I have consciously changed the way I eat of the past six years, from a diet high in refined, prepackaged foods, to one that is primarily based upon fresh produce, dairy and lean meats. Recently, I have tried to take this healthful eating approach one step further by drastically reducing my meat intake, implementing 'meatless' days 1-2 days each week, and subscribing to purchase only organic produce, especially those known as 'dirty' products.
For a great list of the "Dirty Dozen" most recently published, check out this printable poster.
Now, as I read more about holistic nutrition and wellness, I am beginning to understand more about how the body processes foods and the benefits that detoxification can bring. My life is pretty hectic and busy, and I am always hungry, so I don't think I am prepared to handle a full 24 hour water-only fast. Instead, my goal is to eat only fruits and vegetables for one day each week (preferably on those days I do not work out, as I find my hunger excessive after a good run or boot camp class).
According to an article by Dr. Lisa Young, there are many health benefits to including more fruits and vegetables in your diet. And, because fruits and vegetables are easily digested, offer many of the essential macro- and micro-nutrients we require, and are known as 'cleansing' foods, opting to eat only these foods for one 24 hour period each week should prove healthful and enlightening.
Today is my first day attempting to try this diet and I am curious to find out how I feel by tomorrow morning. Breakfast consisted of applesauce, cherries and an apricot, and almost 2 hours later, I am starting to feel a tad bit hungry, but honestly, no worse than normal. The hardest part for me is not having coffee, though; I have had some green tea, cheating a little bit. Overall, at 9:30am, I feel pretty good considering I'm running on little sleep after a wonderfully late night watching Wicked!
Hmmm, but by 10:00am, my stomach was rumbling like crazy! Good thing I planned my meals today so that I could have a snack around this time. Thank goodness for Jugo Juice, with their decent selection of fruit and vegetable smoothies that do not contain any yogurt or sorbets (or other fillers). An Abundant Acai was an excellent morning snack choice!
Finding an easy lunch that fit the bill and wasn't just cut up raw vegetables proved difficult. I thought soup would be a great idea, and went searching through the grocery stores for a suitable one. In all my searches, I found one, Amy's Split Pea soup, that did not contain dairy, nuts, or other ingredients not technically allowed on 'fruit/vegetable diet day'. I was surprised at how many vegetable soups contain dairy (usually some cream variant) or pasta (always refined)! Luckily, the split pea soup was quite enjoyable. Of course, my lunch also consisted of a sandwich bag full of baby carrots, cherry tomatoes and red pepper slices, so I couldn't get completely away from the raw vegetables! Currently, I am feeling full after this meal, but I don't imagine it will last long. (I entered my food intake into my MyFitnessPal app to see how I am doing with caloric intake, and I'm quite low - no wonder I'm starving!)
An hour after finishing my lunch, I was feeling very hungry again. My afternoon snack consisted of a cup of strawberries, an apple, and another apricot. Thinking this should tide me over until I get home from work, I opted not to bother with the planned Jugo Juice for today. However, by 2:30 pm, I am starving once again! After a quick walk through the +15 (without my wallet), I decided my stomach's growling could go on no longer...an orange juice was definitely needed!
At this point, my willpower is dropping dramatically and I am starting to crave foods I never want - donuts, cookies, steak...I found a scrumptious-sounding avocado pasta recipe earlier that meets the criteria of this cleanse as long as I swap the pasta for spaghetti squash. At least I have a (hopefully) yummy dinner to look forward to when I get home! Lack of sleep is catching up to me as well. I am very much looking forward to tomorrow morning's breakfast!
By 5:00pm I was starving again! Hastily, I made a meal of spaghetti squash with a blended mixture of half a tomato, lemon juice, half an avocado, and spices, and added chopped carrots and red pepper to it. This was all surprisingly tasty, though I wished I had cooked the pepper a bit. Initially I felt full enough that I thought I could sustain the evening without more food. But, around 6:30 I was hungry again. A glass of orange juice didn't help much and alas, I gave in and had two pieces of toast (with an all natural, all berry spread, so at least that was okay).
All in all, I probably could do this cleanse again, but should aim for 2 days in a row. I felt fine, aside from the constant hunger, and found myself in the washroom a lot more than normal. Psychologically, I know that eating simply fruits and vegetables is going to help cleanse my GI tract and make me feel better, but I crave protein and whole grains after a few hours.
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