I’ll just sum up what I did for the whole 3 days of easing out the Master Cleanse..
Day 2:
I had an examination in the morning, so I prepared and bought with me a jug of orange juice. After the exams, I went grocery shopping for greens that will go to my tamarind-based soup. I bought some kangkong, sitaw, green peppers and some spring onions. I have some left over uncooked cabbage and tomatoes at home. Luckily, I found a mushroon bouillion which serves as vegetable seasoning for the veggies. I bought it together with some tasty looking melons. I was really taking my time browsing every food aisle in SM. I have developed this habit of drooling over pictures (and smell) of food.
Here’s my recipe for the tamarind-base soup (it somehow resembles the Sinigang but without the meat.)
green vegetables (kangkong, cabbage, sitaw, carrots and tomatoes)
tamarind broth
green pepper
salt, pepper and mushroom bouillion to taste
(measurements are not used for I’m just trying out this recipe)
To make the tamarind broth, I boiled the tamarind with water until it became soft and mushy.
I strained the mixture to separate the brown part of the tamarind and the seeds.
I heated water until bubbles form in the bottom, placed the onions, carrots and sitaw. after that, I placed a generous amount of the tamarind broth (I liked the soup a bit sour). I placed the remaining vegetables (except the peppers). I let all the vegetables cook. When the vegetables are done, I sliced the green peppers and placed in in the pot. I let it simmer for a few minutes till it boils.
The soup was really good, especially when hot because the sourness and spicy flavor tastes nice. If the soup cools down, you will notice the bland taste. As for me, I always reheat the soup before eating it. I guess the cabbage and carrots did not jive the combination because I did not liked it’s taste with the soup. I end up munching the kangkong, sitaw and tomatoes. That was my food all day.
Day 3:
I forgot to bring my orange juice to work, so I end up sloppy the whole morning. I was particularly hungry as the day progresses. There are still leftover soup, so I decided to reheat the soup and finished the entire remaining soup (except for the vegetables). I sauteed the remaining cabbage with a bit of oyster sauce, soy sauce and vinegar. Guess I liked my cabbage crisp because it was good. My stomach has been complaining every time I eat. It aches whenever I eat plenty. I was starting to worry that I might get constipated because of this too much veggies. I noticed that I seem to get full easily. Comparing on how I eat before, I noticed that it really decreased. I was already full when I was still enjoying the food. I only stopped eating because my stomach hurts already. This is really sounding good. I must kick the habit of over-eating beyond my limits.
Day 4:
Last night, I boiled some eggs as my breakfast tomorrow morning. I packed the eggs along with the melons (I totally forgot I bought them). I had the yummiest breakfast! One egg and about 6 small slices of melons together with my orange juice was wonderful. While eating, I was having second thoughts whether I should finish it all or not because my stomach was already full and I was just halfway the food portion.
There was a food sampling at our office for Nestle Fitness cereal and I tried to taste it. I end up not eating the cereal because my egg breakfast tasted much better than the cereal. The cereal was too sweet (it was the Honey and Almonds variety) and the cup ended up at the trash. It was unfortunate because I feel guilty and sad wasting food (I was raised to always finish my food because there are other children who are too hungry for food to be wasted).
My shift ended late noon already and I was getting hungry. I decided to browse through Landmark’s Supermarket hoping to find something nice to eat. My stomach gave up and I decided to eat the foodcourt nearby before going home(my budget was tight then). The foodcourt was packed with meat-inspired dishes and fastfood. There may be some healthy choices but the price was way out of my budget (I only have 150 in my wallet, with no LRT or MRT card).
I just ate a small serving of Pancit Malabon with Turon na Togue. I end up finishing the togue (because the veggies tasted nice with the vinegar dip) and barely touching the pancit. It’s not that as though the Pancit Malabon was not palatable, it’s just everytime I eat it, it makes me want to puke. I don’t know why, it was my fave back then but now, I can’t hardly finish a small plate. I tried to force myslef to eat half of it until my stomach gave up and hurt again. That’s the time I stopped. I just washed the flavor off my mouth with water until I can’t barely taste it between my tongue. I regretted that I have left over food (again).
It was around 3PM when I got home, and I was dehydrated to death because I walked through the blaring sun of noontime. I think I was having a cold that time due to the drastic change of temperature from the environment (it was cool at home and too cold at the office then it was too hot outdoors.) I felt constipated because I’ve been wanting to have some bowel movement but nothing. I decided to drink a laxative tea to help ease my stomach from the clog. While doing this post, I reached inside the ref to taste the foods I made but did not have the guts to taste (because of the cleanse). Sadly, the Delmonte Fit and Right (mixed fruits with L-carnitine) tasted bad and got wasted. I had no choice but to taste the Graham Cake I made two weeks ago.
I just got a small portion of the cake and was excited to taste it. However, I got disappointed because it was too sweet. A small bite was too sweet that I have to wash my mouth down with water. I end up having my dog eat the cake.
While I was going home, I’ve been thinking, I felt guilty eating those not so good stuff. I decided I will try to jog off the calories that I have accumulated eating those unhealthy choices. Hope I would be successful making this jogging a habit because not only it will benefit my health but the compound at our unit has the nicest environment. (we are inside the Malacanang premises so there are trees around)
Update:
2/15/2010
I developed some skin rashes after going off the cleanse. It started on my face and had spread out all over my skin. The rashes on my face subsided but the rashes on my body are worsening. I know I have a dry and flaky skin (especially during the cold months when I always have skin breakouts) but this one was worse than I could imagine. I can ease the itchiness, what I am afraid off is the spots it leaves after. This is going to be hard.
2/27/2010
My rashes have subsided. (Thanks to the petroleum jelly application every night) Not on a specific diet but have not been eating rice since 2010 started. I always eat a cup of leafy veggies and some fruits. I had this liking of spicy things (I dunno if its any good). Been feasting on instant kimchi ramen noodles every now and then. I am trying to minimize processed foods. (but for some lazy nights, it can’t be helped)
I have recently taken into liking a Vegetarian Food Booth in a mall food court (Bodhi). Their food looks nice and appetizing and it doesn’t serve meat. Though the food deceives many patrons, the one that looks like meat is a veggie meat! (I was fooled by their beef steak) But I liked the taste of the veggie meat. Their small serving surprisingly got me full. The sad thing is that I went back on sugar and coffee. Coffee seems fine but what I’m cautious is the amount of sugar intake per day. I try to minimize sugar intake by eating fresh fruits. I’ve been drowning myself with water every time I ate a quarter of chocolate brownies.
Surprisingly also, I have been meeting the required amount of water that I need to drink per day (8-12 glasses) Though I sometimes drink those bottled juice drinks, I constantly make an effort of drinking water everytime I ate something sweet.
I’ve tried jogging around our compound and had done the HipHop Abs workout for a while. I haven’t arranged my schedule to fit the workout. But I will very soon.
