clean

a few of my friends have been raving about clean by dr. alejandro junger and i’m seriously considering trying it out.  “clean” is not a diet, it’s a cleanse that you can do for 1, 2 or 3 weeks.  unlike other cleanses i’ve heard about that only allow you to drink juice, tea or water (and eat no solids) for all or part of the duration of the cleanse, this plan includes one solid meal and two smoothies/shakes/pureed soups every day.  if you read too much about it online, it looks like you have to buy a bunch of special powders and supplements, but if you read the book instead, those items are barely mentioned (and then they’re in the context of “if you don’t have time to prep all these veggies, you can boost your smoothies with this powder”) and the book instead focuses on a “yes/no” list of whole foods that participants adhere to.  there’s also a selection of recipes in the back of the book to help you get started if the “no” list scares you (it scares me.  how do you cook without wheat, dairy, eggs or tomatoes?  how do you make smoothies without oranges, strawberries and bananas?).

why am i telling you all this?  i’m thinking of blogging my process.  so i suppose it’s fair warning for anyone who doesn’t care about reading this journey to just skip over any more posts with the word “clean” in the title during the next few weeks.  for those of you willing to stick around and read about it, i’m hoping maybe some of you will post comments encouraging me so that maybe i can last all three weeks.

still with me?  here’s my goals for why i’m doing this cleanse:

1.  i feel like our family is stuck in a food rut.  it seems like we’ve got about 12 recipes that we rotate between, with a few others thrown in for variety occasionally.  without actually checking my list, i’d be willing to gamble that all of these recipes contain either dairy or wheat or eggs or tomatoes (or maybe even all four).  i’m curious to know what will happen if we remove those from our diet.

2.  sometimes, especially after the holidays, or vacations, i come home feeling like i “need to eat salad for a week.” but we never really do.  mostly because i’m fairly certain i’d get sick of salad after two days.  i’m hoping to learn some quick tricks to “reset” the gluttony whenever it rears its ugly head.  as a side effect, maybe this will make me feel so good that i won’t be as tempted by the gluttony?  i have doubts.  my relationship with bread goes back a long way.

3.  my friends all experienced weight loss and increased energy after this cleanse.  i could use both of those!

here are my fears about this cleanse:

1.  i’ll hate the food.

2.  i won’t be able to resist temptation when making meals for the happy toddler (he’ll still be getting dairy and we’ll probably break down and give him eggs or pasta if he hasn’t eaten well for a day or two).

3.  mr. happy stuff is still debating whether or not to join me on this journey.  he will sorely miss caffeine (and i will sorely miss my helpful husband if he is grumpy and headache-y from lack of caffeine!) and many of the foods on the “yes” list are not his favorites.  it’s totally up to him whether (and to what extent) he participates, but i’m not sure i’ll be able to withstand temptation if both my boys are eating quesadillas and ice cream!

4.  this will be more of a time commitment than i’m realizing and i’ll kick myself some night because it would be so much easier to just throw together a pot of chili.

5.  i’ll feel hungry all the time.  and grumpy.

6.  i’ll do all this work and won’t feel any different or see any noticeable results.

7.  i’ll regret choosing to do this in winter instead of waiting for summer when grilling and fresh veggies would be so much easier to acquire.

here are my goals during the cleanse:

1.  follow the menu guidelines (liquid breakfast and dinner, solid lunch, snacks as needed, but don’t eat for at least 12 hours between supper and breakfast, eat only from the “yes” list).

2.  try to find time for exercise (this may fall by the wayside if my homework load is heavy at the beginning of the semester).

3.  try to be mostly tv-free (we’ve gotten in a rut lately and i want to try spending more time blogging, cooking, and maybe doing yoga?  sewing?  making art? reading?? see parenthetical note above.)

here’s what i plan to blog:

1.  what i ate each day

2.  how i’m feeling / thoughts and reflections about the process

3.  before/after pictures (maybe…)

ridiculously ambitious?  perhaps.  anyone else want to play along?  at this point, i’m thinking of starting on friday, january 27.  i’ve got menu plans somewhat sketched out and i bought my first round of “weird” winter foods (celeriac?  white winter radishes that look like turnips?  parsnips?  lamb chops?) at the farmer’s market this morning.  Deep breaths…. getting ready to dive into the unknown.