The "Cleanse"

Nine days ago we embarked on an adventure. The Adventure Cleanse, to be exact. This is a PH focused, anti-inflammatory cleanse/diet/lifestyle found in The Crazy Sexy Diet by Kris Carr. I'm not a big fan of the title (too chick-lit sounding for me) but the content in this book is sound, from what I've researched so far. It has been a wonderful journey of learning, eating, discovering, feeling, loving and strengthening. I used all positive words there but there have been many "down" moments and I expect there to be more.

Overall, however, the "downs" just seem to be a normal part of getting healthy and won't last forever. Dan and I are doing this together (go Team!) and have completely changed our diet and, more importantly, our minds about food. We have become closer and more aware of each other which, I believe, is what we all want out of our relationships.

Now, all that being said, let's get to the food. It has been so much fun experimenting with GOOD food and making great meals for the family. I think when most people hear about a cleanse or detox or even a diet they think of deprivation and eating/drinking large amounts of unpleasant, weird food. Well, this is not that.

So the "no's" for this diet are: gluten (which means wheat and wheat derivatives), dairy, meat, caffeine from coffee and black tea, processed/simple sugar (in all it's forms), alcohol, and processed foods (pretty much anything that comes in a box or package with more than 6 (i just picked a number :)) ingredients). I'm not going to get into the why's for eliminating these things because some are obvious and the rest you can read about by looking at the website I link at the top or by simply googling this question: why get rid of ____?

On to what we DO GET TO EAT and DRINK!

A typical day so far:
Wake up to a glass of warm lemon water w/optional dash of cayenne pepper. This drink promotes circulation and general wakeupedness! And doesn't suck your cells dry like my (favorite!) usual cup of coffee, cream and sugar did.

Turn on the tea pot! Drink green or white tea, yerba mate, or just plain herbal tea goodness. Sometimes with almond milk and agave nectar. I have to admit that I haven't gone completely caffeine free and this isn't a must for the cleanse but it would be optimal. I do drink green tea pretty much everyday and I love it!

Turn on the juicer or the blender, whichever and make GREEN juice or smoothie...today's recipe:
1 avocado
1 cup coconut/aloe water
1 cup sprouts
2 giant lettuce leaves
1/4 bed of wheat grass (the grass doesn't have gluten, just the grain and things made from it)
1/2 kiwi
1/2 fugi apple
1 cucumber
Ice
BLEND till smoothied

Now, that may not sound all that appealing...and my first green smoothie, very similar to this recipe, did not make me that excited about the cleanse, it tasted pretty gross to me, actually. But now, 9 days in, my tastes have really changed. I am craving the GREEN. We try to stick to the 3:1 ratio. Meaning 3 veggies to 1 fruit...to keep the sugar content low because even too much natural sugar can do bad things to your body.

Snack: Dan just ate a piece of gluten-free bread with almond butter (where have you been all my life??) and a cup of green tea..yum!
I've been sticking to juices and smoothies all morning along with as much tea and water as I can handle...

Lunch:
Giant Salad: Romaine, Spinach, Lettuce, Kale (its been fun to experiment with all those greens i saw in the produce section but usually passed by!) Avocado, Carrots, Olives, Tomato, Onion, Flax Seeds, Olive oil, vinegar or a lovely home made dressing.
MISO! soup usually with lightly sauteed veggies and soy sauce.

Snack Options: GREEN JUICE or smoothie, apple, pear, berries, larabar, hummus and veg...whatever you feel like.

One option that Dan loves is:
The Banana Protein Pick Me-Up Smoothie...I just made that up.
1 Banana
1 cup almond milk
1 tbs. Cocoa Powder
1-2 tbs. almond butter
Ice
BLEND!

Dinner: Tonight will be the Black Bean and Sweet Potato Patties in Lettuce wraps along with a GIANT Salad.

That made me hungry! I better go get lunch. And our computer is coming down with a virus so the pictures of this delicious food are not posting but, believe me, every recipe we've made or made up has been really GOOD!