DAY NINE -- even keel

Yesterday I had some cramping and went again late night and reactivated my hemorrhoid. I think it had to do with skipping the tea. Or maybe pigging out at the party. (I ended up bringing bagel dogs (mini franks), which were a hit,. They were pre-made; I baked them and kept them warm in my crock pot. Oh, and the banana oatmeal muffins, which I had made Friday night.

Today, so far so good. It's much better to be sure to get the tea made the night before.

Still nothing too crazy to report. I'm almost half hoping to see worms or whatever to justify this. My energy level seems better one some days, though, so that in and of itself is plenty reason to do this. (Before starting I was extremely fatigued and napping every day by 4pm).

One Fine Dancer (no skirt needed!)

(Warning: the sound level is pretty high, so you might want to turn your sound down a bit.)

DAYS SEVEN & EIGHT -- steady as she goes

DAY SEVEN -- Yesterday, again, I only went in the morning, but it was probably equivilant to three times, so I was happy.

My diet was so-so. Did have some tortilla chips with dinner, though, and one cookie with a friend who visited.

I skipped the tea to see how it would go without it, plus I forgot to steep it until almost 2 am, and I was afraid to take it too late. The instructions say not everyone needs the tea every day, and I don't want to become too dependant on it, although there is a five day break after day 30, to make sure your body doesn't get to need the senna too much. Depending on how tomorrow goes, I might skip the tea a few times throughout the month.

DAY EIGHT -- Today I went right away upon waking, but volume-wise it was less than previous days. I still feel like I need to go, and I think skipping the tea is doing this. That's okay, though. I'm feeling more of a urge now that I've eaten breakfast (carrots and hummos and the tiniest sliver of left-over pizza (from the kids' dinner last night, just a bite so I don't feel deprived).

Have a party tonight, and I'm bringing a very healthy raw beet/green apple salad and some homemade banana oatmeal muffins. YUM.

UPDATE: I ended up making a weak tea about 11 am b/c I felt stopped up. That helped. I decided I will drink the tea every night.

DAY SIX - Full Force

Last night I steeped the tea a full 2 min., perhaps a few seconds longer.

This morning I awoke feeling like I could go, but took the four paranil capsules first. Yes, I'm up to a full dose, now!

Right after, I definitely needed to go, and was pleased, with a good amount.

Then I took my first full scoop of fiber in 8 oz of cran-grape juice. I don't like drinking that much juice, so I might cut it with water tomorrow and see how it tastes. Of course, as always I followed immediately by 8 oz of plain water.

Not long after taking the fiber (maybe 20 min.), I had to go again and felt a little bit crampy. The stool was a little soft and had a lot of gas with it, and there was some small round object floating on top. It looked like a pale green pea. Now, no matter what it was, it's gross, b/c I haven't eaten green peas or anything even close to resembling a green pea for at least three weeks! Ewwww.

At least whatever it was is now out of me.

Now I'm off to have a green apple and almond butter for breakfast.

DAYS FOUR AND FIVE -- last two "half days"

The first five days of the cleanse you start out doing half the regular dose of paranil and fiber, and I'm in the home stretch before going full blast.

DAY FOUR -- Took the paranil and fiber in the morning. I did a tad more than half a scoop. Then I ate a banana for breakfast. The fiber really fills you up, and after the banana I really wasn't hungry any more.

Shortly after my small breakfast, I had one huge "moment", or maybe you could say two full amounts, one right after the other. That was it for the day. Volume-wise it was okay. We'll see what happens when I up the fiber to a full scoop.

My diet was pretty bad today. Let's just leave it at that.

I stepped the tea for almost two full minutes (still within the recommended time for first five days) and skipped the probiotics. It was getting late, and I didn't want to wait 20 full minutes after the probiotics to have the tea.

DAY FIVE -- Off to a good start! Two minutes for the tea worked to get me going first thing upon rising. And boy did I go! About 1.5 X my "regular" pre-cleanse amount. Felt good. No cramping or anything.

This is my last day of 2 paranil capsules and half a scoop of fiber, although I did about 2/3 of a scoop. Tomorrow I go on the full dose of 4 paranils and a whole scoop. Then I can also start steeping the tea longer, which I will do in tiny incrememnts (maybe 15 seconds longer) till I find the right time for me.

With luck, I'll have an update later today!

DAY THREE -- Hoping for more action

One thing I forgot to add in day one, I'm also taking 2 probiotic capsules at night, approx. 2 hours after dinner. And on day one my urine had the strongest, weirdest odor after taking them. I don't know if it was a build up of the herbs or the probiotics, but it smelled so strange! Last night it had the same quality but not nearly as strong, much fainter of an odor. I wonder if I had some parasites in my urinary tract?

Today, so far I've taken the paranil and the fiber. I feel really full in the gut and am hoping for some action very soon.

Yesterday I had dahl for lunch. It's yummy! (if I do say so myself) I made 1.5 X the recipe so I had a few cups to freeze as well as plenty for lunch or dinner for the rest of the week. For dinner I ate some chicken, but mostly I ate salad. I also had a couple pieces of garlic bread, homemade with lots of fresh garlic. I'm figuring the garlic sort of mitigates the white flour. LOL

Anyway, even though I don't have to change my diet on this program, I think it'll be good to at least try to really limit "bad" foods.

I still have to make my lemon vinagrette. Hopefully I'll get that done today, but I have been feeling really really tired on this, taking a nap every day.

With luck, I'll have a good update in a while. ;-)