A funny thing happened while I was cleansing...

I'm winding up my three week cleanse.

It's been easy on some days, hard on other days, I cheated with one or two meals in the 21 day process (adding dairy or gluten, never meat).

Then I decided something.

I'm never going to stop cleansing.

I really like how I feel when I'm eating this clean and refined.  I'm never hungry, I'm getting all the nutrients I need and yes, it takes planning and cooking and planning ahead, but it's worth it for this energy and sense of clarity I'm getting while doing it.

I'm up at 5 to hit the gym, getting my to do lists done, and just feel better.

That's not to say that I won't cheat occasionally. A girl needs a little gluten now and then, but 95% of the time I'm going to stick to this.

I feel all zen and shit.
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Overcoming the plague and Eat to Live

So I caught the plague.  Or as my doctor calls it, a severe chest cold.

It's taken almost three weeks for me to kick the cough and feel more like a human.  I'm finally feeling more functioning, less like my head is in a sickness induced fog.  So, I'm getting serious about getting uber healthy right now.

I'm two days into the 'Eat to Live' plan by Dr. Joel Fuhrman.  I saw him on Dr. Oz a few weeks ago and ordered his book.  He specifically addresses the impact diet can have on autoimmune diseases and encourages a no animal products, no gluten, diet to help your immune system re-train and repair itself over time. So I'm trying his plan.

The first six weeks is really strict, mainly fruit and veggie diet, he encourages people to eat so much fruits and veggies that I haven't been hungry at all from not eating the dairy or grain I typically eat.  We'll see if that lasts after I start working out again.

Speaking of, with the plague I haven't worked out in almost three weeks.  I went to Hot Yoga on Sunday and it was really great to get back at it, but I'm a little anxious about my first run.  Going to attempt tonight.

How do you get back into a workout mode after sickness?

Cleansing and Yoga-ing

I started the Quantum Cleanse today.

This is the 3rd year I've started my January with a cleanse.  I really enjoying the chance it gives me to take control of my diet and health again.  It helps me get back on track and push my boundaries.

I'm a big believer in semi-elimination diets.  I used to think they were bullshit, till the first time I did this cleanse.

I literally did it the first time just to prove I could, Mems thought I'd fail and I was pretty sure I'd cave, but I made it the whole 21 days.  I felt so much better it was crazy.  I felt clearer, my platelets were better than they'd been in a long time.  I ended up staying vegan about a year after that first cleanse, eventually I gave myself back dairy.

Cutting out the alcohol, animal products, caffeine, gluten and sugar really did help my body heal itself from the damage I'd done with my too processed diet and helped my immune system get a little bit more under control.

My ITP has become infinitely more manageable since I started avoiding processed foods and meat.  That in turn has given me a feeling of more control over my health.  In fact, I went most of the year without getting sick until the end of the year when I started splurging more on my diet.

My goal with this year's cleanse is two-fold.  I am of course excited about the health benefits, but I also want to focus more on my emotional health in 2013.

I jokingly posted that 2012 was the year of empowered Kate.  I went to numerous events by myself, I enjoy my own company, almost to a fault. My facade of independence has helped me reinforce the wall I use to close my self off from challenges, from risks, from life at a times.

So, while my body goes through the 21 days of cleansing and healing my heart is going to go through some self imposed cleansing.

What are your resolutions or goals this year?

Pantry Cleanse redux

Thinking about my budget and eating more at home I decided to clean out my pantry the other day.

First, I took everything out.

Keep in mind my pantry is only two shelves, the rest of it is Mems'.

Then I sorted what I had by group:

Grain!  I love to use canning jars to store things: oatmeal, millet, quinoa, flax seed, chia, slice almonds, etc. 

Beans/Ro*Tel.  My fave food group.

Soup!  I heart soup.

My mixes, a variety of countries are represented in my pantry.

Vegetable stock is my basic.

Beans!  Staple of a vegetarian diet.  Yes, those are black turtle beans.
Members of my recent trivia excursion know how those beans hurt me.

I buy these in bulk at Sam's.  It says the jars are re-sealable, but I eat the entire jar and drink the juice in one sitting.
I heart pineapple.

Fixins! Peanut Butter powder for smoothies/oatmeal.  Nutrional yeast, sea salt.  Used sparingly and often.

Then I put it all back together and decided what I wanted to eat this week.

I invented a recipe using 1/2 cup of quinoa, 1/2 can of rotel and 1/2 a cup of corn.  Delicious.

And I perused my stash of cookbooks to find a curried lentils recipe that is currently cooking in the kitchen and smells delicious.  We'll see how it goes.

I'm hoping re-organizing my cooking ingredients will make it easier for me to eat healthy and eat at home more often.

Either that or I guess I'll starve.

Un-Cleansing...

So I did it.  I made it 21 days on the cleanse.  I didn't kill anyone, I didn't starve to death... or die from lack of caffeine. 

I'm so hardcore. 

Thanks for your tweets and FB messages post cleanse, they really meant a lot. 

Now, I'm going to stay vegan because it appears to be helping my auto-immune disease and making me feel less like an exhausted wench all the time.  So the cleanse kind of changed my life.  God, I sound like Oprah or Gwynnie don't I?

I told my nearest and dearest about staying vegan and my BFF Kristen sent me this link of FB-

Stuff Black People Hate - read it now and laugh hysterically.  I wasn't surprised because Kristen writes this.

So what did I do post cleanse but still vegan? 

I did brunch my pals... and drank too many delicious mimosas.  I seriously missed alchohol.  So I drank a lot of it... and ate an avocado wrap from Stonehorse Cafe... so good.

I also had exactly one M & M cookie... which was not vegan but met my sweet tooth.

And exactly one of my beloved screwdrivers... Vodka is like my long lost sister.

Maybe I'm Crazy....

But I think I'm staying vegan when the cleanse is over.

The diet isn't as hard as I thought it would be... I'm used to cooking and snacking healthy... and I feel like a new person.

I know.  Shoot me now.  But I promise not to be one of those people. 

But this new diet has really helped me get rid of the grogginess... exhaustion and short temperedness I used to feel all the time.

Plus... I've lost 5 pounsd per week since the big switch... I like to say it's because the sludge is falling away from my body.

I'm just hoping the veggie/meth face goes away soon.

Food I Haven't Eaten

This is my official cleanse pay myself on the back post. 

You see the last few weeks at work we've been doing HD rehearsals, which means long days and working on the weekends... so the bosses have been bringing in food for those of us staying late. 

Much of the time it was food I couldn't eat, I didn't really care just brought my own food.  But some nights it was uberhard to skip out.

SO here's what I DIDN'T eat-
Food For Ann's Goodbye- Papa John's, Chick-Fil-A and 2 cakes.
Donuts at least 3 days for breakfast
Cracker Barrel
Lennie's Subs
Brownie's Burgers
Pizza
Barbecue
Brats/Hot Dogs
Fassler Hall Pretzels
Taco Stand tacos
Rex's Chicken
Whataburger Breakfast

So way to go me! 

In all seriousness I'm pretty awesome.

Cleanse Resources...

Now while I'm doing this wacky cleanse I have found some incredibly valuable resources for making it happen.

Brigid's Blog- recipes, guidance, witty bon mots from a Vegan who's been super inspiring to my eating habits.

Oh She Glows- recipes and cooking ideas

You guys- cause knowing I have someone to be accountable to keeps me from cheating when I'm really tired and just want some damn soda.

And my real life co-horts who both deal with me when I get a little bitchy from being hungry... and are willling to eat weird food when that's all I can eat.

Loves and Hugs.

Shit this diet is making me all soft and girly.

Feeling The Difference...

So I never bought into all that mumbo jumbo about sugar being the devil and making us all feel worse without us realizing it... until now.

I've been off Sugar, Alcohol, Caffeine, Gluten and Animal Products for a week now and I feel completely different.  Seriously.  I'm not going to get all cliche and say it's "like the wool has been pulled from my eyes"... but I feel like a new person.

I have more energy even without caffeine or sugar... I get more done... I feel better.  Of course a lot of it is probably that I'm not as hung over... eating more vitamins and actually putting real food in my mouth instead of the crap I was eating before... even my attempts at eating healthy were laden with sugar and I still drank soda daily. 

Yes, I've seen some negative aspects of this cleanse- my skin is breaking out like crazy... and my digestive system is confused by the new diet I think.... but they're minimal in comparison to how I feel right now. 

It's like I'm on meth.  A veggie high that still fucks with your skin.  2 weeks to go.

Cleansing On The Run

This month is the most insane for me to be doing a cleanse.  I'm pretty much running around like a chicken with my head cut off.  Glued to work 6 days a week, working longer more hectic shifts... all in the name of progress... but it's tough on my diet.

Like today- we had a lunch meeting at work and it was catered in and I knew I wasn't going to be able to eat it, we usually get sub sandwiches from a nearby spot.  So I packed some soup, carrots, hummus and an apple up and was good to go.  While everyone else made their sandwiches I also snagged some tomatoes from the "fixin" table.

Dinner was another story.  Tacos from a nearby taco truck... no options for me.  So I had to improvise.  Luckily there's a mexican restaurant in the strip with the station so I ordered a side of rice and beans and got some delicious mexian rice, refried beans (a little bit of animal products- beans were made in lard) and some salsa.  It wasn't totally on the cleanse but it was as close as I could get in a pinch.

On top of that this schedule is super crazy.. I really wanted a damn soda tonight... but I stayed strong.

If I can make it past this month without breaking then I can conquer the world.

Cleanse Continues.

So I'm on day 3 of the cleanse.  For the most part I've stuck to it really well.  A little bit of caffeine in my green tea and a little bit of sugar in my stir fry sauce... but no dairy or meat or gluten or alcohol.

It really hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be, I'm eating yummy foods and planning ahead to keep myself from getting hungry.  I do wake up starving, but my oatmeal or smoothie helps and I've been eating fruits and veggies till lunch time.

Physically I feel the same- half a headache that I'm sure is just caffeine withdrawal and indigestion... which is probably from the increase in green tea I'm drinking. 

Let's see if I can keep it up.

Oops-- here's today's meals

Green Smoothie breakfast

apple snack

hummus, falafel, zucchini soup lunch

popcorn cake with peanut butter snack

roasted veggie dinner.

Cleanse Dinner 1- Stir Fry

It's here... I'm currently cleansing (with a few minor slip ups, mainly to empty the fridge finally) and it's pretty simple.

Oatmeal with sea salt and local honey for breakfast.

Blackeyed Pea Soup for lunch- courtesy of Mems.

Tofu Stir Fry for dinner.  I love stir fry.  I could eat at Genghis Grill daily and not get sick of it... so I made it myself with my cleanse in mind. 

I sliced carrots, zucchini and diced some firm tofu, like so

Then I cooked it in my wok with some olive oil and garlic powder.  Don't get between this girl and her garlic.

While I was doing this I had some long grain brown rice in the rice cooker. I didn't soak before hand like I prefer so it was a little chewier than I like my rice.. but it was good.

I tossed it in the wok with about a tablespoon of stir fry sauce.

Doesn't it look yummy?

It was really good and made enough for me to put some away for lunch or dinner tomorrow.  My goal this week is to definitely make meals that are big enough I don't necessarily have to cook every night. 

So I've been actually planning my meals ahead of time... which is a change, but think it will be a good thing.

The Last Day...

So here it is people.  The last day before my cleanse.

I'm saying farewell to caffeine, sugar, alcohol, gluten and animal products with a healthy QT breakfast of corndogs and a large diet dr. pepper.

Tonight I'll be eating deliciousness made by my friend Jason and drinking lots of my soon to be former friend Vodka. 

I'm going out with a bang.  

Besides eating my fave foods for the last time (fried pickles twice this week) I'm pretty excited about the cleanse.  I think it will be just what I need to get out of my funk (both seasonal and workout related) and kick me in the ass to get myself organized and on top of things again.

For some reason the holiday prep and planning really messed with my routine this year.  So I need to start tackling my to do list and cooking and eating right again.

I'm also thinking the cleanse could help me lose weight... I think 70 pounds is a reasonable goal right?

Cleanse Preps

I told Mems I was doing a 21 day cleanse and her response was "You won't last 21 minutes."  Her faith in me is inspiring I know.

But I'm really going to do it... so now is the prep work. 

First things first I'm eating all the sugar and gluten products currently in the house... so they won't be tempting to me when they're off limits.  Man I'm loving this part of the prep work.

I'm also gathering my healthy foods and getting the kitchen ready.  I'll be taking lots of pics of my new cleanse cabinet soon.. so be on alert for that. 

Menu Planning is also on the horizon.  The best way for me to stay on top of the cleanse is definitely going to be having a set plan of what I can and can't eat and food made and ready to go.

I've never been a big planner... it's my way of rebelling against my very structured profession... so any advice for planning 21 days worth of meals?

Time for the Cleanse

So it's on bitches.  I'm cleansing this bitch. 

Starting the first of January I'm going to start with the Quantum Cleanse.  Now that I've read through the book a few times.  It's basically going macrobiotic but a little more extreme.  I'll really miss caffeine.

It's no animal products, alcohol (farewell my sweet vodka), caffeine, gluten, sugar.

I've been a little too lenient on my diet this holiday season, not skipping my faves at the parties and imbibing many of my favorite wine and vodka drinks.  So 21 days of cleaning my body out.

This cleans will coincide with my first month on Weight Watchers... so hopefully together I can kick start myself back into healthy eating.

Now I'm going to finish my Bitch wine and keep watching the chefs on Top Chef be much better chefs than I will ever be.

Status Update

You may remember a few weeks ago I made the decision to give up sugar after successfully giving up soda.

I'm here to tell you that this is not working as well.  It was much easier to skip the soda. 

Anyone else given up something like this?  Helpful advice?

Let's Talk About Sugar

Sugar... is a harsh mistress. But I'm ready to make a break.

After my success of giving up soda for a month (still going!) I decided to branch out and try to cut down on my sugar eating.

Now I didn't want to get crazy and just cut out all sugar, but I happened to be watching a horrible reality show on Bravo called 'Thintervention' and the pretentious trainer ordered her fat clients to throw anything in their pantry with more than 5 grams of sugar out. So that's my new rule.

Although I'm not giving up fruit or natural sugars... that'd just be too much.

Shit, I miss sugar. This could be a long 21 days.

So Long Soda

Forgive me Pepsi Co, it has been 11 days since my last Diet Dr. Pepper.

Yes, you read that right I have given up soda... again. This is my most successful attempt at giving up that sugary sweet, life giving nectar.

As you can tell I still love my soda, but I don't like the chemicals and the fact that I don't drink nearly enough water. So "So long soda."

It has not been as tough as I thought... switched to one large cup of coffee a day. BTW I drink my coffee with a straw which made Mems laugh and people on Twitter scoff... but I don't want it to stain my teeth and it cools faster that way. I also drink green tea and an unsweet tea from QT if I really need caffeine.

So far so good. No headaches from withdrawal. It's more just a matter of changing my habits. I've read it takes 21 days to break a habit... so I have 11 days to go.

Who knows if it goes well I'll give up something else for 21 days till I break.

Going Macro 2: brown rice boogaloo

So... I'm about 10 days away from phase 2 of going Macrobiotic. That means in addition to the no flour or processed grain I will be adding Dairy and potatoes to the list.

I've been going through my pantry and cookbooks and getting things ready. This has meant some trips to the grocery store... some new jars for storage in the cabinet and some adorable labels. I'm like Martha Stewart if she said fuck a lot.

I've also broken out my wok again, made some delicious stir fry the other night. It's much easier to get back into the macrobiotic eating now that I've done it again. It's really just a matter of looking up recipes and remembering what I can and can't eat. I think it helps that I've been cooking more too.

On the plus side, the diet is putting me in line to being the next Gwyneth Paltrow... minus the pretentious accents and the weird kid names. Basically just blonde and a wierd eater.

Maybe macrobiotics will help me land a rock star?

Clean, Schmlean

My love affair with summer continues. Lots of locally grown fruits and veggies, organic meats and water... it's yummy and full of flavor without much cooking effort.

You see, I am not a good cook. Just the other day I was chopping tomatoes for my dogs and I chopped off part of my thumb. This just shows that I can't do the simplest task in the kitchen... and that my dogs love tomatoes.

So in my quest to get fit I'm also attempting to get more comfy in the kitchen and with a bigger variety of foods.

Last week I ate my first mango, it was delightful. My goal is to try a new food a week... something from the Farmer's market or even out at a restaurant. I need to be more daring.

That could be said for life and my eating habits I suppose.

Another reason I've been doing it is to eat more clean. I've been doing it a few weeks and I can tell a huge difference in how I feel and my energy.

Here's an interesting article that has a little more about cutting back on processed foods: http://bit.ly/bMvXYl

Now, my food is clean... but my house is a pit. I can only be so clean.