Day 5 of 26

It's day 5 and I can officially say my digestive system went from barely working to a well oiled machine.  You cannot know how happy this makes me.

This morning when I looked in the mirror I realized my stomach is back to being my favourite body part, and all of this in 5 days.  5 days eating the same amount of food I normally eat, just different food.  This is by no means a diet and I haven't felt hungry since I started. I've had cravings for sweets, and I'm pretty sure I dreamt about croissants last night, but I haven't been hungry.

It's funny that I'm in this good a mood because I woke up with the start of a gross cold, and stayed home from work.  Staying home from work doesn't really mean much, because if I manage to turn off the TV I get more work done if anything.

I do wonder though, if I'm doing myself a big disservice by not cutting out caffeine.  This morning I had an alright french press from home, but without the intense caffeine of a double Americano, I'm starting to get a tell tale caffeine withdrawal headache.

Breakfast With a sore throat and sinus headache I wasn't very hungry so I had corn cakes (rice cake style) with natural peanut butter and a banana.  A note on bananas - I really like them but never allow myself to eat them because they always caused me to get constipated.  Not anymore!
Lunch Leftovers
Dinner Went to African Palace for Ethiopian.  Ethiopian curries are served with a "bread" called Injera, which is kinda of like a spongy foam.  Doesn't sound that appetizing but it's pretty cool, it holds together really well so it's a great intro food for people who aren't used to eating with their hands.  It's not made of wheat, but of teff flour which is gluten free.

Here's a video of African Palace creating their Injera

Overall Okay day food wise.  Starting to think I'm not crazy for doing this, but also starting to get terrified I might be gluten intolerant.  

Day 4 of 26

This is how I start my day everyday.

Once Beaufort became a part of our family, July 7th 2013 - I have walked for at least 1 hour every day. I know it's not exactly heart pumping cardio but after a long day at work I'm happy with that amount of exercise.

That is likely the most I will ever post about exercise.

Breakfast Overnight rolled oats
Lunch Naked burrito from Burro Burrito.  Delicious but I was so upset their rice was white jasmine.  Just wasn't the same without the rice! Apparently I can do without the wrap but not the rice.  Pinto and black beans, corn, lettuce, tons of guacamole and some hot sauce.
Dinner Whole grain brown rice with an AMAZING home(nick)made sweet potato curry.  I don't know if I made the brown rice wrong but it really had me craving white rice.

Overall Not a bad day. Any day with guacamole isn't a bad day. 

Day 3 of 26

Woke up feeling crappy again but not going to dwell on it.  Going to get better.

How could my morning not go well starting it with this?

I listened to yesterday-lianna and got an amazingly healthy lunch.  I'm feeling better about myself now, interesting!

Breakfast Oats again. Other than fruit I don't have many ideas.  Don't want to get tired of the oats.
Lunch Healthy salad from Sandwich Box. You can pick any ingredients you want and pay based on weight.  I got organic baby greens with carrots, asparagus, broccoli, radish and balsamic. Not very filling but very delicious.
Dinner So weird not having a beer with this dinner.  A ton of guacamole, homemade rosemary white bean dip, and organic-blue-flax-seed-corn-chips.

Overall Great day food wise :)

Day 2 of 26

Woke up with terrible cramping and bloating again this morning.  I'm really hoping I start to see a change - I must be putting something in my body it doesn't like.

Noticing how much a difference natural lighting makes in iphone photos...

Breakfast Overnight rolled oats.  Holy hell these are good. I just soaked 1 part oats with 1 part almond milk, plus a little extra milk.  I put half a chopped banana in each serving.  In the morning we heated the oats up for 3 minutes (3 minutes in a really bad microwave) and added cinnamon and walnuts.  Kath Eats Real Food has tons of flavour combos.

Lunch Leftover chili.  A lot of it.

Dinner Nick made some really delicious quick Indian lentils, while I made chapati.  Remembering chapati is made from 100% chickpea flour made me super happy.  Carbs that I can eat!

Overall - I'm a bit nervous I'm not taking this seriously enough.  I haven't cheated at all (haven't felt the need to), but the whole idea is to eat mostly fruits and veggies.  I've cut out gluten but I feel like I'm searching for ways to fill that void with gluten free carbs and heavy beans, instead of focusing on the veggies like I'm supposed to be.

Let's see what the rest of the week brings...

Day 1 of 26

Woke up hungry and disappointed I couldn't have a giant bowl of sugary cereal.  I think one of the first tips listed was to make sure you go grocery shopping before beginning a cleanse, and though I had big expectations for Sunday I didn't get to the grocery store.

Oh and I did drink coffee but just the one! I've always drank my coffee black so no problems there.

Breakfast - 3 minute Oatmeal.  Not soaked overnight, only made with water and natural peanut butter and microwaved.  Not good.
Lunch - Vegan red lentil soup from The Roastery.  I love this soup. No crackers :(
Dinner - I made vegan chipotle chili.  I really never cook but might be so bold as to say this was delicious.

I stopped by Noah's at noon because I was super hungry (normal for me at this time of day) and found so many food options I am no longer worried.  They even make pasta out of brown rice which is on my allowed food list (review to come later)

You'll notice I've named this post day 1 of 26.  It's not that I don't want to commit to 30 days, but for my Italian grandparents to not have their granddaughter join in on Easter dinner would be such an insult, so I decided to end on April 20th.

You will also notice I am a terrible food photographer.  I will try to get better!

Overall - Not a tough day in the least.  I felt like I got my carbs by eating "rice cakes" made of corn.  Not having a glass of wine with dinner was weird.

Day Zero

The reason I decided to start blogging again, was to track my progress (and keep me honest) over the next 30 days while I attempt to "cleanse."

It's funny to type that as I am one of the last people you might expect to try a cleanse, but over the last two months I've been waking up feeling terrible, bloated and not like myself.  I'm not cleansing for any crazy reason other than wanting to give my digestive system a break.  I have self diagnosed IBS which has always been a problem.  People who tell me they go to the bathroom once a day (or more!) make me very angry.  Maybe I can get there.

Lately I have been reading the blog ohdeardrea where she focuses on living naturally, and two days ago it hit me - cleansing my body of all the crappy things I've been putting into it is the first place to start.  Her Mise En Place: Thirty Day Cleanse is what I'll be using as my guide.  It focuses on simple, unprocessed plant-based foods.

I'm not a terrible eater to begin with, I haven't had KFC or anything similar since I was in highschool and tend to stay away from fried, frozen and packaged food naturally. What I do eat a lot of are white pastas, cereals, rice and breads (I consider myself a bit of a croissant connoisseur) and do not eat near enough fruit and vegetables.  Without exaggerating I would assume white starches make up 70% of my diet.  I know it's not the healthiest way to eat but it hadn't concerned me until now.

So, as I'm on day zero, here are some of my thoughts before beginning...

Concrete rules:
- No meat
- No dairy
- No sugar

Maybe rules:
- I might introduce fish if I feel like I need to.  I don't believe fish is very difficult for our bodies to digest.
- I get that I need to cut out coffee for a cleanse, I do, but I can't right away.  If my body is going into withdrawals from other food I cut out I'm terrified to cut out coffee.  One a day to start and I'll slowly try to wean myself off.  The guide recommends switching to black tea, then green tea, then herbal tea.

Hardest foods:
- Bread! Currently I eat a baguette 6 out of 7 nights a week with my dinner
- Kale.  I really hate it but feel like I'm going to need to start loving it
- I WILL not eat mushrooms, but I know they make up the heartiest vegan meals.
- Cheese.
- White starch.  I'm very nervous about not feeling full.  I eat an inhuman amount of pasta and think my stomach is probably stretched because of that.
- Alcohol. This will be very tough, but easier if Nick commits with me.

You'll notice meat isn't listed under my hardest foods.  I used to eat meat twice a day everyday, but after starting with meatless mondays I eventually went through a few vegetarian spouts in the past few years so I at least know that I won't have a tough time there.

Nick has agreed to eat along with me, though I've only asked for his support during dinner.  I've told him to cheat during his lunch all he wants but who knows, he might put in 100% too.

To be clear, this didn't exactly come out of nowhere.  The past few months I've started getting passionate about simple living.  It all began with the tiny house movement and my dream to one day build my dream home.  Living in a huge city and working long stressful hours (I know, who doesn't) is starting to effect me and lately my thoughts have been about simplifying my life.  There are tons of blogs that have very interesting things to say about the topic, but for me it comes down to the fact that it's a healthier way to live and minimizes stress.  This week I packed up 8 bags of clothes I don't need, and the emotional weight lifted of even doing something that simple was pretty amazing.  I'm thinking of going through my closet again!

One day I hope to live in a small town, in a tiny house with a huge fenced backyard for Beaufort, with no mortgage, living off free organic food grown in my own backyard.  Hopefully I'll have a less stressful job and more importantly time to enjoy the smaller things in life - but for now, I'll start by recording my thoughts (and meals) throughout the next 30 days 26 days.

Who knows, going through this blogging experience might have me back at it full time.