First, let me tell you the most important thing: My new favorite product – Earth Balance Creamy Coconut and Peanut Spread. It is non-GMO, vegan, and no trans fat. No added sugar, but there are 2 grams of sugars per serving (2 tablespoons). It is the best nut butter I’ve ever had that isn’t Nutella. So if you are looking for something delicious with no added sugar, give it a try. Unsweetened peanut butter is an allowed snack during the smoothie cleanse, you just need to watch quantities. I had a tablespoon with an apple today.

*Disclaimer – this information is not intended to be taken as medical advice, I am simply sharing my personal experience. Please consult with your physician before doing a cleanse or choosing a laxative.

Don’t worry – I am not going to post an update of every single day of this cleanse, but I thought I would answer the messages I’ve been getting asking me how today is going. If you want to read about my rough start to the 10-Day Green Smoothie Cleanse, click here. I will post again on days 5 and 10.

And now onto the progress of the day. Long story short, I stuck with the plan all day today, and barely drank all 3 liters of my water.

• Woke up late but weighed on time – lost 1.4 lbs which is not unexpected due to the amount of water I drank yesterday. So lost 20 ounces of water weight.
• Started to make my smoothie but it started snowing big, white, beautiful flake so had to run outside and take pictures.
• Slow start getting ready this morning, but made my smoothie for the day and put my water for the day in a pitcher.
• Had an eye appointment so didn’t want to drink too much water first thing this morning.
• Had my eyes dilated, and I’m very sensitive to the eye dilation. After I came home I got a horrible headache and became nauseated. I’m not sure if this was due only to the dilation or if it was also still caffeine withdrawal, so I took an Excedrin migraine and took a nap, which helped a bit.
• Since I wasn’t feeling that great anyway, and I knew I wasn’t going to be getting that much done today, I decided to really make myself miserable, and add another tool that you can use when doing a cleanse: a laxative. I chose to take a bottle of magnesium citrate, which is sometimes used as part of a prep for a colonoscopy. Magnesium citrate is a saline laxative, and it works by pulling water into the colon to help empty its contents. If you don’t want to hear about the tips and results of taking a laxative (and who wouldn’t?) just skip the next paragraph. Here are my best tips if you ever have to take mag citrate:

• DRINKING MAGNESIUM CITRATE: Chill the bottle of magnesium citrate. I chose one with a lemon flavor. Make sure it is well-chilled, and drink it quickly. It doesn’t seem to taste that bad at first, but the aftertaste is horrible. I try to drink one bottle in two swallows, and chase it with something that has good flavor, like juice. In my experience, mag citrate makes me a bit nauseated, so I try to make sure that I don’t have anywhere to go (you don’t want to be far from a bathroom anyway, because LAXATIVE), and not too much in my stomach. I also don’t like taking it on an empty stomach. I find that I feel better if I don’t lay down after taking it. I am less nauseated if I am partly sitting up. I also find that I can get chilled after drinking chilled solution quickly, so I will sit on with extra blankets until the chill passes. That can also contribute to the nausea. I drank the mag citrate at about 3:30 pm and it started working in about 90 minutes, and the effects lasted about 4-5 hours. If you have food in your stomach, it will go slower. If you have been on clear liquids, your colon will clean out faster. It can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 4-5 hours to start working, depending upon the person. When it starts working, you will want to be near a bathroom, because you will start having multiple stools. To protect your skin, you may want to use soft wipes and protective cream like Desitin. (This is particularly important when you are prepping for a colonoscopy, which is much more involved than just one bottle of mag citrate). Click here for more info on magnesium citrate.

• The rest of the day was spent trying to rid myself of nausea and a headache, and taking trips to the bathroom.
• I have to say, I was not hungry at all today. I ate a few snacks, and I followed the book’s suggestion of ‘chewing’ your smoothie, which helped trick my brain and satisfied my desire for solid food.
• Tomorrow my day is going to get back to normal – I have a house to clean and projects to work on. The challenge will be drinking all the water and peeing often.

In summary, Day Two was a success, and I’m on my way. I just have to think about one day at a time, because if I think of TEN DAYS, it’s too overwhelming.