The Rules

When I tell people that I'm doing a cleanse, they tend to gasp and look for the cayenne pepper and lemonade that might be lurking in my purse. I promise you that I could never, ever do a liquid cleanse. This is more along the lines of just really healthy eating which I apparently rarely do. I found this plan in an issue of Body of Soul last year. There's a whole lot of other great advice, like detoxing yourself from media and small intervals of meditation but I am just including the diet portion. Here's the basic lowdown:

Breakfast:
One cup warm water with a slice of lemon.
One cup oatmeal with a cup of berries.
Green or black tea if you must. (Or coffee because I REALLY must!)

Mid-morning snack:
An apple or pear with a handful of almonds.

Lunch:
One cup legumes such as black, navy or kidney beans, chick peas, lentils, split peas, etc.
One cup whole grain such as brown rice, quinoa, barley, or couscous.
One cup steamed vegetables. (You may flavor with some olive oil, garlic, and ginger).
Follow lunch with a cup of ginger tea.

Afternoon snack:
A few carrot sticks with two tablespoons of hummus.

Dinner:
One cup whole grain (as above).
Two cups steamed vegetables (Same seasonings).
Follow with cup of ginger tea.

Before bed:
One cup of warm water with lemon.

Notice that the chocolate chip cookies, tortilla chips, and warm loaves of buttery french bread have been taken out of the equation. Bummer. However, I am on day three and a friend told me today that I looked thinner. How very interesting and quite acceptable, considering the post-Germany and Christmas pounds I managed to tack on. I also noticed that in general, my afternoon fatigue has significantly decreased. I have actually been able to focus and get some work done without the aid of an espresso machine.

Nonetheless, aside from my sugar, I sure am missing fun food. Veggies and rice get old very quickly. I plan on sticking it out though until my Friday night dinner date. And I promise that I won't get all crazy on burgers or the fried food platter. But a little dinner roll on my plate next to my salad would be nice. And a glass of anything other than ginger tea sounds pretty fabulous.

Til then, there is work to do. And I seem to have the energy to do it. Yah!