Last day!

Green smoothie started a full work day 10-5. I had leftover quinoa salad for lunch and brought a cut-up apple for snacks. I went to a friend's Open House after work and ended up "off" the plan with gingerale and ham. Dinner very late is steamed sweet potato and beets. Overall I have had alot more energy this week. Not hungry at all. My asthma also really became almost not noticeable. I usually am exhausted at the end of a full day of clients, and that was not true either yesterday or today. I am very pleased with the week, with how I stayed with the plan and the results. I lost 5.5 pounds! Thanks Dominique

Last Day

The last day of the Detox/fast! I am proud of myself for maintaining this raw diet at the same time as pursuing a really demanding work life. I admit I had doubts at the outset. The few times I was hungry, I had some fruits/veggies or nuts to tide me over till the next meal. Ocasionally I was just not hungry at all even though it was meal time. It was a good awareness exercise to notice when I want to eat - and why. For instance, I noticed that some free-floating stressful situations have the effect of making me want to nibble on snacks (thank heaven for veggie sticks and nuts). Sometimes just a cup of tea is what is needed. This morning I fixed myself the green smoothie and reflected in the unaccustomed leisure of my Saturday morning that I plan to do the green smoothie more often, as it's delicious and fun. (I was not much of a smoothie fan before). I also have a refrigerator full of healthy ingredients - and leftovers. Although I was following a plant-based diet before, I've learned some new things about ways to prepare raw foods and definitely sampled some new dishes. I also liked the blog to follow what/how others were doing. So thanks, Dominique, for an educational and healthy experience!

Friday

I had a Green Smoothie for breakfast. Drank the whole thing because I got hungry yesterday when I just drank 1/2. Brought pineapple and romaine lettuce for lunch and almonds for snacks. I have had several bowel movements today. I made the Quinoa salad for dinner. It definitely seems to be a side dish for me, not the only course. I will probably use it that way in the future. I wasn't excited about it's taste, but it was very colorful. Glad I put the tomatoes in it. I'm really wanting to get some fish in my diet. I have lost 4 pounds, so that is great. For the future, I hope to create a blend of this diet this week and some protein. I am pleased that I tried several dishes and kept on this vegan diet well. I wasn't so sure that I would make it in the beginning. Thanks for setting this up for us. Lynne

Vitamix - from Toni Dungan

The Home and Garden Show is out at the Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly, VA. It started yesterday and goes through Sunday, February 28, 2010. I checked to make sure and the VitaMix people will be there. They do demonstrations and let you taste stuff, answer questions and their prices aren't too bad if anyone wants to check out what a VitaMix can do. Toni

Detox

I am so happy that I lost 4 lbs this week ;->. It was hard not to eat> anything on the fasting day, but I'm glad I stuck with it.

Thursday

I had the smoothie f0r breakfast and afternoon snack. Green drink for dinner. Almonds during the morning. I didn't have a bowel movement yesterday but did have several small ones today. Hunger in the am so I ate almonds. Really getting tired of almonds! Sleepy around 5pm. Short nap. I prepared the green drink for dinner and my stomach hurt just making it. I went ahead and drank it with a side of almonds per your suggestion. No acid. Tomorrow is another day with no time to prepare food. Lynne

Catching Up

Okay, I have missed a couple days of blogging thanks to my wonderful Internet connection. (Not!) Tuesday, followed the plan to the tee and notice the gasie thing I had going on was subsiding; Wednesday didn't have my juicer so I stuck with lots of water throughout the day and had a nice size salad for dinner with various types of greens with lots of interesting veggies, a few Brazilian nuts with lemon juice and olive oil dressing and a side bowl of water melon. Funny thing....I have never attended so many meetings/classes in one week where everyone was pushing pizza! I was awesome (you ladies should have seen me at work) with my high quality H2O networking and not munching :0) Thursday/today I noticed that I had no gas and not much hunger. Worked on taxes (still!) and my mind and thoughts were very clear. Drank water throughout the day and having orange and apple slices along with homemade guacamole and a few blue chips. I don't want totally deny my desire for sugar (refined, sugar) so I am using the blue chips this evening to keep me on track. When that juicer arrives I will have my juice day. Have been sleeping exceptionally well and have lots three pounds! My husband has been enjoying salad every night for dinner too! He feels guilty when we share daily food journals :0)

Juice Day

Interestingly enough, I wasn't hungry during the juice fast today. Had a couple glasses of juice and a lot of water. Toward evening got a little spacy and have a slight headache. Overall a successful day.

Wednesday

Since I had a schedule away all day, I was unable to do a full juice day today. I had a smoothie for Breakfast and a green drink for dinner. Fruit and almonds twice during the day. About 1 hour after Breakfast, I had heartburn in my liver. Lasted about 15 minutes. Same thing faintly happened after dinner. Otherwise, not hungry and not tired. Will see if I can do all drink tomorrow. Lynne

Day 3 End

I was doing so good on water and juice day...untill 8pm. I had a asian pear, 1/2 of avocado and a bite of a muffin. im so mad at myself. better luck tommorow.

Fourth Day

I made it through the juice and water day, but had to have a little oatmeal after dinner. I was worried about blood glucose levels which were normal but was feeling spacey. Today, I had oatmeal again for breakfast and had to deviate a bit for lunch since I ran out of time in the morning. I grabbed the ginger-seseme dressing out of the frig and hit the salad bar at work for lunch, getting veggies and lettuce only. I will try to use the meal plan for dinner tonight. Feeling pretty good today. I have not been hungry at all since I started.

Detox

Yesterday I had the raw beet salad. It was wonderful and kept me very full. I am fee ling alert and full of energy. Today I am doing the juice fast...so far so good.

Day 3

Day 3 - Hello liquid diet day. Today i am starting off with detox tea since i have not yet gone to the bathroom since (Sunday) Should i be nervous about that? But my nose is running like crazy. I had a 2 ounce vegan desert bar since i took some medicine. Just drinking water and more water.

Tuesday

I had two networking events so the meals weren't according to the menu. 7am Breakfast was fruit with a GF mini-muffin (that a friend brought in for me.) Lunch was a bland hotel salad with iced tea. I ate some cheesecake too. Oh well not perfect! Dinner was the beet salad/soup from yesterday. I started getting diaherea in the afternoon and I was finally emptied by 8pm. Also, sleepy in the afternoon. This evening has been fine. No hunger and still working on this blog at 11pm. I have an odd day tomorrow. I am out to client home visits from 10-4 then have clients in the office from 4-7. I plan to bring raw fruit and veggies with me as there is no time to creat drinks for lunch or dinner. I will try the full juicing on Thursday. Lynne

So far so good

My first and second days went well and I easily stuck to the plan. The recipes are fun to make and delicious. By dinner time I am ravenous, so maybe need more snacks. I ate too much beet salad last night and felt stuffed, but was surprised I felt empty again within 2-3 hours. Today I was really tired, but I think it was heavy workload and not enough sleep more than the diet. I'm a little dubious about the juice fasting tomorrow because I get so hungry. But I'm prepared to make LOTS of juice and give it a good try. Sarah

Day 2

Day 2- I had a soy vanilla protein shake for breakfast since i was running late to work. But i came home to make the green smoothie for lunch! Awesome. Then i had to work till 10:30 so i ate a few chips and spinach dip at work( cheating i know its all i had...i feel guilty just thinking about it). Today was lots of running nose, gas and cramping ( mostly because its that special time of the month i think) Tommorow i will do better i promise.

Tuesday

The second day of the detox experience. I feel kind of tired, even more so after a long day at work. The kale salad and mango at lunch was delicious, but I was hungry after that and had a half apple and handful of almonds. Have a slight headache again. Think I'll turn in early - tomorrow's the juice fast day and I want to be well rested.

Q&A

Some of you wanted to know:

1. tabouleh - what is a good substitute for Bulgar wheat (gluten free)?
   you may substitute quinoa or just make the salad without any grain for fewer calories.
   
2. raw beet salad - okay not to roast walnuts?
   If you with not to roast the walnuts, it is even better, the roasting provides a nice flavor.
   
3. Sesame ginger dressing - What kind of orange juice concentrate and what to do with the rest of it? Could I use real orange juice instead?
   Any type is or OJ concentrate is fine. We use concentrate to get the flavor without adding too much water to the vinaigrette. If you want your vinaigrette more watery, then you can add 2 T of freshly squeezed OJ and 1 teaspoon of orange zest. The remaining of the OJ concentrate will keep in the freezer for may days, you can make cranberry nut bread with it, dilute with water to make OJ, add to smoothies for extra vitamin C, or put in a blender add some cold soy or rice milk, 1 t vanilla, small piece of ginger. Grind completly to make a nice ice cream dessert. Serve with melted dark chocolate.
   
4. Why can we have golden raisins and not brown raisins?
   Golden raisins have a sweet and tart flavour and will taste better in a salad then the dark raisins.
   
5. Substitute for tofu? Can I use frozen edamame instead?
   Tofu comes from soy beans but you cannot substitute one for the other. Tofu is fermented soy bean paste. Edamame is a vegetable. If you do not like tofu and have a problem with it, you can make the Asian Slaw without it or just add some shiitake mushrooms.
   
6. Zizania appetizer - what brand of chili sauce and what brand of Dijon mustard do you recommend? Any chili sauce is fine. It is best to buy it in an Asian store. If you do not like spicy food. You may chose to remove it. As for Dijon Mustard, Temeraire is the one I like best, Grey Poupon is also good. As long as it says Dijon Mustard, you will get that flavor. make sure that the ingredients have only mustard seeds, vinegar, some salt. No sugar, or High fructose corn syrup, or anything else.
   
7. What is Ultimate meal?
   Ultimate meal is a type of protein that is non GMO, gluten free, soy free, sugar free, etc... It is made from sprouted grain. Very easy to digest and tastes great. the company that makes it is Ultimate Live, www.ultimatelife.com. You can find it at some whole food stores but not all I am told. You can also buy barely or rice protein online at www.sunfood.com. They are of the highest quality.

If you have any other questions, please post them here rather than sending me an email. Thank you and keep blogging.

Good-bye toxins

A lot of toxins are leaving my body. I felt groggy this morning, then after drinking a lot of water, I started feeling better. Then light-headed and groggy again. The water seems to really flush the stuff and only after drinking it, do I feel better. It makes working seem really strange.

Green Smoothie and Red Beets

Certainly a colorful day. I liked the smoothie and it was quite filling. No hunger pangs. It was pretty convenient to take the "day one" recipe food in to work, and I appreciated that. Toward the end of the day had a slight headache. Then went home and wrestled with making the beet salad... and cleaning up the beet juice after. The salad itself was tasty. Nothing dramatic to report for the day; just followed the menus.

Green Smoothie

I fixed enough green smoothie last evening to last for four days. I hope it keeps that long. For lunch I had a mushroom burger on a sprounted bun with Bushes vegetarian beans. Tonight I made the beet salad. I think it will be better for me if I cut the beets in thinner strips or little chunks before marinateing.

Monday

Needed to sleep more this am. Had Smoothie at 11am. No heartburn today at all. Also no hunger. I like the feel of empty stomach. I liked the lettuce and pineapple lunch with carrot/celery juice. For dinner, I wasn't able to buy beets yesterday so I substituted beet/apple soup (that I had frozen last month), for the beets in the salad. It tasted good. Though I do have onion breath right now. This would not be a meal to eat before I see clients. I have a Networking breakfast tomorrow, but i will bring the smoothie with me. I also have a networking lunch tomorrow. Hoping that it has some raw ingredients. Lynne

Day 1

I was excited about getting started and had/having a great day. Ordered a juicer too because it was OK but a little to crunch for my liking drinking/chewing my smoothie created in my food processor. I will use soy milk and the fruit for my morning smoothie and have the greens in/as my salad. Hope the juicer gets here by Wednesday :0( On a lighter note, I feel fine and had no problem concentrating on taxes. I had lots of veggies, nuts, and shredded wheat for snack throughout the day so I never actually got hungry; as a matter of fact I was worried I would get hungry and not be successful...didn't happen. However, (here comes the footnote) I am a little/lot gassy...so that a good thing right, shaking things up a bit! I will increase my water intake tomorrow and add some tea to lighten up on veggie binging ;0)

Detox

Started the detox yesterday and had some hot flashes;quiet a bit of gas; and many trips to the restroom (TMI - LOL). I made a lot of the raw kale salad since I had the ingredients on hand. I find if you chop the kale up rather finely and add a whole apple instead of half an apple that it balances out the flavor better for my taste and it kept well in the refrigerator. I had it again today for lunch. I made the raw beet salad and left it in the refrigerator to marinate all day. Hope I like it. Will let you know tomorrow.

Day two - more energy

So far, despite my worries from yesterday, I have more energy than I did the first day. I had oatmeal and maple syrup instead of the smoothie for breakfast. I enjoyed that! Lunch did not work out so well - I made the kale salad ahead of time and took it to work. I think I understand the value of freshness -- it was soggy and way too salty. I should have brought the ingredients and made it here. I ate most of it though and have had fruits (mango, golden raisins and banana) and peanuts as snacks this afternoon. I will be leaving in a while to volunteer - wouldn't you know I would be serving food!!? But I don't think I'll be tempted -- I am not very hungry, just a little, like Dominique said.

Day 1- I started off the day with 2 cups of water with lemon juice in it. 30 mins later i made my Green Smoothie and it's already past lunch time and I have not even finished my smoothie. It doesnt taste the same as Dominique's Smoothie though. Its less green and my almonds are defianlty not blended all the way. I will be attempting to make the raw beet salad tonight, however i have never really cooked from scratch and i have never eaten a beet, but i am still exicted. Dominique should we been eating lighter things for dinner?? How late can we eat? Is Detox tea a good idea for the evening? Thanks.

Breath Awareness

Good morning everyone, One support tool for you to try during this detox is called "Breath Awareness". The breath and our mind are very tied together, so the more consciously we breathe, the quieter is the mind. Breath Awareness is easy to do, and can be done sitting in an easy crossed-leg position on the floor, or in a chair with both feet flat on the floor. Keep the spine straight, but relax your muscles. Close your eyes, and breath long, slowly, and deeply. Be aware of the four parts of your breath: the inhale; a short hold when your lungs are full; the exhale; and a short hold when your lungs are empty. Do this for three minutes at least once each day. This is a good tool to use before you eat, and when you feel hungry and want to eat. Let us know what your experience is with this.

Day 1 Detox

Started the detox on Sunday and I feel great!  A little hungry last night, but not nearly as hungry as I thought I would feel.  Loved the green smoothie and raw beet salad.  This morning I drank the second half of the green smoothie I made yesterday (You're right, Dominique - it holds well in the refrigerator overnight.)  Looking forward to the day.

Sunday

I didn't eat anything until noon when I had the smoothie. About 2:30 I got heartburn which continued on and off until about 6pm. At 3:30, I ate a beet/apple soup and a few GF pretzels trying to calm the stomach. I had a banana at 5:30. I must have some bug too as I took several naps today. Felt cold too even though I don't have a fever. Dinner was cooked - a litte mashed potatoes and steamed broccolli. I did go shopping today and will do Day 1 with the full menu tomorrow. I hope I can do it fully. Lynne

Sunday Night

Day 0- Hoping to start the detox tommorow. I am super excited and ready to try this detox but also a little nervous. Also not sure where to find the menu, i think i remember how to make the smoothie for breakfast but after that im not to sure what to do! Any help team? Happy Detoxing :)

Sunday

I spent the day gathering up food goodies from Whole Foods and TJs. Also bought some food preparation gadgets fom Bed, Bath and Beyond, so that I'm ready to start my detox program tomorrow.

Detox

I started the detox and had the green smoothie for breakfast and the salad and pineapple for lunch. I made the sesame ginger dressing and used it on the salad - I hope that's ok. It was delicious. I'm feeling a little tired and light-headed. I'm also a little worried about tomorrow because I volunteered to serve dinner at a medical facility for homeless people in DC and I will not get home until pretty late. I'm going to bring fruit and nuts to snack on until I get home.

Potato chips put on a glitzy evening dress and go to town

My friend Kathryn is a food stylist, photographer, and food writer. I don't know exactly what a food stylist is, but she's a spectacular one. She's started a new web site, including some of her best recipes. I think the most remarkable is Windowpane Potato Chips.