Taste the Rainbow...no not Skittles

Found this on a blog I read and thought it would be great to share as we are all looking to be a little healthier after the MC.... Think back to your last meal. How many colors were on your plate? If you answered 4 or 5, then congrats! You are eating right with color. If you answered 1 or 2, then let’s talk: Mother Nature has a habit of putting lots of healthy vitamins and minerals into foods that grow in the dirt, but did you know she took the trouble to color-code them for our convenience? green foods contain antioxidants and nutrients that promote healthy vision orange and deep yellow foods also help promote healthy vision, plus they contain vitamins that boost your immune system purple and blue foods contain antioxidants that provide anti-aging benefits, plus they help with memory, and urinary tract health red foods are good for heart health, vision, and your immune system some white, tan, and brown foods have nutrients that promote heart health bonus: each of these colors also help reduce your risk of cancer! Of course, these aren’t the only benefits to eating a more colorful, plant-based diet. These kinds of foods also provide a good source of fiber, a boost in mental function, and tons of other feel-good perks. Oh and here is a recipe for a green smoothie that could be a good breakfast drink: Green Smoothie! Ingredients: -1 cup coconut water -1 apple -1/2 bunch kale -small handful frozen spinach -2 tblpns lemon juice Directions: Blend and enjoy!

Like a Virgin

I feel like I just bought a new car and I am worried about getting the first scratch. I've only been eating whole fruits, veggies, grains, and nuts and I'm worried about drinking my first cup of coffee or eating my first sugary food. I've been postponing this for 5 days now and I know eventually I will have to budge a little because you can't be perfect all the time. I just don't know when the right time to do it is. Madonna has totally captured what I'm feeling...like a virgin, touched for the very first time...I'm waitin for that right food and the right day so that it will be a special moment...

I'll take the lemon juice over the OJ

2:30pm:

Ok as much as I wanted to be done with the 10 days of the MC, I really don't like drinking OJ all day long. It's not as filling and I am feeling hungry. It could be psychological as well but still I'm done with this OJ crap... Nelson and I texted each other during the day agreeing that we would prefer the lemon/maple concoction over the oj.

So with that being said and with the approval head nod by Deanna, I am going to make Soup tonight dammit!

I'm a huge believer that things happen for reasons and I do truly believe that Deanna did the ease out before us, so she can be the tester for us all. I thank her for that.

Fast forward to 6:30pm:
The soup is cooking on the stove, boiling up, and I'm going to pick up Nelson at the train at 7pm. I hope the soup is ready by the time he gets home, so we can really enjoy it. It smells so good. Here are some pics of my preparation:

Yummy delicious healthy veggies.... I took away 2 potatoes since I added a cup of brown rice

only used 2 cups of broth and probably added another 8 or 9 cups of water

Just sizzling away... This picture is missing the spinach, potatoes, rice, and beans (lentils and pinto)

Plump up lentils! I want to eat you!

7:15pm:

Got home from picking up Nelson from the Subway and the soup was ready to go!

One of the most delicious soups we ever had

Nelson becomes one with the soup

Nelson's happy after his first bite

Smells like heaven!

8:15pm:

We are done with our soup and our tummies are feeling good! Soup for lunch and dinner tomorrow and we are deciding to eat normal on Thursday! Yahoo!

Last night of the Lemon Crap!

Hey all,

Wow, it's the end of day 10 and we can't believe it's done. THANK GOD! We are so looking forward to tomorrow's OJ day.

Deanna, thanks so much for your support these past few days. You're still a part of this MC team and I'm very proud that you stuck with it for a whole 7 days and even more excited that you are feeling better. You see folks, if you saw Deanna on Friday (day 7), you would have probably gotten a bottle of Ensure and fed her. Her determination to get through 1 day at a time was amazing. She inspired us and now she is leading us to the ease out phase of this cleanse AND she's going into the new healthy vegan chapter of her life. We support ya babe! Deanna, you're just as fierce as the honeybadger. :)

In preparation for tomorrow, I peeled some oranges. Now THAT was hard. The smell of oranges is so beautifully fragrant and they were so cold when I was peeling them. I wanted to plop one juicy piece into my hungry mouth, BUT I didn't. So the plan is to drink about 60-80 ounces of OJ tomorrow. Honestly, I don't care how much I drink, I'm just drinking away! The book doesn't really give you an idea of how much to drink, so we'll probably go by the amount of the lemon crap we've been drinking.

On one of the many MC blogs that I've read, one guy actually blended the oranges with ice and some water to create a smoothie type substance. I'm gonna do that and juice the heck out of the oranges and also some grapefruit.

Here are some of my preparations:

This was the hard part!

All hands on deck!

Send in the reserves!

Don't worry the squash will stay!

Now I can't tell you how excited we are, but I can show you...

Good Night, Sweet Dreams, and see you tomorrow Oranges!

Reflection

Easing Out....

Kat and Nelson - I am so inspired by you two making it the whole way! What an accomplishment and I'm sure it has taught you many lessons and things about yourself. I thought I would share a little of what I learned and reflect on my goals from the first post.

#1 I want to cleanse my body as I transition to a vegan.

I think I needed to cleanse my mindset more than my body. I didn't really feel the physical effects of the cleanse (until my unfortunate end ahaha) but it did show me I can lose some weight and feel good and energized if I eat a little less (Duh!). Silly as that sounds I kept making excuses like I'm getting too old to lose weight, being a woman sucks, my metabolism is slow. Really, they were just excuses. As for the vegan part, that's it, I'm jumping in! It isn't as much a jump as it is a hop since I've been a vegetarian for 12 years but it is still a major change. I'm now officially seeing a holistic nutritional counselor and I'm excited for her help and support and I make this transition. I'll be sure to keep you both posted on what I learn as I know you are looking to make small yet important changes yourselves (this makes me happy).

#2 I want to stop confusing emotions for hunger.

The cleanse enlightened me on this idea and now I am actually putting it into practice. The first way I really noticed it was when I woke up on Sunday and thought I was supposed to be eating first thing when I woke up and I knew I had to have orange juice as "breakfast." I was like "Waaah, I don't want OJ, I want really food." So I said to myself, "Self, if you were really hungry you would want the juice. Maybe you just think you are supposed to be eating because it was your prior routine to wake up and eat." So I waited and did other things. Then, when my tummy growled and I felt REAL hunger, I was happy to have the OJ. I have had to this a lot in the past 2 and a half days. Be prepared to keep up with the "training" after the cleanse. It's not easy but it feels empowering when you take control.

#3 I want to prove a point.

At first I thought I failed on this goal having stopped the cleanse three days early. But, after some reflection and some helpful feedback I did prove that I could do it for a week and that I didn't die even though I looked like death. Everyone seemed to be sincerely impressed that I could do it that long and that feels good. However, I did also prove the point that you have to follow directions...which is ironic if you know me.

Okay so that's all for now. I included a picture of the soup you have to look forward to. It is very yummy. I was so scared testing it out on Saturday when I made it but I wanted to see if the rice and potatoes were cooked till tender as instructed (that was the only reason wink wink). I went to put it to my mouth out of habit and paused like ummm will my stomach explode if I taste this? But the worry was fleeting and I shook it off and ate the tiny spoonful. Pure delight. I didn't get carried away, I waited till later to have my bowl. Enjoy filling your belly with such healing and comforting tastiness! I know I did. I'm wishing you both a healthy and happy "easing out."

DAY 10!!!!!!!!

"We all become exactly what you believe." Oprah

Master Class - Master Cleanse

Last night I was watching Oprah's Master Class show on OWN and she was doing her own class. She said so many great things that can relate to everyone and in particular those who may be going through challenges in life. It was part 1 of her Master Class show and after watching the 1st inspirational show, I will absolutely watch the 2nd next Sunday. Tune in if you can.

So it's 7:15am and we just finished our LAST SWF. I prepared both at 6am and brought Nelson's up to him at 6:30. He didn't sleep that well. Now we could do the SWF tomorrow, but no, we are deciding not to. For the Salt water, we heat up the water just so it's lukewarm and this morning I felt like I was heating up a baby's bottle since I had to bring it up to Nelson. "Here's your bottle, baby boy." Just trying to get him a good mood since he didn't have the sweetest dreams. After I drank mine, I almost did a happy dance.

The drinks are set to go for the rest of the day and I'm looking forward to the day! It's our last day! It's our last day!

Bundle up, it's cold outside!

Do You Hear What I Hear?

We can't believe it! The 9th is almost done and we are coming to the end of the Master Cleanse. Everyday we surprise ouselves a little bit more. Around noon today, Nelson and I went to the grocery store so we could buy food for our soup and salad for day 3 of the ease out. Just a reminder, Day 1 - Drink OJ all day, Day 2 - Morning and Lunch OJ then veggie soup for dinner, Day 3 - OJ for breakfast, soup for lunch, salad and veggies for dinner.

I had my list ready to go for the soup and played it by ear on what to get for salad when I got to the store.

I began to really get excited for the soup, but even more for the salad! I got some organic romaine and arugula lettuce, fresh beets, radishes, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, broccoli, red onion, and avocado for the salad. I'm planning on making lemon and oil dressing. I'll still love lemons even after this cleanse and plus we still have 2 huge bags of lemons to use!

This is the recipe I'm planning on using for the soup. I'm going to slow cook it all day on Wednesday so it's ready for us when we get home. It will certainly be a treat:

Master Cleanse Recipe: The Omnivore Vegetarian Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 varieties of beans, 1/2 cup each (kidney beans, lentils, pinto beans, or other)
• 1 medium potato, half-inch cubes
• 1 stalk celery, sliced
• 1 carrot, sliced
• Spinach
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 medium tomatoes
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1 zucchini, sliced
• 1/2 cup brown rice
• Other vegetables as desired
• No meat
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon dry oregano
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• vegetarian soup powder or cube (optional)

Preparation: Combine ingredients with 4 cups water, bring to a simmer, cook 20 minutes or until potatoes and beans are tender, adding water along the way if necessary.

When we got home, I put the red beets in the oven so they could be ready for our salad on thursday night. After roasting the beets, I peeled off the skins and when I did it in the past, I would normally taste it. It was really easy for me not to be tempted. I wasn't even craving it. So for that, I am proud.

We got a lot of stuff done today. Surprisingly enough we did have a lot energy. We cleaned, did laundry, I painted my nails, watched TV, and we even did some yoga. It was tough for me since I haven't done much working out, but it was only 30 minutes and it felt really good. Check out the dorky form ;)

"Accept the challenges, so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory."
- Anonymous