Liver Cleanse and Detox

It has been over three weeks since my last check in.  I have barely given any of this a thought in this time, except for continuing to eat as well as possible, get a walk in when I can and do the liver detox.

Pharmacy school took over once again, but now there's a little extra time for getting back on track with the daily stint on the elliptical plus a walk in the evenings with my dear and patient hubby.  I haven't weighed in, although sometime during last week I had a strong urge to, thinking I could easily be under 200 lb now.... but I didn't, I guess because I didn't want to know and think about it anymore, in case I was still just at 200 or had gained any.  I had way too much more on my mind to accomplish and study and I didn't want to be distracted as I would have felt compelled to write about it.

I am going to wait until this coming Monday morning to weigh in, but I wanted to take some time and describe the liver detoxification I am doing.  It's pretty low-key compared to some I've done in the past.  I figured since my diet is quite non-toxic as it is, that I needn't let go of even more things and that I could let the medical food do its thing.  I have started with the UltraClear medical food that Metagenics produces, and added their product AdvaClear to help promote the detoxification process.  I mix the UltraClear (2 scoops) with a mixture of 1/2 to 1 cup organic apple juice and 2 cups filtered charged water.  I shake it in a cool shaker bottle I bought at Vitamin Cottage.  At this point I'm at two servings of this each day.  My routine looks like this:  

Wake Up

Meditate

Cruise Moves for core, belly-flattening (eventually!) work

Breakfast with Richard before he goes to work, very low sugar, little carb plus our supplements

Work out for 30 minutes on elliptical or walk around the "block" a couple of times, around 30 min.

Shower

Drink a full glass of filtered and charged water with 2.5 tablespoons of psyllium husks

About an hour after that I drink my first UltraClear drink of the day.  The other is in the middle of the afternoon.  

Lunch is light, usually hummus and almond thins, or a salad, or sometimes 2-3 ounces of grain-fed, hormone free beef.

Snacks are generally nuts, or a string cheese, , blue corn chips with salsa, or sometimes a nibble of organic dark chocolate.  It depends on what I'm studying or working on.

Another snack is a mix of unsweetened chocolate Almond Breeze mixed with a scoop of Jay Robb's chocolate protein drink. 

Dinner tends to be quite light with a protein, maybe a carb and lots of vegetables.

We try to walk before dinner, at least around the mile long block.  Some nights we have a yummy no/low fat, sugar-free treat made with non-fat Greek yogurt mixed with matcha green tea powder and Barlean's flavored sweetened fish oils, either lemon or orange creme.    I will post this recipe soon.

I honestly have not been very hungry lately, and/or my attitude about food has shifted a little, maybe a lot.  Last week we barely had any solid food in the house, it seemed, and I was mostly ok with that, maybe because I had far too many things to do and take care of and was happy for the convenience of my liquid drinks and meals.

Anyhow, the things I have noticed while doing the UltraClear detox system is feeling calm, feeling clean, sleeping well most nights.  I feel as though my liver and gall bladder are getting the attention they've needed.  One of the main goals for starting it was to help with my monthly cycle at the suggestion of the acupuncturist I visited in August.  I would have to say that *maybe* it has helped, there was less pain, a bit more regularity, but this is the topic of a different blog.  I am going to continue the liver cleanse in this manner for at least a few more weeks to see if it will help further in this regard, but I feel, in terms of dietary cleansing it has served its purpose and I feel pretty darned good!

It's kind of interesting that in my latest order of Metagenics products as a practitioner that yesterday I was offered a special to purchase several liver detox packages for patients/customers, a $110 value for $80 (including the UltraClear medical meal plus the AdvaClear and a bag and nifty shaker bottle, and information pamphlets).  I went back and forth wondering how popular this would be with my current clientele and declined for the time being, however if I hear that people are interested, I will jump in and get several sets to provide to those who are interested in detoxification.