Over the past 10 days I have challenged my self to cut out all refined sugars, soy, wheat, gluten, caffeine and alcohol.  Let me tell you I am not sorry for this cleanse finally to be over. I miss tempeh and beer.

Although I am happy for this cleanse to be over I am so glad that I did it. Let me first off tell you that this was a bigger challenge than I thought it was going to be. I was like 10 days without the above, no big deal but then it came time to grocery shop and plan meals and most of my normal favorites seem to include one of the banned items above. However, this cleanse was totally worth the sacrifices. 

Cleanse Successes:

• I reduced my sugar cravings. Since Edith arrived my sweet tooth has been out of control and the moving and the holidays came around and I became addicted.  The funny thing is before I was pregnant I would rather gorge on salty foods and then I got pregnant and started craving sweets which I kept in check until Edith was born.  My first night of the cleanse was HORRIBLE.  I had the worst migraine, so bad that I couldn’t even drive <– sugar withdrawal. I am happy to say no more cravings. Does this mean no more sugar? No it just means I can go back to my occasional small piece of chocolate or occasional (like every few weeks) dessert.
• I feel better. My body overall feels much better. I feel lighter and no longer feel bloated.  I also feel more energetic, or at least as energetic as I possibly can with a now crawling baby who doesn’t want to nap.
• I (may) have lost weight? I don’t have a scale so I didn’t weigh myself before or after but my clothes are fitting better and I feel like I look better. This alone is motivation to keep up with what I have been doing.

Other Thoughts:

I plan on keeping highly processed soy products to a minimum but will be enjoying tamari, shoyu, tempeh and miso.  I am going to continue to limit my gluten and wheat intake because I feel better when I don’t eat too much. I will not be giving it up completely because my brewer/baker husband brews amazing beer and bakes amazing bread. Although I will be enjoying beer and bread I will be limiting both to just enjoy occasionally. Lastly, I am going to switch to decaf and limit my coffee intake to no more than 12 ounces per day.

If you participated in challenge round 1 tell me about your experience.  If you haven’t participated yet you can still sign up! Email me for more details.

Hello there! Did you think I fell of the wagon with this cleanse? I assure you I haven’t I have just been having a busy weekend with my husband and baby. So lets first recap Day 2:

I started my morning off with a bowl of oats topped with Nuttzo and a mug of roobios chai with coconut milk.

For lunch we enjoyed a yummy bowl of curried veggies over quinoa and Edith gobbled up some quinoa and roasted pears with apricot.
After lunch we went for a walk and picked up a raw treat from Whole Foods and for an afternoon snack Neil and I shared an orange. Dinner was chickpea and couscous patty over sauteed zucchini and tomatoes and topped with mushrooms and onions.

Also task #2 to was to take some time to do a little yoga and here I am:

Sunday we started our morning off with millet toast and chickpea scramble (basically tofu scramble with chickpeas instead of tofu.) After breakfast we headed into town for Neil to attend a (failed) dad’s meet up and we picked up green smoothies for three to enjoy. We then had a late lunch at Blossoming Lotus where I had the live fruit and cheese plate and Neil had the gluten free, soy free buckwheat and oatmeal pancakes.  Neil’s lunch falls into a cleanse grey area but as he says he is only along for the ride this whole cleanse thing is my thing.  I have to admit I did steal a few bites of his delicious pancakes and Edith stole some bites of pear from my plate.

Dinner was task #3 a big giant salad.  I made veggie taco salad with lots of romaine, mushrooms, onions, green beans, tomatoes, avocado, brown rice, refried black beans and cashew nacho cheeze sauce.

Today marked the first day of my 10 Day Cleanse (if you want to take the challenge yourself you learn about it here). As part of the cleanse I am asking participants to do a task each day, the first of which is to write down what your intentions are for this cleanse and what you hope to accomplish.
For me I decided to do this cleanse not to lose weight but to get myself back on a healthier path. I have veered of course a bit the past 8 weeks but I know I need to and want to get back to my healthier self. I hope to kick my sugar cravings and re-gain my energy. If I do lose a little weight that wouldn’t be too bad either but as I said not my first priority especially since I am breastfeeding.

I am going to attempt to photograph most of my meals over the next 10 days although most days you will see between 60-75% in photographs but I will share in writing what I am eating as well. Also in addition to eating better this cleanse for me is also about spending more time being mindful, relaxing and staying fit. Today I went for a walk in the beautiful sun (yes it gets sunny in Portland) and spent some electronic free family time with my husband and baby.

So lets get down to the food…

I started my morning off with a big mug of Numi Decaf Green Tea, Vigilant Eats Superfood Cereal and a big glass of water.

A little while later I had a bowl of grapefruit segments.

Then I had some roasted Brussels Sprouts. // (serves 2.) 4 cups of Brussels Sprouts, halved; toss with 1 teaspoon coconut oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Then toss on a sheet pan and place in a 425F oven for 20 minutes.

For lunch I had a big Avocado Kale Salad. // (serves 2.) 1 bunch of kale, destemmed and chopped; 1 avocado; 2-4 teaspoons lemon juice; 1-2 tablespoons nutritional yeast; salt and pepper to taste. Place it all in a bowl and massage it to coat. This is great to make the night before you need it.

I was feeling hungry shortly after my salad so I had some plain Brown Rice.

After our afternoon walk I had some Dates with NuttZo.

I had planned to photograph everything I ate today but the afternoon came and we had family plans to visit the Portland Children’s Museum (Free First Friday!) so I didn’t photograph the kale chips, green juice and big bowl un-fried mega veggie rice I had. I am now trying to settle down for the night and calm this headache with a big mug of decaf green tea.

On the cleanse agenda for tomorrow is to do some much needed yoga!

10 Cleansing Tasks

You must complete these 10 tasks as part of the cleanse to be entered to win the whole foods prize box. At the end of the cleanse submit your writings and photos to me lindsay@runningwithtongs.com Download Your 10 Day Cleanse Task Sheet Here

It is almost time for round one my February Healthy Challenge 10 Day Cleanse to start and to get us ready it is important that we pre-cleanse. Pre-cleanse you say? Yes. We need to get our bodies prepared to cleanse so that we can be successful. So if you plan to participate in round 1 of this challenge pre-cleanse starts tomorrow. I apologize for the short notice things have been crazy around here lately.

Pre-Cleanse:

1. Cut the coffee. Over the next 3 days it is important you start to reduce your caffeine intake. Caffeine can be nasty to come off of if you have become dependent on it. If you suddenly drop it you may start to feel withdrawal symptoms such as headaches, mood swings and fatigue.  To help make the change go more smoothly tomorrow have a half caf, the next day 1/4 caf and the third day decaf or challenge yourself to try decaf or herbal tea.
2. Go Veg. That’s right if you are an omnivore you will be going vegan for this challenge so to get yourself started go vegetarian for the three days prior to the cleanse because once the cleanse starts you will be dropping dairy and eggs as well. If you are already vegan that try and reduce the amount of soy products that you are eating as we will also be dropping soy for this cleanse.
3. Clean Out The Pantry. It’s time to give your pantry and refrigerator a face lift.  To be successful at this cleanse you need to set yourself up to be so and that means making sure you have healthy, cleanse approved options at your finger tips. So head to your pantry and clean out any products that contain high fructose corn syrup, monosodium glutamate (msg) and basically anything that has ingredients that are mile long and/or you can’t identify one of the ingredients in nature- if you can’t pronounce an ingredient it’s gone.
4. Hydrate. Get yourself a water bottle that you will use. Make sure it is BPA free.  Over the next 10 days you will be taking that bottle everywhere and so you’ll want to make sure you have one you really like and are ready to use.  Once you have your ideal water bottle go fill it up with water and continue to do so all day long.
5. Go Shopping! It’s time to fill your cupboards, refrigerator and shelves with cleanse worthy eats. This means getting yourself to the grocery store/farmers market/parents house and doing some major grocery shopping. I will have a complete sample meal plan later today (remember I am on PST time now so it may not be until closer to 10pm EST). Until then below are some cleanse approved foods you may want to stock up on.

Cleanse approved Foods:

Grains–> brown rice, buckwheat (kasha), gluten free oats, amaranth, cornmeal/grits, millet, quinoa, wild rice

Vegetables –> ANYTHING! Try to choose what is in season right now great options are beet greens chard, green cabbage, escarole, kale, broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, beets, carrots, parsnips, sweet potato, turnip, rutabaga, winter squash

Fruit –> ANYTHING! Try to choose what is in season right now such as citrus (there are so many options try something new!), pomegranate, pineapple and medjool dates. Also frozen (unsweetened) fruit is great for smoothies and dried (unsweetened) fruit is great for snacking.

Fats –> avocado, olive oil, coconut oil, seeds, nuts, nut and seed butters (warning not all nut and seed butters are created equal make sure you are choosing something that does not have added oils or sugars and if you can buy raw ones)

Other –> Coconut amnios (instead of soy sauce), fresh and dried herbs, gluten free Food For Life products such as their brown rice wraps and millet bread (found in freezer section), fermented veggies, Sunshine Burgers, chia seeds, flax meal, herbal teas, dried beans or Eden Organic canned beans, dried seaweed, (some) raw food bars, kale chips, raw granola, raw or flax crackers.

As I said above I will have a sample five day menu by the end of the today so that you can get your shopping on but if you can’t wait then take into account the items above and go shopping and remember this is supposed to be fun so enjoy yourself!

If want to participate you can still sign up for round one or you can sign up for one of the other three rounds starting February 8, 10 and 18th.