Today is my first day of the CLEAN program.
I picked up the CLEAN manual at Mother Tongue bookstore on Monday, and I figured I'd give it a go!
Over the course of my twenties, I have completed most other detoxes on the market: the Master Cleanse, juice fasting, mono-fruit diet, herbs, potions and lotions... but this time around, I am looking to create a healthy, affordable and sustainable change.
Not that I have a poor diet; I eat largely raw, mostly organic, high vibe living foods, with an occasional piece of seafood, cup of gelato, or slice of fresh bread tossed into the mix. The trouble is that I have a habit of consuming too many sweets and eating too late at night.
(Not to mention the wine... the artisanal cheese... the occasional Americano... all in good fun!)
Today is day One.
It is a moon day (full moon and eclipse!) so I did not have Mysore practice.
I wake at 5am, enjoy a double shot of wheatgrass, fire water, bio algae and a mug of matcha tea with coconut milk. After returning my e-mails, I blended up a beautiful blueberry smoothie (blueberries, dates, hemp milk and chia) and took my wonderful pooch, Guillaume, for a walk. Got home, showered, read twenty pages of a Thomas Hardy novel and biked to Hintonburg to meet up with an old friend and to teach my Wednesday Pranayama class.
After yoga, I treated myself to lunch at the Table. The Table (
http://www.thetablerestaurant.com/) is a fresh, organic, vegetarian buffet. I have had mixed experiences here in the past, but today's fare was divine: Marinated dandelion greens, fresh sliced cucumbers, vegan broccoli slaw, and a heaping spoonful of mung bean salad. I am not big on beans in general, but I have to admit that it was colourful, tasty, and good for my belly. Oh, and I had a kombucha tea for dessert.
I have to load up big on lunch, because on the CLEAN program, dinner is a liquid meal.
On CLEAN, one eats three times per day: a liquid breakfast (fresh juice or smoothie), a solid lunch, and a blended dinner (smoothie, soup, etc.) No dairy, wheat, gluten, soy, corn or added sugar. Bananas, grapes, oranges, grapefruit, strawberries, pistachios, macadamia nuts, honey, nightshade veggies, shellfish, red meat, alcohol, tobacco, black tea, coffee, etc. are also off of the menu.
To speed things along, Dr. Junger recommends taking a good probiotic and a digestive enzyme at every meal. The program also encourages you to take a magnesium supplement (I love Natural Calm:
http://www.naturalcalm.ca/) to help keep things moving ;-)
Oh, and drink water... lots!
Is it worth it?
Demi and Gwyneth say so. And so does Martha Stewart.
I would do almost anything for skin that glows, eyes that sparkle and for this strange blockage in my right ear to go away. I would love to sleep better, be kinder to others, and fly through my Ashtanga practice at 6 in the morning, without hijacking Tippy's coffee!
Tonight I will make a massive green juice with celery, cuke, kale, sprouts, romaine, apple, ginger and lemon.
I am supposed to eat a whole clove of garlic every day, but this has not happened yet --
Not convinced?
Learn all about the CLEAN program, download oodles of killer recipes, connect with other CLEAN detox participants, and check out some awesome videos at
http://www.cleanprogram.com/
And, yes, it is FREE!
At least my $16.99 went to support an local, independent bookstore.
peas and veggies to all,
K
ps: I will post my favorite CLEAN meal of the day, everyday, in order to keep detox fun.
Do note that agave sweetened, raw chocolate pot-brownies would technically make the "approved" list :-)
