More Health Updates & Starting a Cleanse!

I am FINALLY starting my Garden of Life Wild Rose Herbal D-Tox Cleanse.  I've had it sitting in the cabinet for about a year.  I meant to do it when Aaron moved in last June, but it didn't happen for whatever reason.  I'm a Garden of Life blogger, so they sent me this cleanse to try based off of my lifestyle.  Fortunately it has a good shelf life or I'd be missing out!

All of this, plus my regular allergy medicine and my Spironolactone for acne.

I am starting a cleanse because my health has not been peak lately.  To read more about my initial symptoms and issues, read my last blog.  Today I went back to my doc and she has cleared me of both Lupus and Rhemetoid Arthritis based off of my blood work.  Does that mean that I absolutely don't have them?  No, but right now the testing doesn't point that way even if the symptoms did.  The bad news is she is completely certain that I have arthritis, despite my young age.  We decided I'm going to change my footwear to reflect such concerns, see if that helps, and if not, she's going to refer me to an orthopedic specialist.  She offered to do x-rays now, but I said we might as well wait and see for a couple of weeks.  She does want me to start taking Glucosamine and Chondriotin.  I already started taking Omega-3 supplements and Turmeric Curcumin.  I will probably not order more turmeric supplements with this diagnosis since my diet has plenty of tumeric in it.  All of my supplements (including the Glucosamine I just ordered) are Deva except for the turmeric... maybe I should buy some stock in Deva.

I asked today about exercise.  She doesn't want me to doing squats and lunges and a little part of me died inside.  Does anyone have experience with this?  If I use knee braces, would that help prevent damage without having to give up on leg exercises?  I think we can all agree that running is not a good exercise for me and I can except that and move on.  Aaron and I have wanted an elliptical for ages, so this just reinforces the necessity for it.  He has a bad knee and can't run with me, so I don't mind giving it up.  I have a ton of bandages in the house, but I don't think they're really the strong ace kind, so it might be time to order some knee wraps or braces.  She felt my left knee, the one that originally had problems, and said she thinks I may have strained or slightly torn my ligaments in that knee.  All I know is it hurts and it's stupid and I don't want to be in pain anymore.

On this 12-day cleanse, I have a decently strict diet, but absolutely nothing difficult for me.  There is a long list of "eat 80% of these foods" and "eat 20% of these" and "absolutely none of these foods" but again, it's nothing overwhelming or difficult.  Honestly, looking at the list, it looks a lot like the vegan paleo diet I'm looking to switch over to, so I'm excited!  I bought a bunch of fruits and veggies and smoothie ingredients and some pre-made grains because I am lazy and usually too busy.  This week is a little different, I probably have the time to meal prep and plan, but I wanted to make sure I didn't make too many changes at once so that I wouldn't fail.  Like ObesetoBeast stresses, sustainability is the key to making life long changes.  If you guys don't know who John Glaude is, click through to his youtube; you're welcome.