the cleanse challenge :: day 1

I decided I would give this challenge a name.  I thought The Cleanse Challenge was appropriate in that I'm focusing on cleansing my body of certain things:  sugar, oil, gluten.  I'm then focusing on adding whole foods like vegetables, beans, legumes, fruit, and grains (those free of gluten).  I'm also adding regular exercise including yoga to these two weeks.


I did my half hour of exercise thanks to Janae at Bring-Joy.  She is a whole foods vegan mommy to 4 kids and has some short fitness videos on her blog.  They're fun, easy, and get your heart pumping.


Breakfast was easy.  I have a green smoothie virtually every morning.  This morning was no different.

My breakfast green smoothie:

          ::  red chard
          ::  mango
          ::  1/2 orange
          ::  nectarine
          ::  banana
          ::  hemp nuts
          ::  water

 

Lunch was similar to my normal lunches.  Let me introduce you to my big salad.

I make my salads different almost every day.  I use what greens I have, what leftovers may be in the fridge, and then decide what fruit (fresh or dried), nuts, and dressing best fit in.  Below I describe what I usually (there are no rules!) put in my salads and then specifically say what is in the salad I ate today, the one pictured above.

My big lunch salad:

          ::  greens (red chard, red leaf lettuce, spinach)
          ::  fresh vegetables (red, orange and yellow peppers, tomatoes)
          ::  fruit (grapes)
          ::  dry toasted nuts (almonds)
          ::  beans (chickpeas)
          ::  oil-free dressing (citrus tahini dressing)


Dinner was easy today as well.  I need to start cleaning out my freezer because I just bought an ice cream maker attachment for my mixer.  I'm so excited!  I have a lot of ice cream recipes I can't wait to try...after these two weeks are done of course.  I found some Beans and Greens soup in the freezer and decided that would be great for dinner.  I don't have a picture, but it is a yummy soup.

I knew the evening would be the toughest part of the day for me.  That's usually when I pop my corn, have a piece of dessert, or a glass of wine.  I scoured the internet tonight, looking for something that would satisfy me.  I came across a recipe for a Neapolitan smoothie.  It was okay, but it was nice having a bit of cocoa in there to satisfy my desire for chocolate.

Now I'm just finishing up my last bit of cinnamon tea from this morning and then I'm heading off to bed.