Day 2 Kaeng Raeng In Review

I woke up this morning at 5:00am when the cat tackled my feet. I was hungry then. But since I went to bed at 1:00am (yet another thing I'm working on), I decided to go back to sleep...and I uh...er...slept in. When I awoke, I wasn't really hungry anymore. I contemplated skipping my usual coffee, but coffee won out-even with the cream and sugar. You know, I'm under enough stress with surgery forthcoming so I decided to skip the migraines this time. As a refresher, today is the day my doctor ordered me to go on a liquid diet by 1:00pm for the next two days. But since I started Kaeng Raeng yesterday evening and already splurged on coffee, I decided I would stick to the rest of the Kaeng Raeng diet prior to my 1:00pm deadline. I started the day with a fruit salad-pineapple, mango, strawberries, blueberries and banana slices. It was quite good. A half hour before my 1:00pm deadline I made another salad of alfalfa and clover sprouts, broccoli sprouts, cilantro, tomato, red onion, and avocado. This time I also added a yellow and an orange mini pepper along with a small amount of mixed baby greens. And instead of my new garlic concoction from yesterday evening as a dressing, I juiced half a lemon and poured it on there with a cap full of apple cider vinegar. It was good. For those not used to broccoli sprouts-I'd skip those. They are quite bitter.

A couple of hours later, I made my first Kaeng Raeng shake of the day. This time I grabbed the "Juu Juu-Into the Blue", a blueberry, blackberry, banana combination. (I would like to know what's up with all these strange names anyway?) In any event, I added one half of a banana, a handful of frozen strawberries, about 12-16 ounces of water and an equal amount of Simply Lemonade with some ice and blended in the Vitamix. The Simply Lemonade is not quite as sweet tasting as the Paul Newman's lemonade I had yesterday, so I was experimenting really. But oddly enough, it has 28 grams of sugar per 8 ounces, whereas Paul Newman's only has 27 grams per 8 ounces. Then again, Simply Lemonade lists "natural sugar" in their ingredients list versus Paul Newman's "sugar". I mean, the reality here is if you really want to detox, you should just add water here, but if it's your first time like mine, or you have unusual circumstances like mine - it certainly adds to the flavor. I had the novel idea of putting the remainder of my smoothie (still in the blender) into the refrigerator while I sipped part one. It really is better colder, and so I will continue doing this and making smoothies. Plus the added fruit really makes it taste good and you can really have fun with the flavors depending on what you add, making each "meal" that much more interesting. From this concoction, I did not enjoy it as much as my last, but it was still good. I sipped at it instead of sucking it down and I am telling you, it must have taken 2 hours of busy work and sipping before I was done. I thought to myself "Shoot, no wonder you are never hungry on this!" I was trying to find time to fit in my water, which I did the rest of the day.

As the hours passed on, on this beautiful Sunday in my beach town, I was invited to three different barbeques, all equipped with delicious food, wine and spirits - but I dutifully declined. Funny thing is, my doctor told me to go on a "liquid diet" and when I asked for suggestions, he added wine to the list. I gasped. He said, "It's liquid!" So really, I could have joined the festivities, but my thought was, "Why don't I try to do this at least half right, and go into surgery as healthy as possible?"

With all the turned down invitations, I was getting kind of angst and hungry. It was either that or my 2 hour beach walk in the sun that sparked my appetite. I also kept myself busy all day packing-yes I'm moving too, but that is another story. I decided it was time for another smoothie. This time, I tried the last of the three flavors, the "Glai Roong-Daybreak", a mango, peach, pineapple mix. I decided to add Tropicana Orange Juice with water this time. It sounded better. I also had the great luck of having some fresh mango on hand - oh it was the juiciest mango and it smelled so sweet! As I was cutting it and popping it into the VitaMix, I almost unthinkingly popped a juicy piece in my mouth! Just as I was about to, I remembered...liquid diet. Ugh. So I put the remainder in, added some fresh pineapple, and because I decided not to use banana this time, I put in a hefty spoonful of Fage 2% Greek yogurt. I know, I know, probably not the Kaeng Raeng way - but c'mon, I turned down BBQs for God's sake! And I just wanted something to make it smoother. And I'll say, it was the smoothest yet! And quite tasty. In fact, I'm still sipping it now. I've felt fine all day. No weird sugar lows. No migraines. No weird bathroom breaks. I know I will be able to do this another day tomorrow. In fact, I have yet to drink three shakes in a day. I don't know how I could! Maybe tomorrow I'll figure it out. At this rate, my Kaeng Raeng 3 day cleanse could last me almost 5 days!