DAY FIVE
Breakfast. I cheated. But only technically. This is what happened: I was making my breakfast smoothie--Blueberry, Carob and Almond Milk--and the silly ole blueberries kept leaping out of the colander and into my mouth. See? It’s not even my fault that I didn’t strictly have liquids only first thing in the AM. Despite the actions of those few rogue berries, something tells me I will manage to carry on with the detox just swimmingly. . .
Lunch. The Lentil Salad I made for lunch was very flavorful and delicious despite the (unintentional) omission of cucumbers and scallions. I may have previously mentioned portion size in passing, but now I really have to make a point of it. Maybe I’m just a light-weight when it comes to tucking in, but I am beginning to feel overwhelmed by how much food some of these recipes make. For instance with the Lentil Salad I would argue it comes out to be closer to three portions, at least. I noticed this with the Salmon, Broccoli Rabe and Quinoa recipe. From now on, where it says make one cup of quinoa/lentils/whatever I’ll only make half a cup. Who wants to be noshing the same grains for days on end, right?
Dinner. I decided to do a quick, light juice for dinner. We’ll see how sorely I rue that decision come bedtime when I’m running on fumes. Although, I’d rather end the day with an empty tank than try to go through a day with one. Not like you’re going to be partaking of a track and field competition in your sleep, is it?
Speaking of sleep, last night was sadly no better than the one before it. Perhaps I am being unfair to blame the detox for my unrest, as I am currently entering a very stressful time in my life. Looming ahead is a big move and a correspondingly large job change. I like to think that would be enough to disturb anyone’s sleep and that I’m not just being a Nervous Nellie, as my mom would say.

DAY FOUR
I should tell you that I’m not in the habit of preparing meats. I’m not a vegetarian and I certainly order meat while out in restaurants. I just don’t like the look, feel and smell of raw meat enough to include meat-centric dishes in my usual kitchen repertoire. That said, I have been trying out meat dishes for the solid detox meals.
Keeping all of that in mind, I have a confession to make. Yesterday I had planned to make the Roast Lamb Loin with Rosemary and Asparagus and that didn’t happen. Why not, you may ask? Well, I was supposed to defrost the lamb in the refrigerator overnight and I plum forgot to take the dang thing out of the freezer! Lunchtime was before me and I had to scramble to come up with a suitable substitute.
Not feeling especially creative, I reheated the leftover Zucchini and Basil soup I had had the night before and added black beans. I also sautéed some whole zucchini pieces in a little ginger-garlic paste with olive oil and tossed that in the soup as well. Pretty boring save, I know, but at that point I was too hungry to care about scoring crafty cook points.
Food aside, I’d like to mention that I’ve noticed a slight shift in my sleeping pattern. Usually, I cannot go to sleep before midnight and I wake up when the sunlight floods my room. Usually, I wake up (usually around four in the morning) to go to the bathroom. I have not been sleeping well recently. Last night I was ready to pass out come 11:30, but once the lights were out I couldn’t fall asleep. My mind was over-active and when I did snooze I had weird, borderline bad dreams. I had read that this could be a side-effect of the detox but I thought I’d be able to pass it up. (Don’t ask me why.) Guess not.

DAY THREE
I have been struggling for the past two weeks with a sore, scratchy throat and corresponding cough. For longer than two weeks (I couldn’t say how much longer exactly) I’ve had a sprained wrist. Yesterday I noticed a peculiar knot in the back of my throat, only to discover that it’s a swollen tonsil. Every day for months now I’ve had a very sore knot in the base of my hand. In addition to my life-long ailments, I will be monitoring these recent glitches in my health during this detox.
Even though Dr. Junger recommends photographing yourself every day of the detox, I’m not. (He also recommends getting a weekly massage, but if I could afford that I would have already been doing it. Some things just aren’t practical, ya know?) It’s only day three and stopping short of a miracle occurring, I don’t see how there could be alterations to view at this point. I did take pictures before I began all of this. Literally minutes before I took my first sip of breakfast drink on day one I snapped three photos which you can see at the foot of this blog. At the end of each week I will also take pictures and do a recap of the changes and/or improvements I’ve felt over the course of that week. Be sure to stay tuned!

DAY TWO
I shan’t do a meal-by-meal breakdown today for the dishes have not altered since yesterday. Each recipe, you see, makes two servings. For the sake of convenience and economy I will henceforth be eating leftovers every second day. As a recent college graduate, I am more than comfortable with thrift and thereby, leftovers. Of course if you’re not the nine-day-old pease porridge type, you have other options before you. For instance, the book suggests you share the other portion with a buddy. Actually, I’m starting to see the wisdom in that system. Rather than having someone to dissolve your resolve with sweets, you could have someone cheering you on and sharing your chocolate-deprived misery. (You’ve heard how it loves company.)
Well, I’m not really on my own with this because I’m doing it for You, too. Which is why I will pass on all of the tips and tricks I develop along the way. As of today, the best tip I can give you is to become very familiar with the elimination diet list and come up with some snacks that fit within it. My snack of choice right now is about a palmful of sunflower seeds and pecans--not just to stave off hunger but to keep my metabolism going.
For me, at least, snacks are vital to surviving the long stretch between lunch and dinner. The gaps between meals varies based on my work schedule. On Mondays and Fridays I eat breakfast around eight, have lunch around one, and then eat dinner at five or six o’clock. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I eat breakfast around nine-thirty, have lunch at about two, and then don’t eat dinner until eight or later.
I would typically feel very hungry come lunch and dinnertime (sans snacks) on my regular diet. With the Clean detox, I don’t feel any hungrier than I did before, given the same circumstances. I cannot say that your experience will be the same, since everyone’s schedules and metabolisms vary, but I not say not to worry about feeling like you’ll waste away.
If you do continue to feel ravenous despite having eaten a snack, you’re probably dehydrated. Drinking plenty of water daily is key to strong health, whether or not you’re detoxing. Don’t just have a glass of water with a meal or, my nana’s favorite, just for pill-taking. (Worse still is waiting until you’re thirsty. “Thirsty” is just a cutesy synonym for “dehydrated”.) If you don’t like the taste of straight water, try mixing in some lemon juice or some cucumber slices--both are very cleansing additives.
How do you motivate yourself through a goal? What’s a healthy snack that you like? If you have a question or suggestion for me, leave it as a comment below.

DAY ONE
Breakfast. I’m sipping my breakfast as I write this. The first thing I can say about Cucumber, Cabbage, and Parsley Juice is that it is absolutely godawful at room temperature. Even if you’ve just taken your veggies out of the crisper to juice, the resulting juice will not be cold enough to come across as a pleasurable taste experience. Had I known that before hand (as you now will) I would have blended the veggies along with a handful of ice. Instead, I added some ice cubes to the concoction as an afterthought and then stuck the glass in the freezer for the few minutes it took me to clean up the kitchen mess I’d just made.
Being able to enjoy the recipes in this detox is paramount to its success. If I don’t like how the food tastes, I’m going to find it all too tempting to go back to waffles with jam for breakfast. As it is, I have to wonder how feeling hungry is going to result in boosted energy levels. . .
Lunch. At last! My solid meal has come around! I chose the Roasted Salmon with Broccoli Rabe and Quinoa for my lunch and was happily surprised at how quickly and easily it all came together. I followed the package instructions for the salmon, however, instead of searing and roasting as per the detox recipe’s instructions. The meal turned out to be on the hearty side, portion wise, which I was slightly surprised by.
Also surprising was how I felt come lunch. I was expecting my breakfast drink to barely be a blip on my fullness register, but it really held its own. That’s not to say I wasn’t hungry when lunch rolled around, but I think I had mentally prepared myself for a hunger that was worse than I could stand. Maybe that’s beginner’s luck, I don’t know. In a few days time I’ll know for sure.
Dinner. I made the Zucchini and Basil Soup for dinner tonight and boy! What a lot of soup that recipe makes. Too much, frankly. Where it calls for four cups of water I would substitute three cups or even two and half. Lessening the added water won’t bulk up the soup to a chowder consistency, mind you, because the four cup method makes for a terribly thin affair to begin with. You’ll still be adhering to the liquid dinner rule. Just make sure you don’t snack after. . .
I never realized how much of a compulsive snacker I am until this night. I became very cranky come ten o’clock because I couldn’t indulge in any of my usual desert suspects. Since the summer heat is really hitting its stride this week, I wasn’t fussed about not having ice cream (too heavy). I love to bake cookies, but again, I didn’t mind not heating up the house with the oven. But no chocolate? Was I crazy to do a diet that doesn’t allow chocolate?! I mean, certainly dark chocolate--the only kind I eat--is acceptable, nay, even a good and healthy choice? Feeling the cracks forming in my willpower, I frantically consulted the elimination diet list. Chocolate was definitely in the naughty column. Curses!
Suffice it to say that it was a rather bleak evening, punctuated by a particularly black moment wherein a bag of my favorite gummy bears were wafted under my nose. The tempter shall remain nameless, but know that he received a thoroughly whiney tongue-lashing from Yours Truly. (Small consolation, as it were.)

BEFORE WE BEGIN (officially) let me tell you a bit about my health background. While I’m not yet 24, I have had more than my fair share of ailments throughout the years. I’ve worn glasses most of my life. Seasonal allergies plague me. Dark under-eye circles are a constant foe. I’ve suffered from migraines that required hospitalization for nearly as long. My skin has been in a constant state of breakout since about age 10. I have Raynaud’s. Gut troubles have been with me since as far back as I can recall. Sundry other afflictions have come and gone.
The one thing I can say I’ve never had a problem with is my weight. I say this not to brag but to draw attention to the fact that even though this detox is a diet, and thereby something we associate with weight loss, I am not striving to drop any pounds. That said, Dr. Junger does claim that one of the bonuses associated with his Clean detox is the loss of those last few stubborn pounds you may have been trying to shed. For the sake of a thorough account, I will tell you that my starting weight is 125 pounds. If I notice myself getting thinner over the next three weeks, I will make note of it in this blog.
Slimming down may not be one of my goals for this detox, but I do have plenty of others I’m looking happily toward. According to the book, each week you’ve successfully completed brings a new batch of benefits which I’ve summarized below.
Week One -- More energy; strengthened mental acuity
Week Two -- Systems that had been blocked by toxins will begin to free-up; so-called cosmetic damages you might have struggled with in the past (i.e. weight and skin troubles) will start to clear.
Week Three -- Look and feel younger; sleep better; any lingering issues--from constipation to joint pain--will be relieved.
Beyond -- Improved sense of self-awareness, especially regarding what you consume and how you feel as a result of that input.
What am I not looking forward to? Hunger. Dr. Junger has this to say about it:
We so commonly say “I’m hungry,” but most of us don’t really know what hunger is. That bodily sensation that you call hunger may be something different. During Clean, you will finally be able to rename that sensation for what it really is.
Bully.
Why, you might ask, do I have to go hungry? That’s the detox, folks. Since liquid meals get processed faster than solid ones, that’s what you eat at the beginning and end of your day. The aim there is to give your body time--while you sleep!--to clean up and reboot. Meanwhile, lunch becomes your new favorite meal of the day and those three weeks are here and gone before you can say “bon appetit”!
Never before has this brave young thing undertaken such a gastronomic odyssey. As a fellow traveler on the path to wellness, I submit this log in hopes that the Clean detox will not only bring me health, but illustrate a positive way forward for all of you as well.
If you have a detox experience you want to share, or a suggestion or question for me, leave it as a comment below.