel hungry, I grab a bowl of fruit and drink a glass of water.  It’s important to stay hydrated, so be sure to grab your 10 glasses of water.  What didn’t help was Fatima chowing down on white cheddar “flavor blasted” gold fish.

Day one has not been a struggle, more like an adjustment.  When I’m feeling hungry, I grab fruit.  What I’m liking about this cleanse, is that I can eat as much fruit as I want today!

Cleanse Day 2: All vegetables.  Like with yesterday’s fruit, eat all the vegetables you want today!  Start your day with a large baked potato for breakfast (see my prep work below).  Remember to drink 10 glasses of water.

Enjoy your baked potato.  To help you get through the day, I included my baked potato recipe below.  You’re allowed to use butter.  This will be your complex carbohydrate.  For the rest of the day, eat your favorite vegetables until your stuffed!

Today on the cleanse, was not as bad I thought it would be.  That baked potato was a little taste of heaven this morning.  I made sure to find the biggest potato for this breakfast.

Baked Potato Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
2. Wash and scrub your potato under cold water.  Don’t soak it!
3. Pierce each potato deeply with a fork or sharp knife four times on each side. This will allow steam to escape during the baking.
4. Rub olive oil or butter over the outside of the potato and dust with salt.
5. Place right on the rack (with a cookie sheet underneath) and bake for 45 minutes or until tender.
6. Remove your potato from the oven when done.
7. Slit across the top with a sharp knife and pinch in each end of the potato towards the middle (using your thumb and index finger). The potato will pop oven loosen the fluffy white interior from the skin (be careful of the steam).

My day on the cleanse consisted of:

• Cucumber (Yes, I know, it’s a fruit)
• Carrots
• Red, Orange, and Green Peppers
• Snow sugar peas

I thought this would be the hardest day on the cleanse since it was going to be my first whole day at work.  I wasn’t sure how hungry I was going to be at work, so I packed 2 large tupperware containers full of vegetables.  By 4pm, they were gone and my bladder was full!  I felt a little light headed, but not in a bad way.  Now that I read that, I realize that sounds really bad, and I should have gone out to the nearest sandwich shop to buy a sub.  But I felt my mind was clearer, and I was walking on air.  I felt really good and energized.

By the end of the day, I was a little hungry – as I ran out of vegetables at work.  I got home and chowed down on my vegetables.  Mostly carrots, cucumber (which I stupidly used as a “vegetable”), snow peas, and peppers.  I like the sweetness of the peppers, so I’m finding myself eating more of those.  I did get a little headache by the end of the night.  I’m drinking lots of water and eating when I feel hungry. And eating A LOT!

Fatima decided to eat a stack of oreos in front of me.  I feel like my nose has a heightened sense of smell; those oreos smelled delicious.  Their aroma intensified and I was smelling them from across the apartment – then again, our open concept living room-kitchen is tiny.  Is is just me, or were there a lot of food and restaurant commercials on TV last night?

Cleanse Day 3: A mixture of fruits and vegetables of your choice.  Any amount, any quantity.  No Bananas (yet), no potatoes.

I licked an oreo today.  I didn’t eat it, but I licked it, just once.  Maybe twice…Those are just the cravings talking, not hunger.

Surprisingly, I felt really good today on the cleanse.  Energized, cleared mind, and lighter.  I started off the day with guacamole (modified): 1 avocado, red pepper, a pinch of southwestern spice, onion, and lime juice – delicious!  This was Fatima’s brilliant idea.  Why not mix up the fruit and veggies into something I would enjoy eating anyways?

I filled up on cantaloupe, watermelon, grapes, carrots, and snow peas before leaving for work.  I packed 2 big Tupperware containers with cucumbers, carrots, snow peas, peppers, strawberries, cantaloupe, watermelon, and grapes.

Around 11am, I started snacking on some of my fruit.  At lunch, I cleaned up the veggies, and then snacked all day on the fruit.  Like the previous two days, when I felt hungry I ate.  Between all the water, veggies, melons, and cantaloupe, my bladder felt like it was going to explode.

By the end of the day, I felt great.  I felt some hunger on the verge, so I hurried home to restock on food.  Apples, melons, carrots ended my night.

I am looking forward to tomorrow!  I get to eat a “Wonder Soup.”  I bought all the ingredients tonight, and threw them into the crock pot.  That will start my day as breakfast…

Cleanse Day 4: Today you will eat as many as eight bananas and drink three glasses of milk. This will be combined with the special Wonder Soup which may be eaten in unlimited quantities.

Gassy.  That’s today’s word of the day.

So today, I started the cleanse off with a banana, a bowl of soup, and a glass of milk.  Weird?  Yes.  I made the soup last night in the crock pot, and set it for 10 hours.  Best decision ever!  Woke up this morning to a hot soup waiting for me to chow down on.  Surprisingly, it filled me up.  Running on a banana, soup, and milk before lunch, I felt full!

Before lunch, I had an intense craving for cupcakes.  Why?  I don’t know.  Maybe it was due to the picture of someone on Facebook with a box of cupcakes?  Maybe.  All I know is later that night, I pinned up a storm of donuts and cupcakes to make later this weekend…

For lunch, I filled an entire tupperware container up with the soup.  Delicious.  Kept me full all day.  It said I could eat an unlimited amount of this soup, but I was so full!

I only ended up eating 3 bowls of soup, 3 glasses of milk, and 2 bananas (Fatima ate them all).

Wonder Soup Ingredients:

This makes a lot of soup!  Filled my crockpot up to the rim.  I’ll be eating this for the rest of the week.  The full recipe is below, but I would cut it in half next time…unless you think you’ll be crazy hungry.

• 28 oz of water
• 6 large red onions
• 2 green peppers
• Whole tomatoes (I used a 28 oz canned of tomatoes)
• 1 head of cabbage
• 1 bunch of celery
• 4 envelopes of lipton onion soup mix
• herbs and flavoring for taste

Throw everything into a pot or crock pot and cook!  I preferred the crock pot because it cooked the cabbage through.  I bought a box of lipton onion soup mix and it only had 2 envelopes inside.  I was too lazy to go back out, so I added in some more 0f my own onion seasoning and additional flavoring.  It was very oniony, but oh so good!

When I got home from work, I started to prepare tomorrow’s feast…looks like I’ll be having filet mignon for breakfast!

Cleanse Day 5: You will eat beef and tomatoes. Eat two 10 oz. portions of lean beef. Hamburger is OK. Combine this with six whole tomatoes. Increase your water intake by about a quart.  This is to cleanse your system of the uric acid you will be producing.

Today I get to eat steak, tomatoes, and drink lots of water.  Boring?  Maybe.  I felt like it would be a normal day of eating food.  I felt no different from a day when I was eating “processed food” – I guess that’s a good thing, right?  I almost would have liked today to incorporate veggies and fruit.  I’m still having cravings for cupcakes – well cake specifically.  Supposedly I was supposed to not have these cravings anymore…

I started off the day with steak and tomatoes for breakfast.  How do you take 20 oz of steak and make it delicious for a cleanse?  Use what you can: herbs and other seasoning!  I rummaged through my cabinets and found some seasoning.  I put a few dashes into a bowl and mixed it all together.

Filet Mignon Seasoning:

• Garlic powder
• Basil
• Thyme
• Onion powder/flakes
• Pepper
• Salt

Heat a skillet on medium-high heat.  Combine all the seasoning into a bowl and mix together.  Dust and rub your steak evenly with the seasoning.  Once hot, use cooking spray on the skillet and lay down the steak.  Cook for about 4 minutes on each side or until desired rareness.  Enjoy!

I anticipated to be a little more hungry later on in the day, but I was full through lunch.  For lunch I stuck to the steak.  Fatima brought back filet mignon leftovers the other night from a dinner, so I brought that in addition to the steak.  I kind of preferred the steak I made – it was pretty good!  I had 2 tomatoes with lunch and I felt great the rest of the day.

I kept drinking water.  The cleanse warned about high uric acid today, so I kept drinking water.

Dinner: 3 steaks, and the last 3 tomatoes.  I almost forgot about the tomatoes because I was so full.  I held off a while before chowing down on the tomatoes.

Tomorrow should be interesting: Beef and veggies…

Cleanse Day 6: Beef and vegetables. Today you may eat an unlimited amount of beef and vegetables. Eat to your hearts content.

Hunger ensues.  I was so hungry this morning.  I had the last piece of steak for breakfast with a side of sugar snap peas (the last of them).  I officially ran out of veggies so I wasn’t able to pack a lunch.  I thought I would leave my company’s commissary to come to the rescue – bad planning on my part!

Again, bad idea to not have veggies and steak in stock – hunger pains before lunch.  Once lunch came around, I darted downstairs to see what our commissary was offering.  Thankfully, we have a delicious salad bar that offers fresh veggies and other assortments.  I have to admit, I caved – no beef, only chicken.  There was a delicious buffalo chicken salad out today, so I scooped that into a large box of salad – no dressing.

I’m sorry, I had to, I was hungry.  Later that night, I went to the store and stocked up on some more veggies and beef.  Satisfaction.

Ughg tomorrow is a day of rice…but it’s the last!!!

Cleanse Day 7: Today your food intake will consist of brown rice, fruit juices and all the vegetables you care to consume.

Oh my!  Today is the last day of the cleanse, woof!  Rice, fruit juices, and veggies all day.  I’m ok with rice, I could eat that and be satisfied all day.  But after Fatima said I would be “backed up” if I ate only rice, I thought I would just eat a bowl of rice for each meal paired with lots of veggies and the leftover passion fruit juice from my earlier experiments with passion fruit margaritas…

Today I also discovered that I was supposed to eat to eat the soup in unlimited quantities all throughout the cleanse.  How did I discover this?  I went to find the source of this cleanse.  I googled “Wonder Soup” because that was the only thing that had a name attached to this cleanse.  SO MANY people have good and different recipes to help make the soup taste a little more delicious.  I landed on Live Strong’s website where they had a recipe for the soup.  And there is was – eat the soup throughout the 7 day cleanse in unlimited quantities.  Why did the source I went to first not say that?  I don’t know, but I feel like that would have changed a few things – like that Oreo licking experience – I would have just eaten some soup.

When we make rice, we through a couple cubes of coconut milk in the pot (in addition to the water).  It helps it keep from sticking to the sides, and adds a nice little touch to the rice.  Overall, today was easy.  I ate more soup, made some good rice, and finished off the veggies.  I really do feel good.  I’ve noticed more energy, a clearer mind, and a notch tighter on my belt.

Fatima and I have a cupcake tour planned to celebrate the end of this cleanse.  Bon appetite!