The Cleanse Day 7: Last Day of Eating Like a Rabbit

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I made it! Last day of Week 1! Or as I have come to know it, The Week From Hell. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some raw fruits and veggies, but when the bread lover in me is slowly transforming into a very aggressive monster at the pit of my stomach, gnawing on the inside of my rib cage for relief from relentless hunger pains, the last thing I want is another frickin’ carrot.

All carb-cravings aside, I am feeling pretty badass for sticking to this month’s intention for  an entire week already. I want to reward myself, but not sure how. Normally I would pat myself on the back with a pint of Ben and Jerry’s in bed (totally normal), but that is obviously not cleanse-friendly. Instead, I will reward myself with another one of Earth’s gifts. Yes, you guessed it. During Week 2 I get to eat BEANS!

But until then, this Avocado Sweet Potato Mush will have to do. My detox-partner-in-crime winced at the mentioning of these two wonderful, but mostly separate ingredients together in the same dish. Looking back, I suppose it does sound a bit odd, but I would eat dirt if there were some creamy avocado chunks stirred in it. My point being, if your reaction is similar to that of my detox-partner-in-crime’s, don’t knock it until you try it. I modified the recipe a bit by adding twice as much lime (I’m a flavor whore). Also, instead of putting the mix back into the sweet potato skin I just put it on a plate and ate it like a salad. Maybe it was laziness, maybe I completely shredded the potato skins in the process of scraping them out…either way, it all worked out. When I make this again I want to try it in a lettuce wrap and veggie tortilla wrap. Enjoy!

The Cleanse Days 4 and 5: I’m Sorry, But I Feel Great!

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A friend of mine who has been through this cleanse before alerted me to the chance of feeling “like a rockstar” on Day 4. Something about the thick sheet of butternut squash coating the inside of my stomach had me convinced otherwise. However, I woke up on Monday morning, most CPS teachers’ first day back after winter break (and #2 on every teacher’s list of most dreaded calendar days), and I felt like Janis Joplin (minus the booze and drugs, those don’t fit into the cleanse). Two work days in a row now I have not felt like crawling into my very warm bed with a bowl of Kraft macaroni and cheese at 3:00 in the afternoon. I haven’t even felt tempted to take that uncouth 7:00-9:00 nap my body drags me into as I curl up on the couch with stacks and stacks of papers to grade. Here are my favorite recipes from the last two days:

Babaganoush: I know this dish isn’t really anything new or cutting edge, but I was elated to find out one of my favorite dishes fits into the first week of this cleanse. A couple things to think about if you use this recipe: When they talk about draining the water, they mean it. Don’t get impatient like I did waiting for the eggplant to cool down. It is much easier to drain it when it isn’t giving you first-degree burns on your fingers in the process. Also, I would roast the garlic rather than mincing it. I love garlic so much I could bathe in it, but if I was going to make this for other people I might want to cut out this fragrant bulb a bit by roasting it for 30-45 minutes in a tin foil package drizzled in olive oil at 450 degrees.

Roasted garlic and beet soup: While this soup didn’t blow me away quite like Spiced Butternut Squash Soup did, it is still a very filling and nutritious dinner with plenty left over for lunch the next day. This recipe (hit “read more” at the bottom of the page) introduced me to leeks, which I am excited to start putting into more of my dishes as an alternative for white onions. It also introduced me to beets, which have left behind a lovely light magenta hue on my counter top. It’s very likely that this soup left me under impressed because I am not beets’ biggest fan. I am sure beet lovers would go nuts for it. Plus, you get to play with roasted garlic, and who isn’t looking for an excuse to do this all day every day?

The Cleanse Day 3: Guess Who Created Her Own Juice?

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Crunchy Juice ingredients, and Cruncy Juice

Breakfast: Crunchy Juice (an nSeilheimer original) 2 cups of carrot juice, 2 cups of frozen mango chunks, 1 inch of peeled ginger, 1 handful of shredded kale blended until smooth. The mango satisfies the sweet tooth while the kale (which you chew after each sip, hence the name) keeps your intestines happy. This one kept me very full past my typical lunch time.

Lunch: 1 banana, and (you guessed it) Ants on a Log, man.

Dinner: Spiced Butternut Squash Soup (recipe, scroll down to “Lunches”). Now, as someone who, until recently, has considered herself “culinarily” challenged, I was extremely impressed with myself for making this soup. All that peeling, chopping, simmering and pureeing can really make a 20-something feel self-reliant. Also, this recipe called for a few fun and new spices that I can’t wait to drop into everyday conversation. “Have you tried adding just a dash cardamom?” Or, “Perhaps you put in too much turmeric?” The spices created an intense aroma that made me feel like we had cooked our way inside Yankee Candle Company’s Christmas lineup. Again, another filling dish with plenty left over for tomorrow’s lunch.

Before the blender...

...and after the blender

How I am feeling: In terms of energy, it’s getting better. I didn’t nap multiple times today, and I didn’t snap out at my detox partner-in-crime for no real reason (“That’s just how I feel! That should be enough!” translation: I am f***ing hungry, man!) I am a bit concerned about how this 3 day track record of detoxing will continue when work picks back up on Monday. As a teacher, it is all too easy to let the million things you have to do that night keep you at your desk and away from your stove. Yet, this wouldn’t be a worthwhile intention if there weren’t some element of challenge involved, so I say, “Bring it, you life-swallowing J-O-B.”

The Cleanse Day 2: Sleep and Headaches

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Breakfast: Green Machine Smoothie. I put way too much parsley in it, will definitely cut back second time around. Had to add grapefruit juice to mask some of that delicate yet powerful leaf. Additionally, a little ginger goes a long way…noted.

Lunch: Ants on a log, again. I seriously can’t get enough of this stuff! Eating it distracts me from the lack of carbs in my current life and takes me back to a simpler time of brown bag lunches and hand-written notes on napkins from my mother. Thanks, mom!

Dinner: Raw veggies and red pepper hummus, side of blueberries.

How I am feeling: Tired. Cranky. I have a headache. Energy…is…low….can’t…go….on…Not sure why I am doing this. Also not sure why I am acting like such a wuss on DAY 2! Jesus, Seilheimer. Get it together. You ran 26.2 miles without stopping, certainly you can get yourself through one week of nothing but fruits, veggies, nuts and oils. Do not take your third nap for the day, drink more water and do the damn thing, ALRIGHT?

The Cleanse Day 1: That’s a Lotta Carrots

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And so the cleanse commences!

After a trip to two different grocery stores, wrangling myself a detox partner-in-crime and getting rid of the Oreos that have been haunting me from my pantry for the last week or so, my detox partner-in-crime and I have successfully gathered the ingredients needed to get us through Week 1 of the 2012 Whole Living Action Plan. And let me tell you, the food in our cart this afternoon looked a lot different from the food we had on our dinner plate last night when we splurged on Thai food (mostly coconut milk based dishes) and movie theater popcorn drenched in ranch seasoning. A 15 pound bag of carrots doesn’t really compare to tom kah ghai, my favorite Thai dish from study abroad. Go out with a bang, right?

Day 1′s Meals:

Breakfast: grapefruit, carrot and ginger juice

Grapefruit, carrot and ginger juice ingredients

Lunch: cucumber slices with garlic hummus

Dinner: “Kale”slaw (here’s the recipe!) with a side of baked sweet potato wedges seasoned with coarse salt and fresh black pepper

Snacks: My childhood favorite, Ants on a Log! (with almond butter and raisins), 1/2 cup of blackberries

How I am feeling: I. Am. HUNGRY! A day without bread feels somewhat wrong. I’m not sure that I like it. After my dinner of “kale”slaw my inner most self was begging for even just a morsel of a single multi- grain cracker, salted of course.

"Kale"slaw

I remember reading or hearing somewhere that while your stomach is physically full after a meal, if you haven’t satisfied your body’s specific cravings, you won’t actually feel full, thus the inevitable binge on several pieces of bread after every salad I have ever consumed. That right there, that space between being full but not feeling full, that’s where I am right now. I also have terrible gas.All flatulence aside, we made it through Day 1! A whole day without carbs, added sugar, gluten, meat, dairy, booze or chocolate (WHAT???? that’s insane! I know).

I realize now that this month, being the first of my year of intentions, is the most important. If I can’t stick to this intention, February-December will only be 11 months of intentions which does not sound nearly as impressive as living the entire year of 2012 with purpose. I have not held myself this accountable since training for the Chicago Marathon. And I came out of that with a busted knee. Hopefully, this endeavor results more in my favor.

Detox on!

My Intention for January: Detox

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Before I can even begin to narrow down specific intentions for specific months, I need to clear out all that is unnecessary. And what month is better than January, when sheets of snow whip by my apartment windows sideways, to stay inside and get rid of all the clutter, inside and out?

Areas in need of detoxification:

1. My body- I consider myself a pretty healthy person. I exercise more and eat healthier than the average person. Lots of cardio, yoga, salads and homemade smoothies for this former college athlete. However, I just took the The Detox Quiz in the How Toxic Are You? chapter of Cook’s The 4-Week Ultimate Body Detox Plan and I might as well be a walking septic tank. I checked 30 out of 58 possible symptoms of toxicity, including my personal favorite: foul-smelling bowel movements. For anyone scoring 11 or higher, Cook suggests that it is time to detox.  I will be taking on Cook’s challenge as soon as her book arrives in the mail.

2. My apartment- I normally do a good job of clearing out what I don’t need before I move into a new place (less to pack, that way). However, living alone somehow sets the stage for both purchasing and mysteriously acquiring from others a bunch o’ junk. Some examples: I am the proud owner of three paper towel holders. I still have a pair of jeans I wore in high school (this is not to say, however, that they still fit). I can’t even store my sweaters in the same place because I have 42 of them. Whose closet is equipped for 42 sweaters? My high rate of possessions is embarrassing. I think back to living in Mae Hong Song with the Karen Hill Tribe…my closet could clothe the entire village of Huay Hee. That’s messed up.

3. My Teacher’s Desk- Now, mind you, I have only been teaching for a year and a half. Yet, somehow my filing cabinets look like all the lesson plans and worksheets from Units 1-8 had a nightly mosh pit while I was out on Winter Break. Students ask me for makeup work and I have to ask them to come back at the end of the day because I can’t find the subject/verb agreement worksheet from 3 weeks ago at a moment’s notice…or during my lunch break…or during my prep. I hate being both the adult in the room and the one who doesn’t have it together.

Let the detoxing begin!