Ready Set Cleanse.... March 30 2013

WOW...

We are about to launch into the 2^nd annual Take Back Your Closet Cleanse and I’m starting to feel more enthused.  Perhaps having a longer time to plan went against me since I didn’t plan and am almost startled that the beginning in nearly upon us!  On the other hand I’m excited to feel light and energized and I know this is a great way to do that.

One of the challenges in adding more veggies to your diet is planning for meals, perhaps including something alluring that packs well for lunch.  In San Francisco we are lucky to have kale in season pretty much year ‘round and lucky for us, raw kale travels really well.   If you’re one who doesn’t think you care for kale, try to massage either massage coconut or olive oil into it or dress it earlier in the day to soften and mellow the flavor.

G’s Traveling Dino Kale Salad

8 – 10 leaves of kale (w/ ribs for G, w/o ribs for MB), a small bunch of sunflower sprouts, pea shoots, lentil sprouts, mung bean sprouts or other sprouts as available.  Toss with “Coco sesame” dressing.  Just before you eat it, add approximately 1 T nuts or seeds to taste.  (G loves his kale ribs because it’s good chewing practice and the more you chew the sweeter the flavor… so chew chew chew baby!)

Coco Sesame Dressing – measurements are approximate, adjust for personal taste

½ cup raw apple cider vinegar, ½ cup water, 1 cup sesame seeds (white or black – black are higher in iron and one of the oldest condiments in history), 2 T tamari (wheat free and tastes like soy sauce), 2 T toasted sesame seed oil, 2 T coconut oil, ½ cup coconut milk – blend in high speed blender until desired smoothness is achieved.

Happy Cleansing!

Announcing the 2^nd Annual Group Spring Cleanse.

It’s the crazy sexy “Take Back Your Closet” cleanse….

This year our launch date will be Monday April 1 and the adventure will continue for 28 days.

If you want to do a full on, all out CLEANSE, check out www.ejuva.com this is the boot camp of cleansing.  Last spring we had 10 people in our group, ranging in age from 20’s to 70’s and most of us lost weight even if that wasn’t the primary goal.  Additional benefits included the reduction in or ability to stop completely the use of OTC medication for heart burn & acid reflux, better sleep, increased energy.  We experienced an overall realization that if you take the inflammatory food out of your diet, you remove it from your body and have less PAIN.  You also have less cushy fluffiness which means those clothes in your closet look and feel better on your body.   I think each of us learned at least one thing about our relationship with food that would continue to enhance our health moving into the year. 

General guidelines: avoid common allergens such as gluten, dairy or sugar - yeah… that means no wine. Avoid packaged foods; they have a lot of hidden (or not so hidden) weirdness!  Consume lots of moist succulent non starchy veggies (such as lettuce, kale, raw carrots, jicama, cucumber, celery…) and when possible drink delicious, vibrant vegetable juices.  You’ll find it easier to control what you eat if you lovingly prepare your food at home!

Last year we had one cleanse participant who elected to consume only raw nourishment, some who ate a vegetarian diet (or maybe that was just me!) and many who ate meat but made sure it was “properly raised” and I don’t mean well mannered!   Each of us tried to eat low on the food chain and all this fabulous fuel was to be as clean and unprocessed as possible.

If you want to go lighter and easier but still want to shake things up, I’ll plant some ideas and you can go from there….

                Think about your goals…

                Do you want to lose weight?

                Do you just want to consume more veggies?

                Do you want to see how you feel without all those inflammatory foods and more veggies without the extra herbal crevice deep sweep (ie: ejuva herbs)?

Whatever you decide, if you want to participate in the group cleanse there is only one requirement… choose your path and jump in with both feet!  No fence riding in our party!  The virtual group will offer some support.  I will send periodic group emails and post comments, recipes, challenges etc on my blog but feel free to invite a pal if that enhances your experience.

Those who choose boot camp, ( www.ejuva.com ) need to RSVP to me by 3/10/13 so that we can get the product ordered and delivered in a timely manner.  Even though he ships express, product is made to order and comes with a lengthy directional CD that you will probably want to read thoroughly, so we need to allow for production, delivery and reading time.  As a licensed health coach and a member of the American Association of Drugless practitioners I will pass my savings on to you which is typically 40% off the retail price on the website.  Sales tax and shipping charges will apply.

Happy Cleansing!

One week later...

I've been out of "the cleanse" for one whole week and celebrated today by having a mini cleanse!  One day, today, Monday's moving forward I will plan to let my digestion rest and take in only lovely fresh veggie juice. 
I've enjoyed the day and of course will look forward to eating my lovely zucchini squash pasta with tomato cream sauce (soak cashews (1/3 cup) and sun dried tomatoes (about 5 or 6) , puree with the soaking water, salt and a tomato sauce herb/spice mix to taste).  I spiralized 4 zucchini to generously be coated by this sauce.
Then without rinsing my blender I added water, vinegar, olive oil, hemp seeds more herb/spice mix and used this for creamy herby tomato salad dressing.  Haven't eaten either yet but G said the salad dressing was delicious!
Looking forward to hearing more success stories of completion!

The morning after...

I thought I'd be beyond anxious to eat something this a.m. but I feel quite calm about it.  Yesterday, day 7 without food, was fascinating... I felt a little bit outside of myself and both day 6 & day 7 I did not feel hungry - fnally!   

My plan to exit the cleanse....
I will take my herbs 3 x/day until I run out of the parasite candida combo herbs then I wil transition to
herbs 2 x/day (as G is doing now) until we're getting low and then down to 1 x/day.

I will have a smoothie breakfast and vegan raw lunch and vegan dinner, I might induldge in some cooked vegetable soup this evening.

I don't want to go on too much about food since some of you are in week 4 and are perhaps not eating food... it really does get easier.   I found drinking plenty of green juice and warm broth in the evening that G prepared made it much more do-able.  Having my mate complete the cleanse with me made it way easier too.  A brillinat shared transitional experience!

All in all a really great adventure and one that I shall treat my body to every spring...

Greens, Greens & more Greens + a kiwi or 3

We were notably greedy at the farmers market this morning but wanted to be sure we had enough veggies to both juice and EAT since we get to start that glorious activity of eating on Monday!   I know the kiwi will taste beyond amazing...

Interesting that last year when I competed a cleanse, not Ejuva, one of the main things I was craving was chocolate and I indulged in some raw cacao paste gently melted on a quinoa amaranth patty and then drizzled with agave nectar.

This year I'm craving zucchini "pasta" with curried cashew "cream" sauce, hearts of romaine and cucumber spiralized with a touch of sesame oil and raw apple cider vinegar.  Oh and I got English peas at the market today, can not wait to gobble those up!  G wants goat curry?!!?  Additionally, he just clarified, he wants lots of veggies with that curry! Each to our own...

As discussed, this cleanse is not just about what we put in but what comes out and I think it's noteworthy to say there is an awful lot coming out considering how little is going in.  And not to be too graphic the consistency is not what one would expect either, if you get my down low on the download!

Happy cleansing...

Day 26

Ahhh... I am feeling fine!  Hard to imagine that suddenly it's almost over.  I will say I'm looking forward to that Monday morning smoothie... I will use super foods and all raw ingredients for a gentle re-introduction to non juice nutrients!  Everyone seems to have gotten rather quiet?

Day 25

Here I am on my 4th day without food and it's way easier than I imagined it could possibly be!

Talking to some cleansee's today symptoms that have been noticed include: less toxic smelling workout sweat, less gas, more energy, clearer brain function, less or NO inflammation, smoother calmer energy - not wanting to kill anyone even whilst driving in San Francisco!

Pounds have been lost and more importantly inches!

All seems very well in our little cleansing world....