The End of the Beginning

25 pounds in 21 days!!! Here's what we had for dinner tonight at our graduation party. I'm off to bed, but will write more in a few days when I get back. I can hardly believe its over and that life is about to begin...stay tuned for Act Two!

Otto & Dr. Oz

Day 19!

So anyone who knows me at all, knows that there is no way "Otto" will go 19 days without chewing the foods that she loves, drinking her twice a day latte and settling into the evening without a glass or two of red wine. If you've spent three consecutive days with me you can figure this one out.

I've spent years cultivating and perfecting those unhealthy habits and was skeptical that I could go cold turkey on any of them. So waking up on Day 19 I feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment, know that the scale is going to reflect this dedication, and am looking forward to life on the other side.

Act Two of this will play out as an integration between the 21 previous days and my new, going forward principles of consumption.

Breakfast: I will drink my antioxidant acai berry drink (pictured on the left) with some protein (veggie omelet or chocolate protein drink)

Mid Morning Snack: Green drink (pictured on the right)

Lunch: Grilled Salmon & Salad with olive oil, lemon juice, no-salt seasoning, and pepper

Afternoon Snack: Lemonade Drink (pictured in the middle) with some plain yogurt mixed with stevia (a natural sweetner that you can buy in packets like Equal or Splenda)

Dinner: Baked Chicken or Fish with steam vegetables three times a week, homemade vegetable soup twice a week, two dinners out with David (Sushi and Indian food)

Lattes & Wine: Two lattes and 2 glasses of wine per day on Fridays and Saturdays

My exercise regimen will continue once I go home, but will be more focused and planned out to diversify cardio, core strengthening, and weight work. Spinning, Swimming, and Jogging on the Trails 4 days a week for cardio, Pilates and Yoga twice a week for corework, and weights twice a week. I'm going to look to my fitness guru, Shannon Carr, to review and make any changes to this plan, but that is what I'm thinking so far.

Ok, so off for a beautiful day of a colonic, a massage, a couple client conference calls, a walk at the beach with Samantha Jo, and a steam tonight!

I'll leave you with an excerpt of a blog I found off of MSN this morning that features what Dr. Oz has to say about acai berries and colon cleansing...

"I found out that Dr. Oz is a strong advocate for Acai because it's so high in antioxidants. Acai has twice as high an antioxidant content than blueberries, and it's even better for you than pomegranate. I found something else, though. I found out that Dr. Oz not only was a big fan of Acai, but that he also recommended colon cleanse for weight loss. He said that the years can add layers of filth to your colon, which not only sounds gross but also adds inches to the waistline. Toxins build up in there, and soon your colon is practically filled with garbage. And there you have it, inches of sludge on your waistline. Dr. Oz made it sound like anyone would be crazy not to just cleanse their colon- since it was so easy to do! Ridding your body of that sludge can help your body in ways that diet and exercise just can't. The toxins don't break up through exercise, though, and getting rid of the toxic sludge is the only way to get rid of the inches they put on the waistline. "

Blissfully Cruising to the Home Stretch...

Day 16!!!! Yesterday was our 2nd "Weigh Day" and I lost 5 more pounds! Thats a whopping 17 in total so far and only 4 off of the marked goal for the 3 week program. I celebrated the accomplishment by helping our House Mother, Linda, make our 1 p.m. live juice that consisted of cucumber, celery, and carrots...it was yummy. Christine and I both feel fantastic, have gained alot of mental clarity in the last week, and are sleeping like babies at night. After our weigh in yesterday, we went for a sun-filled 90 minute walk through trails in the woods to a beautiful lighthouse and back along the coastline. We talked about the wedding and bachelorette weekend, worked our arms with 5 lb weights on each side, and tracked 800 burned calories along the way. It was so nice. Once we arrived back at the retreat, we gobbled down our "Cream of Broccoli" soup...which is really half broccoli and half cauliflower. The reason why it is called cream when it contains zero cream is because when you mix or blend broccoli is has a creamy consistency to it and so it looks like it has been creamed. I threw a little cayenne, curry, and italian seasoning in it and thought it was delicious. I'm sure you are all thinking, how can this really taste so good Anita? Aren't you just trying to keep yourself psyched up by telling yourself this? I guess that's partially true...I mean it doesn't taste like any of my favorite Mexican or Indian dishes. But when you cleanse, your palette is cleansed too, so you begin REALLY tasting the wonderful flavors in carrots, celery, cucumbers, beets, sweet potatoes, swiss chard, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, and many others. I'm so excited to pack up Sammy Jo and go home on Monday, throw my arms around my Love, and spend time with him. I miss David so much and that's been the hard part of doing this... I'm also looking forward to "Act Two" of my program, which I will explain later. I'm off to the dance capsule with Pam to sweat my rear off. :)

Is This For Real???

Today is Day 13! The sun is shining, the weather is warming, and Christine and I feel great! I look in the mirror and see results that fuel my fire to finish. From a medical perspective I am also doing great. My blood sugar - 103 My blood pressure - 118/78 The urinalysis turns dark red on ketones so I am burning fat at a really fast rate. I've gotten lots of phone calls saying, "Anita, I support you in what you are doing because you are an intelligent person and I trust you've asked the right questions, but I don't understand how and why this is healthy for you? How can not chewing food and only consuming liquids be good for you? How can losing weight so rapidly be good for you? Why are colonics and coffee enemas important? What do you do after the program? I realize I've only really talked about the experience and measurable results so far, so over the next week I'm going to also going to give you the low down on the program...today I'll start with the digestive system question (#1). We live in a world that is filled with toxins (in our air, water, food, beauty and household procucts, etc.)...they are everywhere! Our bodies do release toxins through going to the bathroom and sweating, but much of them don't get released and are absorbed into our cellular system. The American diet contains a lot of crap, we eat way too much, and we don't chew our food enough. Our digestive systems weren't initially designed to do what we make them do today so they have to work overtime to process what we give them. After we eat a huge dinner, feel exhausted and go into a food coma, the body begins to work. It works all night while we are sleeping to process, disperse what nutrients we give it, and put the rest of it in our body's "trash receptable" - the colon. So really its just our mind that wakes up the morning after because the body has been working all night. When its working overtime to process and purpose it doesn't spend enough time or get to the repairing and renewing of our cells...that's when disease and decay invade. When we detox we are consuming large amounts of pure nutrients (live vegetable juice, pureed soup, juices from fruit, and herbal supplements) that feed the body at the cellular level. We purposely don't consume any of this in raw form because we want to give our digestive system a rest. This allows it to spend all of its time (whether you cleanse for 3, 7, or 21 days) repairing and renewing the body's cells. 21 days is how long it takes to completely renew and turnover a new cellular system... Ok, enough of that, I've got a great day ahead!!! I'm off for a morning walk with Samantha Jo, get a probiotic implant at 11 a.m. (more on that soon), a meeting to discuss my progress and program with Dr. Roni, and massage at 3 pm., off for another walk this afternoon, steam and sauna this evening for an hour. Yippee!!!

It's All In the Seasoning

Yesterday was a banner day!!! CB and I started the day by walking to the retreat and weighing in on the scale for the first time since we arrived. To our pure delight, both scales I stepped on registered 12 pounds less than a week ago! Yippeeeeee!!!!!! Now I know that a good part of that is water weight, but listen folks, I'm working my tail off to make the most of everyday I have here, and it is such sweet satisfaction to see AND feel the results. Linda made a delicious green soup last night with okra, kale, collard greens, watercress, broccoli, celery, and garlic. Now on it's own it isn't the taste I'm going for, but when you add apple cider vinegar, a little squirt of fresh lemon, and some cayenne pepper, it is a culinary delight. Seasoning is one of the big "aha's" I've had since arriving. Here's what's on the table to put in your soup or broth anytime, season it up and enjoy health benefits.

• Cayenne pepper
• Curry
• Italian Seasoning
• Herbal Seasoning
• No Salt

After a great dinner of soup and wonderful conversation with the girls (Sarah, Elaine, Christine, Roni, and Linda) I came home to have a wonderful detox bath that anyone can make themselves. 2 cups of epsom salt, 1 cup of baking soda, 1/2 cup of kosher salt, a little essential oil and a candle for aromatherapy, and oila...you've made a beautiful "end of day detox soak". I slept like a baby... So, I'm off to begin day 9 and am looking forward to every minute. It's snowing on the Vineyard today, so Sammy Jo and I are going to go play in it and make snow angels together. :) Enjoy your day!