S E O U L D I V A

Over the holiday weekend, Momma Park and I went to Whole Foods in White Plains to check out their “raw” section.  While we were there, I noticed a beautiful display of these Built Tote bags.

At my yoga studio (Bikram Yoga NYC), they sell the wine bottle caddies to use for your Klean Kanteen bottles.  They’re designed to be resilient, reusable and keep your beverages hot or cold.  So I was already familiar with these neoprene creations.

But I had never seen a TOTE before!  Lately, I’ve been buying less and less of my food from the “outside” and bringing more and more of my food from home.  So I’ve been interested in getting a proper “lunch” tote.

The one I purchased happened to be called a Built “Market Tote” ($40).

Clearly this is for your weekend shopping needs – almost like a sturdier reusable bag!

I got the “Micro Dot” version:

←roomy!

In hindsight, I probably would get the actual Built Lunch Tote, since it has a zipper:

But for now, I’m super happy that I have a colorful way to transport my lunch to work every day!!

www.builtny.com

I survived my Blueprint Cleanse.  Unfortunately, instead of being 6 days, I had to cut it down to 5, due to a work event.  But I still feel proud to have made it that far.

A few of the undeniable benefits of my Blueprint Cleanse:

• Mental Clarity: the fuzzy haze that has become a permanent state of being for me, magically lifted during my cleanse! I felt clear-headed and lucid all the time.
• Weight “Slimming”:  I say “slimming” rather than “loss” because I think there’s a distinction.  I feel like all the “excess” bloating and flab that hugged my body like a security blanket.  I felt lighter, more lithe.
• PRODUCTIVE: I felt motivated and was extremely productive during my days of the cleanse.  The energy I would normally spend thinking/obsessing about food, was freed up to spend on producing results & work.
• Better Sleep: While I was on the cleanse, I noticed I fell asleep more easily, slept more soundly and felt more energized when I woke up every morning.

It was fantastic.

Unfortunately my biggest mistake on the cleanse:

• Maintaining a regular Bikram Yoga schedule.

While the BPCleanse says it’s OK for you to exercise during a cleanse, I think calorie demands of Bikram Yoga are a little too rigorous for what the Blueprint Cleanse offers on a daily basis.

By the week’s end, I had the HARDEST time during my Bikram classes (no energy, dizzy).  Next time, if I do a @bpcleanse, I think I’ll either have to do it during vacation from work, or not practice yoga during the cleanse.

One of my yoga teachers shared a very interesting thought with me:

Traditionally, people did fasts/cleanses for meditation purposes.  The idea was to withdraw from one of your senses — the sense of taste — and allow your body to focus and heighten the other senses (also allowing your digestive system to take a rest).

For an optimal fasting experience, she suggested to do it during a vacation, when I could have the time to devote to the spiritual benefits of a cleanse: spending time communing with nature, focusing on how the cleanse was making your mind, body & spirit feel.

What she said really spoke to me, and I think I’ll do that next time.

Overall, it was an incredible experience — one that I would absolutely do again in a heartbeat!

In fact, it has made me seriously re-evaluate my eating habits and I’m currently doing some research about a major dietary overhaul.  Details to come!

www.blueprintcleanse.com

BLUEPRINT CLEANSE DIARIES, DAY 4, but 1st Day on Level 3 (Excavation)

After cheating with a banana the night before, I was skeptical about starting Day 4.  Also, because today is the day I graduated from BP Cleanse Level 2 → BP Cleanse Level 3.

What does that mean?  No more Pineapple/Apple/Mint Juice…but ANOTHER GREEN JUICE instead!!

← turned into this →

I was initially a little bummed to be making the upgrade, but then I was pleasantly surprised: the additional Green Juice was a Green Ginger…the BEST tasting one yet!!  It must be the GINGER!

It makes sense though: whenever I cook pork (Korean cooking), it’s not uncommon to add ginger — it masks any “porky” taste and keeps things tasting clean.

In this case: the ginger adds a nice spice and kick, and makes the entire Green Juice SO much more palatable.

The fine folks over at @BPCleanse even tweeted me to let me know the nutritional benefits of Ginger:

• @HeatherPark Lovin’ your BPC Green Ginger juice? Find out what helped ginger make it on the list of BPC ingredients: http://ow.ly/1BR9l

And when I asked if I could add Ginger to my other Green Juices, they replied:

• Yes definitely! RT @HeatherPark: @BPCleanse thanks! Can I add Ginger to my other green juices to make them more palatable?

After this blessing from the BP Cleanse folks, I went to Dean & Deluca this morning to pick up:

P.S.  I nearly got kicked out of Dean & Deluca for snapping this freaking picture.  Apparently they have a “no photo” policy.  WTF? It’s groceries, not a formula for nuclear fission.

I just sliced up a few slivers, macerated it with my blunt-edged knife in my cup, and then poured in my Green Juice!

DELICIOUS!!  :)

So on the Fourth Day…the secret of the Green Juice was finally revealed to me!!  GINGER!

On to Day 5!!

Blueprint Cleanse, Day 3.  Level 2 (Foundation)

Each day does indeed get better.  Day 3: I woke up feeling super light and clear-headed, but at the same time, a little weak.  Again, I think it’s the combo of the Bikram + BP Cleanse that leaves me wanting more calories.

After guzzling my 1st Green Juice of the day, I realized that each Green Juice is slightly different than the others:

• Green Lemon (Juice #1):  The 1st Green Juice on Level 2.  It’s by far my favorite, but I can’t tell whether it’s because it’s the 1st juice, or if it’s the Lemon that makes it remarkably fresh.

• Green Apple (Juice #3):  Moderate.  Not my favorite, but not as bad as the next one.

• Green Parsley (Juice #5):  For some reason, this is the hardest one for me to get down.  Again, don’t know if it’s because it’s the last Green Juice…or if it’s because it’s “parsley”. But it’s VERY challenging.

Naturally, all the non-Green Juices are DELICIOUS!!!  I would actually drink each of them independently of the Cleanse:

• Pineapple Apple Mint (Juice #2):  YUM. Light, refreshing…if I could add vodka to it, then it would make the perfect summer Pineapple Mojito cocktail!

• Tart and Spicy Lemonade (Juice #4):  SO yum.  Kinda tastes like a fancy, spicy, watered-down lemonade.

←my FAVE!!

• Cashew Nut Milk with Vanilla Bean, Cinnamon, and a touch of Agave Nectar (Juice #6): Clearly, this is the “dessert” drink.  It’s the most substantial of the 6 juices, and it’s a little grainy from the cashew nuts (a welcome chewing experience!).  It’s funny to think that such a beverage could taste so decadent, but it DOES.  I look forward to this drink every night.

At the end of Day 3, I decided I needed a break from Bikram.  Good thing I did: I was super weak and tired.  It’s a weird thing: to feel so clear-headed, but so weak.

I felt so weak, in fact that……GASP! — I cheated.  I had a banana.  (shame) But I think it was just what I needed to neutralize and feel better.

May the Blueprint Gods have mercy on my soul!!!

On to Day 4…with an upgrade to Level 3!  (FOUR green juices a day!)

www.blueprintcleanse.com

It’s no secret that I’ve been craving salty things while on my Blueprint Cleanse.  Most of the juices are on the sweet side.  Unfortunately for me:

• I’m a salty person to begin with
• I do Bikram yoga, which means I sweat a LOT, thus losing a lot of salt and electrolytes during every class

During my first few days, the situation was dire.  I even sunk so low that I was picking off the salt on pretzel rods.  Not cute.

Today, I finally wised up and brought something to work with me:

←salt salvation in a bottle!

Just had a handful of salt grains…and I feel SO much better!!  :)

The BP Cleanse actually suggests to add some Sea Salt to any of the juices if needed.

It’s incredible: sometimes what the body craves, is exactly what the body needs.

THOUGHT:  Maybe this cleanse cuts out all the CRAP that we normally consume every day.  Maybe it allows the body to be still, tranquil, and QUIET  enough so that we can HEAR it telling us what it needs.

VIVA LA CLEANSE!!

www.blueprintcleanse.com

Day 1 of the BluePrint Cleanse, Level 2 — the Foundation.

The 1st Day of my 6-day journey to mental & physical clarity.  Lemme tell ya…it ain’t pretty.  One of the reasons why I chose to do a juice cleanse is because my friend just came back from a 7-day retreat, where she did a similar cleanse in a beautiful, yoga-centric location in Cali.  Very inspiring!

But today, around lunchtime — when everyone was microwaving their savory lunches, and the smells were wafting through the office — I wanted to cut off my tongue.

But then, I remembered something one of my yoga teachers said in class:

It’s easy to meditate on a mountaintop, where you’re surrounded by beauty, tranquility and silence.  But it takes a REAL yogi to meditate in the middle of New York City!!

And it’s SO true.  It’s easy to eat healthy if EVERYone around you is eating healthy. But trying to eat healthy while others eat NORMALLY is something else entirely.

Overall, Day 1 was manageable:

• I never felt too hungry.
• I felt extremely hydrated.
• I never got excessively tired.

But on the downside of Day 1:

• I was Cranky McCrankerson.
• By the 2nd “Green” Juice, I wanted to hurl.
  • • 
• I NEEDED SALT!!!!

I always knew I preferred Salty over Sweet, but I never knew how much I love salt!! At one point, I took a pretzel rod and picked off all the grains of salt on it.  Because all the Juices on BP Cleanse are somewhat “sweet”…my body CRAVED that salt.

Someone at my yoga class noted that it’s because I sweat so much during Bikram, you lose so much sodium and your body craves for it to be restored. (makes sense).

Yes, I did exercise during my juice cleanse — the folks at BP Cleanse said it was OK to do that.  I didn’t feel light-headed or weak.  In fact, I felt a “tingle” of awareness during my Bikram class.  But I’m definitely going to take it day-by-day…we’ll see how it goes, the longer I cleanse.

BP Cleanse, FTW!

www.blueprintcleanse.com

This week, I signed up to do a 6-day BluePrint Cleanse.

But before you begin your cleanse, BP Cleanse suggests that you do a “pre-cleanse” to ween yourself off your dietary crutches: caffeine, sugar, meat, carbs…

This weekend was my “Pre-Cleanse”.  I put it lovingly in quotes because I never thought I’d have such a hard time with it!  Yes, I do love to eat, but I didn’t think I was so “toxic”.  I don’t eat dairy, I don’t eat tons of red meat, and I don’t like chocolates or sweets.

Nonetheless, apparently my eating habits had gone rogue over the years!  It was really difficult for me NOT to have any proteins (eggs, chicken), mildly difficult to abstain from coffee…but REALLY difficult for me to abstain from soups and meat broths.  (I loves me some Korean soup!)

I had to go to brunch on Sunday and order (gasp!) a SALAD, while my friends happily devoured heavenly poached eggs, crabcakes and home fries…. SIGH.

←friend’s meal. YUM.

←my meal. SNORE.

I Pre-Cleansed for 2 days over the weekend…and OUCH.

• SATURDAY: unparalleled exhaustion — must have slept for about 14 hours
• SUNDAY:  weird, dull, headache…ALL DAY

But I would rather have had those mild “detox” symptoms over the course of 2 days, rather than having a TERRIBLE 1st day on the BP Cleanse!

All in all, the pre-cleanse is definitely worth it!  :)