Day 6 -- Christi

Last night's dinner was super yummy! Whole wheat lasagna with eggplant and zucchini (and it was supposed to have spinach but I ran out of room!)...yum! Ok, I have to admit, I cannot CANNNNNOT do the goat cheese thing, so it was loaded with real cheese. But other than that it was completely wholesome. I was excited to be eating something "approved" and yet satisfying.

As far as the effects of the cleanse go, earlier in the afternoon yesterday I developed a slight headache in my temples. I often get headaches from either bad posture or dehydration but this felt very different. I think it was a detox headache from eating so intensely healthy all day! James shakes his head at me and smirks, "When you eat junk food you feel sick and you say it's from all the bad food you're eating. When you eat healthy and you feel sick you say it's from all the good food you've been eating and you're detoxing." Oh yah, VERY FUNNY. It's not quite as cut and dry as all that! When I eat a lot of salt and I get a dehydration headache, I think the two are related! So sue me! But this was clearly a different type of headache, much more dull and located in a completely different region of my head. I rest my case! My skeptical husband is willing to let me proceed with my insanity as long as I'm not harming myself or others (when he glanced at last night's dinner, I thought MAYBE 'harming others' was being called into question, but we were alright).

This morning Jennifer and I swam instead of using the machines. I use the term "swim" loosely. We took advantage of the natural resistance that water imposes on those who...spend time...in it and hoped that in the process our water-dwelling muscles worked harder than land-dwelling ones? And then we went in the Eucalyptus steam room and then the dry heat room (I KNOW, if you went in after us and noticed a slightly more humid feel, that was us! I'm SORRY!!). I had never been in either one before, so I was kind of enamored. I came home relaxed and rejuvenated and feeling like I'd had a morning at the spa! It was heavenly! I proposed a change in schedule: 2 days a week we work out hard and kick boo-tay. Two other days we "swim" and steam. And on Wednesdays, thank GOD for Wednesdays...we sleep in!

I'm still keeping up with the cleanse except for the night time tea! I keep forgetting the tea!! I need to remember to drink it tonight.

Oh, here's a great recipe! On today's menu Natalia has raw flax crackers, but she doesn't have a recipe for them! They're SO easy if you have a dehydrator! I did these at about 9am this morning and they were ready by 1pm. Perfect!

1/3 c. chopped bell pepper
1/3 c. chopped cilantro
2/3 c. sun dried tomatoes (I just used 2 roma tomatoes instead)
1/4 c. Nama Shoyu (I used Bragg's amino acid instead)
1 clove garlic
1 T. cold pressed olive oil
(I added some Mrs. Dash tomato basil and garlic seasoning for some extra kick)
BLEND and then add 2 cups of whole flax seeds.
Spread on dehydrator sheet and dehydrate at 110 degrees for 4 hours or until crisp. Chew well! Flax seeds need lots of chewing to release their nutritional properties! And you'll need lots of water!

I have long thought that I didn't like cilantro but I've discovered that I really do! Before I added the flax seeds to the mixture this morning, I taste-tested the blended stuff and SERIOUSLY, it was good enough to eat as soup! I loved it! Cilantro is a new fav!