i...am...

cleansing.  yes, cleansing.  to me, it's an embarrassing word to utter.  maybe because i immediately think of the clearing out of poop.  but why does that bother me?  i pick up dog poop at least twice a day - not embarrassed about that, unless the pooping happens....ok, enough! 
 
i am cleansing.  technically it's the beginning of the fifth day of the program, but it's the second of the 10-day mania of drinking only lemonade made with maple syrup with a dash of cayenne.....mmmm.....for 10 days.....mmmmm.......did i mention for a total of 10 days, nothing but cayenne lemonade...mmm...... 

well, more honestly, fortunately and unfortunately, there are two other fluids i can drink.  herbal tea, fortunately, and salt water, oh god so very unfortunately.... the herbal tea i feel is self-explanatory, with the last tea of the evening recommended to be of laxative essence (another very embarrassing word). laxative - ha!

it's 6:47am and i lie propped in bed because i read somewhere that it's better for fluid kinetics if in a horizontal position.  i just drank ~0.75 liters of salt water (@ 2 teaspoons sea salt per liter).  first i tried warm salt water and gagged the stuff back up.  next, i tried warm water to dissolve the salt painlessly, then added 3 ice cubes to make it cold enough to be slightly more interesting, and tasteless, to drink.  i decided not to torture myself any longer after the third quarter -- to see how effective this volume amount will be.  we'll in 30-60 minutes.  it's an interesting concept, as it's supposed to wash out the entire digestive system.  ((can we make it rain salt water over our cities and industrially processed agricultural fields?))  as the salt water moves through the system, it chelates all sorts of toxins that are being released from fat stores (that are released b/c of the minimal ingestion of proteins throughout this cleanse), as well as intracellular stores. 

i forgot to mention, the first three days were the ease-in component: raw foods only, fresh veg/fruit juices and soup only, and fresh-squeezed orange juice only, respectively on day 1-2-3.


so...yes, i am cleansing.  it was time.  but, more on THIS later, as it's literally time to go poop the dog, then off to work.  ;-)

to end on some very positive news....the monday temperature madness has been quelled (well, let's hope).  it's 32 degrees out.  yum.  the past few mondays, they've been one of the coldest days of the week - single digits and below zero digits.

things are changing for the better...and, for today, this makes me smile.