Cleanse…Or Torture?

Day seven of our detox cleanse and I'm hurting. Major headaches and all I want to do is sleep. Very little energy. This sucks. 

Week one went much easier than expected. I was surprised by how little I missed my normal foods and actually felt pretty good about what we were eating. It wasn't that much of a stretch really. Sure, we had to give up caffeine, refined sugars, salt, eggs, most grains, red and lunch meats, dairy and processed foods. But we could still eat chicken, veggies, fruits, beans, rice, oats, rice cereal, rice milk, and best of all, I could keep using agave syrup as sweetener. 

Now, having given up caffeine cold turkey before to ill effect, I knew better than to attempt it now. Instead I tapered off my caffeine intake by drinking green tea for a week. This has two benefits: 1) no screaming headaches and moroseness, and 2) way smaller sugar intake. 

So far, so good. 

Then came today. Today began the deep, intense part of the cleanse. From now through next Sunday, Annie and I are eating no breakfast except a rice powder protein drink, no more meat, and less of everything else. I could live without the meat, I guess, but the lack of cereal is a blow. I love eating cereal, it's a comfort food for me. 

Worse, I stopped drinking green tea yesterday. I didn't experience any headaches then, but had very little energy. I was incredibly sluggish. Today was worse, though, as I had persistent headaches and even less energy. I mean, I can't believe how tired I've been today. In addition to sleeping in and finding it near impossible to get out of bed, I've had two naps. As I write this I'm nearly falling asleep. It's 10:30 p.m.

These are all normal symptoms of a detox cleanse, of course, and I'll tough it out. But this sucks. 

The most remarkable thing I've noticed is just how much I rely on caffeine and sugar to just get through a day at what feels like a normal level. I guess I really am an addict.