Half way cleansed - I can see clearly now

Day 5 is a wrap!  Any day now I'm going to crave those shakes.. any day.  Although I admit about 30 minutes after drinking one I get a feeling of "clean energy" - the best way to describe it.  It's not a jittery kind of energy.  It's more like a "30 minutes after waking from a good nap" kind of energy.  I like it.  It makes the guzzle seem worth it somehow.  4 more days to go...

The cold I thought I was getting has phased out.  Hmmm..

So I'm starting to think clearer.  I'm already gearing up for the next phase of my journey.  What is it going to look like?  I'm reminded of the last blog journey Cliff and I went on.  It's recorded at www.belikejackandjill.blogspot.com.  I looked back over it and remembered how good I felt.  The project was to see if the average person could actually eat and train like Jack Lalanne and Jillian Michaels.  We took all the rules that they follow and tried to implement them into our lives.  The basic rules were these:
No processed foods
No caffeine
Fish almost daily
Occassional free range chicken
No dairy
There were some things I knew Jillian ate that were "processed" but were more like "healthy convenient foods":
Amy's Organic frozen dinners
Ezekiel bread and english muffins
Dark chocolate
Newman's own Newman-Os - Organic oreos (YUM-O)

So the latest contemplation is this:  why did I feel so good on that plan?  The fact that I was eating more whole foods or the fact that I was eating virtually no processed foods?  Probably a little of both.  It was the cleanest I had ever eaten and my first time away from dairy.  I ended up not missing cheese as much as I thought.

So the first task will be to analyze what is going to work for me long term and what will give me the best feeling, hit all the essentials and determine what those essentials really are.  I will start attacking all of the hard questions like: why not meat?  why not dairy?  we already know why it's more important to eat more fruits and veggies but a lifestyle that is rich in those alone - are they enough to give you Incredible Health?

Stay tuned...