Day 4 of our "Clean"

We've been doing pretty good so far. The first day was EASY! I don't know if it was the adrenalie, or the pure coconut milk in our first morning smoothie, but we started off really well. So, basically what we're doing is have two liquid meals and one regular meal a day. You have to end with a liquid meal, and then fast for 12 hours, which means absolutely NO snacking after dinner...which is the hardest for both Joe and I. I'm so proud of him especially, because he's been a BIG snacker at night.
I went to the store and bought some of the most important ingredients for the first couple of days, which included kale, carrots, quinoa, wild rice, pineapple, mango, almonds to make my own almond milk (yes, you read correctly!) etc. Some of the foods, I had to look up, because I seriously had never heard of them, like:

Chia seeds ( apparently, a super food seed, which can be added to your smoothie)
Dulse flakes (a kind of sea weed, but very rubbery...I have not tasted it yet, I'm a a little scared of it, to tell you the truth!)
Nama shoyu ( a wheat free soy sauce)

I think the most difficult part is planning ahead. I have to make sure, Joe has his Shake in the morning and his lunch packed and ready, which means I have to cook a day ahead. So that's a big change, because I don't normally start thinking about what to cook for dinner that same morning. But so far so good.
Also, the portions are enormous! Most days I find myself with left overs, even with us sharing the food! The book says that the recipes are for two, well, you could easily feed a three if not four! So today, I had actually planned the Watercress and Shaved Fennel Salad with Seared Tuna, but we found ourselves finish the Lentil Salad and I added a grilled chicken breast, because I felt like I needed that extra protein.
Here are some pictures of what we've been eating:

Berry Smoothie with Coconut Milk and Cinnamon



Roast Chicken with Balsamic Vinegar. Garlic, and Rosemary Wild Rice Pilaf



Stir Fried Vegetables and Chicken with Buckwheat Noodles



Not bad, right?

They also aren't joking when they say in the book to make sure you pay close attention to your bowel movements! They suggested to buy a "natural diuretic" and so we bought something called Swiss Kriss. I know what you think, but no I didn't buy it because I am Swiss. I actually wanted to get Dr. Schulze's Intestinal Formula to "promote daily, generous bowel movements" but Whole Foods didn't have it. All I can say is, they do what they promise, maybe more than you hoped for!

The biggest cravings I'm fighting right now, are chocolate, eggs, my Earl Grey tea, and and the occasional Starbucks Dark Cherry Mocha...

But we added something to keep me from thinking about those things too much; they're called Marshmallow and Rose. Welcome our newest addition to our family!




We adopted them over the weekend, completely spontaneous and unplanned, but they've already added a lot of fun and excitement to our daily lives! They are mother and son and were found half starved before they ended up with a foster family. Sofia had the important job of naming them, and I think she did a great job! Needless to say, she is over the moon!

So, with that I wish you a good night and happy fasting!

Cleansing

Well, it has been quite a while since my last post, but I'm back and I'm planning on giving you at least 21 days of posts this year! Why 21 you ask? Because as of tomorrow dear husband and I are starting a cleanse, which will hopefully last 21 days. We've never done anything the like and I'm not sure how I'm going to do, but I figured I have absolutely nothing to lose! Well I do, actually, about 30lbs. However, while I don't think I will lose that much weight, I'm really hoping I will "cleanse" as much as I can. What do I mean by that? Literally cleanse, of course. I feel like I've been lugging so much unwanted stuff along with me, emotional and physical stuff, that I've become super sluggish and sedentary...sniff...sniff... yes it's sad but true.

I do believe that I live a somewhat healthy lifestyle, but all that baking I've beed doing lately surely isn't helping, even though I give most of it away. Plus, of course, I'm going home in about 6 weeks and I just can't shake the fact that my dear mother will certainly have a comment or two about my figure. Don't get me wrong, I love her dearly, but sometimes she just doesn't know when to shut up (and no, she will never find out I just said that, unless you know her and will translate it for her >:( )

The cleanse we're doing is by Alejandro Junger, M.D. I first heard about him and his book Clean on the Martha Stewart Show this week. Actually, I believe it was a re-run, but I'm glad I caught it! His cleanse incorporates smoothies, juices, soups and one meal a day, which you eat for lunch. He gives you all the recipes you will need for a 21 day cleanse, which is great, because if I had to come up with that stuff myself I might as well give up right now. Also, I don't quite have the money to buy a kit. So this works well for me. At least I hope so.

So tomorrow morning, instead of cereal or eggs or pancakes, I will make us a lovely Mango and Coconut milk smoothie! Sounds pretty darn good, no? I think the hardest part for me will be giving up caffeine and sugar, of course! Heck, I tried to not drink my morning Earl Grey today and I got all crabby and short tempered, not to mention suuuper tired right around 2pm, when I usually have another one, or worse, COFFEE!!!

So, cleansing it is. Tomorrow, first day. Come back and check out how I'm doing! I might even reveal some stats, who knows!