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"Hey, it&amp;#x27;s India-Jewel from over in the Beauty Department. Since a big part of beauty is health, I wanted to pop my head into Vitamin G and share my most recent quest in the name of health and beauty: a cleanse! Ready for my cleanse diary? My Cleanse: Beloved by Donna Karan, Kevin Bacon, and Maggie Gyllenhaal, Cleanse by Dr. Frank Lipman is becoming increasingly popular with the health-conscious crowd, and not surprisingly so, as it&amp;#x27;s said to be beneficial in many more ways than one; this two-week gluten-free, vegetarian, nutrient- and probiotic-rich detox plan aims to flush harmful bloat-, pimple-, and pain-causing toxins from your system, as well as boost your energy, all while shedding a few extra pounds&amp;amp;#8212;the latter being precisely why I signed on. Going Into It: I&amp;amp;#8217;m working with a little extra weight that&amp;amp;#8217;s stubbornly positioned itself front and center on my midsection, and I&amp;amp;#8217;d like to think that I&amp;amp;#8217;m doing everything I can to get rid of it the right way. I&amp;amp;#8217;ve done cleanses before--sort of. I lasted a whopping four&amp;amp;#8212;yes, four&amp;amp;#8212;hours on the Master Cleanse, and miraculously made it through 24 hours of the Blueprint Cleanse, so deciding to take on a full 14 days is quite ambitious of me, to say the least. This&amp;amp;#8212;my Detox Diary&amp;amp;#8212;will be quite interesting. There are a few things you should know about me: 1) I&amp;amp;#8217;ve always had a problem with food. Between binging and starving myself, it&amp;amp;#8217;s been a lifelong battle to find a happy medium, and I&amp;amp;#8217;m still struggling. 2) I&amp;amp;#8217;m a staunch pescetarian that suffers from Celiac Disease, so my daily diet is incredibly limited seeing as how I choose not to eat beef, pork, lamb, or chicken, and I&amp;amp;#8217;m forced to steer completely clear of everything produced with gluten, i.e. fried foods, breads, pastas, desserts, and mostly anything processed. 3) I&amp;amp;#8217;m a single, freelance writer, so my loft doubles as my office and professional space, and in my opinion cooking for one is quite time-consuming, costly, and all-around pointless. Translation: I&amp;amp;#8217;m not the best at nourishing myself, and I&amp;amp;#8217;m stuck in a meal rut. On any given day, for breakfast I&amp;amp;#8217;ll run out for a large sugary Frappuccino; for lunch I&amp;amp;#8217;ll order takeout, usually shrimp, brown rice, and broccoli, or pan fried tofu; for snack I&amp;amp;#8217;ll nosh on almonds, red grapes, or potato chips; and for dinner I&amp;amp;#8217;ll have a Snickers chased with a Nestl&amp;amp;eacute; Crunch, or a few spoonful&amp;amp;#8217;s of peanut butter, honey, and Cool Whip, or a bag buttered microwave popcorn seasoned with sea salt and Old Bay. (I know, I know&amp;amp;#8212;I can do better.) In short, I&amp;amp;#8217;m ready for a fresh start, and I sincerely hope that this cleanse is the first step to detoxing my diet for good. Fingers crossed! Day 1: I hop right up at 7 a.m. and head straight to the kitchen, as I&amp;amp;#8217;m super excited to dive right in. Cleanse ($199 for 14 days) is meant to be prepared by blending one shake packet with 8 to 12 ounces of water, depending on your preference of thickness. Easy enough, right? Wrong. I should probably say two more things about myself: 1) As previously mentioned, I&amp;amp;#8217;m severely allergic to gluten and I have an extremely limited diet, so I tend to frequent the same meals over and over again. Routine meals make eating much easier for me (as opposed to mealtimes feeling like such a challenge), so I don&amp;amp;#8217;t really mind drinking the same shake three times a day for an extended period. 2) I&amp;amp;#8217;m a bit of a badass and I&amp;amp;#8217;ve never been much of a stickler for following directions or &amp;amp;#8216;the rules&amp;amp;#8217;. With that said, I take one sip of my first shake and decide I need to spice it up a bit. If I&amp;amp;#8217;m being honest, the shake is a bit bland for my taste, so I decide to tweak it a bit. (It isn&amp;amp;#8217;t bad, I just like my food incredibly flavorful.) Upon perusing the detailed Eating Plan that accompanies Cleanse, I pop downstairs to the organic grocery store and pick up a few items on Lipman&amp;amp;#8217;s allowed list. I pour my morning shake into the blender and toss the following in along with it: A few cubes of ice A handful of blueberries A drizzle of raw honey A teaspoon of ground flaxseed A tablespoon of Benefiber A half-cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk A few walnuts A dash of cinnamon Guess what? It&amp;amp;#8217;s delicious&amp;amp;#8212;almost like a super-fattening milkshake&amp;amp;#8212;but healthier and much less caloric. This recipe is exactly how I&amp;amp;#8217;ll have it thrice daily for the next 14 days. Side note: I know this isn&amp;amp;#8217;t how Cleanse is meant to be consumed, but theoretically it should be OK since all of the added items are technically allowed during the two-week duration&amp;amp;#133; I think of it as mixing my midday snacks with my breakfast! Day 2: Surprisingly, I&amp;amp;#8217;m not all that hungry, but I have my three shakes as planned (7 a.m, 11 a.m., and 2 p.m. everyday), along with a mixed green salad with a fresh lime juice dressing. I assume it&amp;amp;#8217;s because I&amp;amp;#8217;m big on staying hydrated, and I drink more green tea and sparkling water than anyone I know. Repeat after me: Fluids keep you full! (Spent way too much time in the loo, though. C&amp;amp;#8217;est la vie!) Day 3: This morning isn&amp;amp;#8217;t the best&amp;amp;#8212;I have a serious case of the shakes and I&amp;amp;#8217;m going through Starbuck&amp;amp;#8217;s withdrawal. It&amp;amp;#8217;s been two whole days since I&amp;amp;#8217;ve had my fix, and I can&amp;amp;#8217;t think of anything other than my morning Venti Soy Vanilla Bean Cr&amp;amp;egrave;me Frappuccino. Don&amp;amp;#8217;t judge&amp;amp;#8212;it&amp;amp;#8217;s the breakfast of champions and I need my fix! I refuse to cave to the crave, though. Good thing Cleanse is accompanied by as-needed Glutamine pill supplements that help stave off sugar cravings&amp;amp;#8212;I pop two capsules, keep calm, and carry on. I remind myself that by the time this is all over, my wallet&amp;amp;#8212;and my waistline&amp;amp;#8212;will thank me for it. Day 4: I hate working out with food in my tummy; it makes me queasy. While preparing to head over to my weekly mid-morning spinning class, I decide to postpone my first shake until after class&amp;amp;#133; Big mistake. By the time I&amp;amp;#8217;m done with an hour of sprinting intervals, I&amp;amp;#8217;m hungry enough to eat my hair. It&amp;amp;#8217;s the first time since I&amp;amp;#8217;ve started Cleanse that I feel hunger pangs, and I have half a mind to sate myself with a chocolate bar. Thankfully I decide against it and soldier on. Besides, a handful of almonds and a bottle of water alongside the first shake was all I actually needed! Day 5: Yesterday&amp;amp;#8217;s hunger pangs have come and gone, taking my energy right along with it. I&amp;amp;#8217;ve never had much trouble getting right up in the morning, but for some reason today I&amp;amp;#8217;m sluggish, but of course, undeterred. I decide to fix myself a bowl of brown rice pasta tossed with olive oil and spinach for lunch. The carbs work their magic&amp;amp;#8212;I&amp;amp;#8217;m up and at &amp;amp;#8216;em for the rest of the day. Day 6: Happy Hunger Games! As I settle into my seat to watch Katniss and crew&amp;amp;#8217;s violent venture into the arena, I decided to give myself a little treat&amp;amp;#8212;so I cheat. But after DEVOURING popcorn (topped with lots of liquid butter), Reese&amp;amp;#8217;s Pieces, and a large Coke Zero, I feel incredibly guilty. Day 7: I&amp;amp;#8217;m still enjoying the taste of my amended shake recipe, but I&amp;amp;#8217;m getting a little bored with blueberries. Calling in my preferred pinch hitter, fresh raspberries. Actually it&amp;amp;#8217;s quite the fruit-heavy day; I have chunks of watermelon and pineapple for lunch and dinner. Day 8: Hunger pangs are back, but I have a sneaky suspicion that its because I just walked past my favorite Japanese restaurant with the scent of sushi and pan fried tofu wafting through the air and out on the sidewalk&amp;amp;#133; Six more days, six more days, six more days&amp;amp;#133; Day 9: Slightly hungry again, so I add more ice and Benefiber to each shake to thicken it even more. That does it. Day 10: A vegan friend of mine is on Twitter raving about homemade kale chips, so I ask for the recipe and make myself a batch for dinner. Much healthier than Snickers, yes? Baby steps! Day 11: Spinning again&amp;amp;#8212;thankfully I learned my lesson last week! Today I hop up super early to have the first shake, that way I&amp;amp;#8217;m not famished when I leave class, but I&amp;amp;#8217;m not speed pedaling on a full, uncomfortable stomach either. Day 12: Today I made the most amazing discovery&amp;amp;#8212;the gourmet restaurant beneath my apartment sells its lunch leftovers as single-serving takeout dinners (for a mere $7!) I spoke with the chef who confirmed that all of their fish and seafood is sourced from the wild, so I pick up a few of the grilled salmon and spinach platters for the next few nights. Yum! (And most importantly, Lipman-approved!) Day 13: It&amp;amp;#8217;s Friday night and I did it again&amp;amp;#8212;I cheated. Somehow, someway, I found myself dining at Red Lobster with my editors chowing down on buttery lobster tails and mashed potatoes. Oops! And of course I feel guilty; I hate that I&amp;amp;#8217;m hindering my own progress. I guess what they say is true&amp;amp;#8212;the only person that can get in your way is you. (Rhyme unintended.) Day 14: Last day. I&amp;amp;#8217;m a bit sad as I blend my very last shake. Maybe it&amp;amp;#8217;s because I still feel guilty for cheating both Fridays, or maybe it&amp;amp;#8217;s because I&amp;amp;#8217;ll miss the routine-ness of it all. I loved knowing exactly what I should be eating at precisely what time&amp;amp;#133; I&amp;amp;#8217;m afraid I&amp;amp;#8217;ll relapse into my old ways of being so confused about what to eat that I just end up eating crap day after day. Only time will tell&amp;amp;#133; The Results: It&amp;amp;#8217;s been two long weeks, but I made it! Yes, I cheated here and there, but sticking it out was well worth it I&amp;amp;#8217;d say&amp;amp;#8212;I&amp;amp;#8217;m down almost 8 pounds! Not sure if that&amp;amp;#8217;s water weight or actual flab (or a bit of both), but I&amp;amp;#8217;m looking good and feeling great, and that&amp;amp;#8217;s really what it&amp;amp;#8217;s all about, right? In the beginning I started this with the sole intent of losing weight, but I have to admit that this detox did bestow a beauty benefit as well&amp;amp;#8212;clearer skin! I&amp;amp;#8217;ve been struggling with a patch of pimples that were situated smack dab in the middle of my forehead. Now, they&amp;amp;#8217;re virtually gone. Win-win, I&amp;amp;#8217;d say. Would you try a long cleanse like this that enabled you to eat two full meals per day? Read the rest of our cleanse diaries, plus, the article that inspired &amp;#x27;em all! *Lauren&amp;#x27;s Organic Avenue Cleanse *Lexi&amp;#x27;s Ritual Cleanse *Caitlin&amp;#x27;s Cooler Cleanse *Marina&amp;#x27;s Organic Avenue Cleanse *Mikki&amp;#x27;s Blueprint Cleanse *Health Controversy: Should You Do a Juice Cleanse? Photo: Courtesy of Dr. Frank Lipman"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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