Wellness Cleanse Week 2

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And here's how the Wellness Cleanse is going into week two.  Overall this cleanse has been easy-peasy:

Day 8: 
Breakfast:  Peanut Butter and Banana Smoothie (with quite a few adjustments, such as one fewer banana and one fewer tablespoon peanut butter, add fennel, apple, chia seeds, and kale), Decaffeinated Chai Tea with Almond Milk.
Lunch: 3 oranges

Dinner:  Paparot (Spinach and Polenta Soup)
Workout:  90 minutes yoga
  • Back to work today after having last week off.  My usual breakfast in the past was yogurt and granola.  The smoothie is simple and really convenient. 
  • I am pretty sure last weeks bumps were bug bites.  Phew.


Day 9: 
Breakfast:  Almond Banana Smoothie (1/2), Decaffeinated Chai Tea with Almond Milk.
Lunch: Soba Noodles with Eggplant and Mango
Snacks: popcorn
Dinner: Paparot (Spinach and Polenta Soup), Mary's Gone Crackers Herb Crackers, Date-Cashew-Chocolate Balls (minus the sugar), glass of rice mik.
Workout:  75 minutes yoga, 60 minutes bootcamp
  • I really liked this spinach and polenta soup; I found it super filling.  However, the husband found the spinach to bother his teeth.  So we found out why--click the recipe above.
  • I am having a lot of cravings today (sugar, mostly, but also some meat), but mostly because I am exhausted.
  • I am rediscovering making my own popcorn.  Seriously, I have spent years just popping a bag of popcorn into the microwave.  And let's face it, that corn is most certainly genetically modified, covered in preservatives, and loaded with salt and fat.  I have been popping some corn in a big pot with olive oil and light salt.  Yum.

Day 10: 
Breakfast:  Almond Banana Smoothie (1/2), apple, Decaffeinated Chai Tea with Almond Milk.
Lunch:  Paparot (Spinach and Polenta Soup), glass of rice milk
Snack:  Date-Cashew-Chocolate Balls
Dinner: Fajitas (portabello mushrooms, red peppers onions in corn tortillas with salsa), glass of rice milk, Date-Cashew-Chocolate Balls
Workout:  took the day off
  • I want a hamburger.

Day 11: 
Breakfast: Tropical Smoothie (1/2), Decaffeinated Chai Tea with Almond Milk.
Lunch:  Homemade chips and salsa, the last (!) of the Date-Cashew-Chocolate Balls
Snack:  Decaffeinated Chai Tea with Almond Milk, apple, goji berries
Dinner: Wild Mushroom Ragout with brown rice and wild rice.
Workout:  60 minutes bootcamp
  • This week's cashew-date ball is last week's paella--it never seems to end.  Finally, I ate the last one.
  • I am a fan of chips and salsa; however, like microwave popcorn, tortilla chips are loaded with preservatives.  So, I took last night's corn tortillas and fried some up in some sunflower oil and salt and then dipped them into some salsa.  It was perfect.
  • Tomorrow is Family Dinner, a monthly dinner.  I know that Kathy Freston has all kinds of advice about calling ahead to say you're on a cleanse.  But I find that a little, um, inconvenient.  If I were a full time vegan or gluten-free eater or any of that, I would probably actually make that call, but I feel a little weird asking people to accommodate this cleanse.  So I am just going to choose wisely and in moderation. And it's doubtful that there will be a hamburger option, so I am safe from yesterday's craving, which seems to have passed.
Day 12: 
Well, we had family dinner.  I definitely had to break the cleanse, so I am just going to count against the day and start the next one.  I definitely felt quite full and heavy at the end of the night, but I was thoughtful about what I ate, focusing more on the olives, the stuffed mushrooms, and the leek and potato salad. 
 
Day 12 (part 2):
Breakfast: Grapefruit and Pear Smoothie and Decaffeinated Chai Tea with Almond Milk.
Lunch:  Mushroom Ragout with brown and wild rice.
Snack:  Cornichons, popcorn, date pieces
Dinner:  Falafel with cucumber and tahini dressing.
Workout:  90 minutes yoga
  •  I don't really feel anything after having broken from the cleanse.  However, last night I did feel heavier, more sluggish, but I feel fine today.

Day 13: 
Breakfast:  Smoothie (I cannot remember what kind...) and Decaffeinated Chai Tea with Almond Milk.
Lunch: Homemade chips and salsa
Snack:  dates pieces, hearts of palm
Dinner: Mushroom Ragout with brown and wild rice.
Workout:  60 minutes bootcamp

Day 14: 
Breakfast: Another Everything But the Kitchen Sink Veggie Smoothie (beets, parsley, tomatoes, fennel, kale, cucumber, chia seeds) and Decaffeinated Chai Tea with Almond Milk.
Lunch: Pint of blueberries and the other half of the smoothie
Snack: Pint of blackberries, popcorn (and I even busted open the vegan butter).
Dinner: Glass Noodles with Edamame
Workout:  Took the night off...
  • No real cravings.  Things seem to be going good.
  • I busted open the vegan butter to try it on the popcorn.  It was better than I expected, so that's nice.  However, I don't think I will be reaching for it a lot--but I think that's because I don't use a lot of butter anyway.  I do wonder how well this butter bakes--could one use it in a baking recipe as a substitute for butter if you wanted a vegan baked good?
Overall observations:
  • I definitely had to break the cleanse, but overall, this was an easy week. The husband and I talk about how to continue elements of the cleanse after its over; we keep mulling over that, and I'll try to have some conclusions next week.
  • Okay, it's true, I did want a hamburger, so I even looked at the Morning Star "hamburgers."  Back in the day (as in for ten years) when I was a vegetarian, I used to love these things.  However, this time I decided not to buy them because they contain milk, soy and egg.  
  • I am loving the portability of the smoothie. 

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