Time Flies When You Are Cleansing...

Ok, so I fell off of my blog for a few days...I've had an amazing first week, but found that there wasn't time to do anything but focus on me and my cleanse. Here's a first day "before" picture and here's the summary of "what went down" for the first week...

Day #2 I got my first ever colonic...an experience I will never forget. I won't go into the gory details (you can read all about them on your own) but what I will say is that it wasn't as bad as I thought, and more importantly, I physically felt great afterwards. My therapist, Pam, is a hysterical chick that knows how to make ANYTHING fun. We listen to great music, tell jokes and funny stories, laugh till we're crying, and all the while, she is getting the job done!!! Linda, our Housemother and also a Naturopath, made a brilliant soup that evening of kale, dandelion green, celery, collard greens, parsnip, zucchini, onion, garlic...I couldn't believe it at first, but it was excellent! I thought it would take 2 weeks before my palate would enjoy a concoction like this, but the vegetables were so fresh that it tasted scrumptious. Just in case: Naturopath: system or method of treating disease that employs no surgery or synthetic drugs but uses special diets, herbs, vitamins, massage, etc., to assist the natural healing processes.

Day #3 I started getting cranked up on the program...I had the routine down, was focused, and had Christine to get me through when we saw a "Hot Pizza" sign on the way home from a health store. The highlight of my day was Pam's, aka Queen Latifah, alpha spa bodywrap treatment. This is where she wraps your body, sticks you in a body capsule that heats to 180 degrees and we jam to the tunes for 40 minutes. I keep my body dancing in the horizontal position for a little exercise and drop a cool 450 calories.

Day #4 Was a dream! I no longer cared about not "eating" food and was on a natural high. This was due to an organic coffee enema...Let me tell you, this is the way to get your coffee! I felt amazing, energetic, focused (but not jittery) all day. Christine and I took a powerwalk with hand weights, I walked Samantha Jo for a total of an hour, went to a 75 minute yoga class, and did the steam room and sauna for 90 minutes! I was on fire all day, slept like a baby all night, and can't wait for the next one.

Day #5 As a life-long lover of foods and drinks, I couldn't believe it when it came. I felt clear headed, empowered, and motivated to stay focused on making every hour of the day count. I walked for an hour, did Yoga, and took in 30 minutes of "Far Infrared" light (white lights that help with SAD, otherwise known as winter depression). I am no where near depressed this season, so the lights just made me feel good and gave me time to reflect on all that I am grateful for.

Day #6 Fantastic! I got up from a wonderul night's rest, took Samantha for a brisk 45 minute walk, and headed off to my morning massage. Aaaah!!!!! I sat in the steam room for 15 minutes and headed off to get my 2nd colonic...awesome. The Martha's Vineyard Holistic Retreat has this state of the art colonic machine that makes the process so easy. I learned that my body needs to lay off of red wine for awhile because it is creating an army of yeast in my system, but otherwise, I look pretty healthy! Soup that night was a delicious sweet potato, carrot, and a bunch of other good veggies.

Day #7 Sunday was a wonderful day filled with 2 treatments, an hour at the dog park, and a beautiful hour long detox bath to end it...I've made it a whole week on the program and am doing great!!! After 7 days of rest from having to digest food, my body is really beginning to show the results. My skin is bright and vibrant. My head is clear and focused. My belly is flattening. My face and chin are thinning. My teeth are whiter. I am ready for week two!

Rule #1: Don't Talk About Food!!!

So the first day of my journey was a success! Christine and I walked to the Vineyard Haven Holistic Center yesterday morning with excitement and anticipation. We were greeted, ushered into a cozy room with a warm fireplace and filled out our paperwork. Within the hour we were getting an ionic foot bath to begin releasing toxins while getting "the skinny" from the other "detoxers" who were leaving that day. Naturally, I was starving. So as we were waiting for our first "antioxidant berry drink" of the day, I began telling these women who hadn't chewed food for a week about my tapas "last supper" with David on Saturday night. I described the whole spread: cheese fondue, assorted grilled marinated meats, chocolate fondue with strawberries and pieces of bundt cake, a wonderful bottle of red, and some port wine to go with our dessert. Yummy!!! I think I almost got kicked out of the Center right then and there. The response I got was 4 angry women telling me "Listen! Rule #1 is you don't talk about food!" By 4 p.m. I could totally understand how they felt. I was grumpy, had a headache, and wanted to go find some good food. But I held strong and kept to the program. The culinary highlights of the day was the wonderful soup Linda, our housemother, made of squash, carrots, some fresh herbs and a little nutmeg on top. Needless to say, we were drained from the day and headed to bed quite early! One day down, 20 more to go!

Embarking on a new journey

It's 5:30 a.m., the morning of our first day of the program, and I've been awake since 4. I woke up thinking of what's about to happen, getting so excited about the gift I'm about to begin giving myself, and worrying about post-program failure. So I decided to get productive and begin re-reading the book, The Martha's Vineyard Diet Detox, 21 Pounds in 21 Days.

I've been mentally preparing over the last month for this journey and began packing and getting organized a week ago. I've had two glorious "Last Suppers" , one with David on Saturday and one with Christine last night. And finally, I drove a completely packed car with Samantha Jo (our beloved pooch) yesterday from our home in Redding, Connecticut, to the ferry which transported us to Vineyard Haven, Martha's Vineyard.

I can hardly believe I am here and am so grateful to the critical cast who is making this opportunity a reality. My fiance, David, who is backing me up 100% and is the head cheerleader of "Team Anita". There is no way I would have done this without his blessing. My maid of honor and business colleague, Christine, who introduced me to the whole concept of cleansing and will be my partner in crime. Roni DeLUZ, the founder of Martha's Vineyard Holistic Retreat, the author of the book, and our program sherpa. And James Hester, a regular cleanser, the co-author of the book, and our coach.

I feel the weight of responsibility to myself and those just mentioned to be the model "detoxer", carry forth after leaving the Vineyard and spread the word, and prove that this hopeless case can get her act together.

This on-line journal will capture my thoughts, feelings, and experiences over the next 21 days and beyond.

Let the games begin!