(Wedding) Material Girl

Though I got a ton done this weekend, it wasn't as rushed and busy as every day has been for the past... well, while. My parents and brother came, so they got a break too. They LOVED my apartment and I felt really great that I got to show it to them before the wedding. It felt like it made it real.

I had a good boot camp class yesterday and have been sore all day. I started another Blue Print Cleanse today, so I've been a bit tired. My wellness coach said that a cleanse may not be the best approach for me, since I may not have as much junk in my system to clean out, given my healthier diet in the past few months. However, it feels appropriate after the bachelorette party, and I can always add fruits or veg broth if I need it.

My dad luckily liked one of the songs I'd selected for the father-daughter dance, so yay! I liked it too, though I think it will be hard for me not to cry. But that's probably true of most of the appropriate songs. So I think we're getting to a good place, music-wise.

After my family left today, I spent a lot of time on the couch watching bad romantic comedies, drinking juice, and doing wedding stuff. I updated the various schedules we're maintaining (wow, its going go to be busy!), created the welcome packet (which took a surprising amount of time), and the wedding program (which was surprisingly quick). I also created a clip art we can use on all the wedding materials we're handing out. It's nothing fancy, but I think it'll help pull things together.

My parents had brought the wedding program from the wedding they attended yesterday, so I thought I'd use it as a template. But I got annoyed having to type it up, so I did a few Google searches, and lo and behold, I found the same template they'd used! It was pretty funny. I liked the wording so I used most of it :)


All of our guests were supposed to book their hotel rooms by Friday. Unfortunately, a few were too late. My dad called the hotel and found out that the entire hotel is booked with our guests! The block is full and there are no more rooms. We booked a few on reserve, but probably not enough for all the people who haven't booked yet. Apparently only TWO of our family friends have booked rooms, so there are probably quite a few desperate calls coming our way...

20 days left...

The 3 Day Blueprint Cleanse

Weds at 6 pm: It's kind of weird how little I've eaten all day and how unhungry I am. I've only had an OJ, a snack cup of apple sauce, some organic corn, a banana, an apple, and a few handfuls of peanuts. I had more food here that I could eat, but just didn't need it. I am, however, pretty tired. I feel like I could go to sleep now :) I've been reading so much to prep for the cleanse that I almost feel like I'm on it now and shouldn't be eating. LOL


That was how I felt before the cleanse started last Weds night. I had a grapefruit after that, but was so tired I went to bed early. Things went very well on Day 1. I actually felt really full, rather than hungry, all day from all the liquid in my tummy. The juices all tasted pretty good and I felt pretty much normal. MJ and I went on a walk in the park after work, which turned out to be a mistake, as I got dizzy halfway through and we had to hurry home so I could drink another juice. I just sat on the couch the rest of the night and was fine.

I worked from home on Friday, which was a really good decision. I got extremely weak and pretty nauseous in the early afternoon. There wasn't much I could do about it, as we had to drive to DC right at 5. MJ had cut some celery sticks for me (which is an approved cheat food) and I guiltily ate one in the car over. It helped with my weakness, but not my nausea. I felt progressively worse until I went to bed. Luckily I slept through the night.

I woke up feeling good on Saturday, but I had some celery sticks in the morning just in case, as we were meeting with the photographer. But, I got progressively worse around lunch time. The weakness became so bad I had a hard time keeping my eyes open. So finally, around 5 or so, I gave in and started eating solid foods. The funniest thing was that I didn't feel hunger any of the 3 days for more than a few minutes, but as soon as I ate 1 real item (some sprouts), I was STARVING. I was so hungry, even after I had some rice. However, even since then, I get fuller on smaller portions.

I definitely lost weight and feel more energetic. I'm also craving bad foods less and want to go to the gym more. I would do it again, but I think I would be more liberal with the suggested cheat foods earlier and I would follow their guidelines for prep instead of going overboard. The way I did it, I hadn't had a real meal or any starches in 5.5 days, which is too much all of a sudden and not even what they suggest.

I'll definitely be more prepared next time. Actually I'm trying to decide what to do next. Maybe I'll go back to water fasting 1 day per week. Or maybe I'll do another 3 day juice cleanse the week I get back from India, before our engagement pictures...

Weight Be Gone!

My parents are extremely different from one another. We've always known this. However, planning this wedding highlights their differences quite a bit. My dad's approach has been to set milestones and work towards them, in order to make decisions and move forward as quickly as possible. My mom's approach has been to do research, meet with vendors, and then discuss with as many people as possible to make the most informed decision. Basically, my dad is driving towards making decisions and my mom is working to make sure we're making the best decision that is backed by the most people. The two approaches don't necessarily work together seamlessly, so we had some issues in nailing down a schedule. But, they've been married for over 30 yrs, so they were able to work through it and get through to one another. I think the revised schedule is a compromise between both options we'd been discussing before (1. wedding, straight into cocktail hour, reception and 2. wedding, lunch, break where guests leave, cocktail hour, reception) and makes most people happy. The compromise is that we need to change the hotel that our guests will be staying at. But hopefully the new one will work well too. It's definitely better for the overall schedule and sanity of the wedding party and guests!

I've been frustrated with my inability to give losing weight the attention it needs. This past month has been particularly bad, as I've had an incredible amount of stress on many fronts and was really struggling. While I didn't actually gain much weight back, I definitely didn't lose the 5 lbs I wanted to in March. My knee is still messed up, but I'm trying to work through and do short amounts of time on different cardio machines to work through it and make time in the evenings to go after work, where my muscles are warmer. This means no social activities during the week, but I don't mind that as much as I thought I would. Things have gotten a bit better at work, which helps a lot with my stress level too.

Additionally, I'm starting a juice cleanse tomorrow. I'm doing the Blueprint Cleanse, which is very popular New York right now. Basically, you drink nothing but 6 fresh fruit & veggie juices each day for 3 days. (You can do it for more or less, but 3 is recommended.) It's supposed to help with removing toxins, losing weight, better skin, immune system, allergies, energy level, etc. I'm a bit nervous, but I used to fast and eat/drink nothing but water one day per week for a few yrs in high school and part of college. It was hard at first, but totally normal after that. I also did feel a lot healthier and had fewer cravings for bad food during the rest of the week. So I think 3 days will be tough, but I'm excited about the results. I feel like it'll get me more in touch with my body's needs and I may even be sick less...

To prepare for the cleanse, you're supposed to cut out meat, eggs, grains, dairy, etc., so I've had nothing but fruits, veggies, nuts, and beans since Monday. I haven't been that hungry (besides last night before bed, when I was starving and was seriously craving mac & cheese), but I am a bit tired. That could be more from not sleeping well with a mosquito attack and some temperature issues than my current diet though. Anyway, just in the prep time (i.e 2 days so far) I've lost 2.5 lbs! Woohoo! I'm finally on a downward trend of losing weight again.

The annoying part of the cleanse was scheduling it. You can only start on a Mon, Thurs, or Fri. Monday would be nice cuz you just do it at work every day and don't think about it much. But you'd have to prep all weekend. This Mon was the day after MJ's bday, so it would've been hard to prep before. I'll be in DC again this weekend and wasn't sure I'd be back in time to get the delivery and didn't want to wait 2 weeks. Friday kinda sucks cuz you're doing it the whole weekend and everyone's eating around you, so it would affect your social schedule. Thurs sucks, but it seemed like the only option. So I'm going to be juicing on Friday when we drive to DC and on Saturday while my mom's cooking yummy foods that everyone's happily enjoying. Sigh... Wish me luck!!!