time for a healing cleanse

Well, February is here and what an interesting month it is. Here, it rarely dips below freezing, flower buds are blooming, and birds are chirping every morning. After a lovely holiday, complete with lots of food and celebration, my eating and exercise schedule was a little all over the place, and my body has been craving more structure with diet and lifestyle.

What a better backdrop then to embark on a new year healing cleanse, to rest, re-energize, and reset the mind, body, and spirit.

I've been craving a cleanse for quite some time now. After my high energy summer, I realized that my high raw, fruitarian ways were simply not working anymore. I started to experience some skin issues, and also gained a bit of weight from not keeping up with my yoga practice as dedicatedly as I had been before my trip out West, and also slight changes in diet (read: eating more natural sugar and not enough protein).

Once I moved in the fall,  I lost most of my additional summer weight partly due to some lifestyle stressors related to moving, and also from a fast-paced work schedule. In other words, I hit the ground running as soon as I got off the plane. For the first few months here, I wasn't dedicating enough time and energy to my yoga practice, and as a result my muscles were very weak. Slowly, however, the weight started to increase again, and I was feeling less than stellar about my overall muscle tone.

After making some recent modifications to my diet, I realized that I was still practicing old habits (i.e. still eating a high natural sugar diet while integrating more protein sources). After a while, the sugar was starting to take over the protein balance of my meals, and I knew that something had to shift. Coupled with my recent experience of symptoms related to adrenal fatigue in the past few months, I needed to start honouring what was happening by making important diet and lifestyle changes.

Enter my version of a getting back on track healing cleanse. This cleanse isn't a juice or smoothie fast, or a Master Cleanse. Rather, it is my version of what my body needs right now; more protein and less sugar. And did I mention I've also done away with caffeine? For the first time in 12 years, I have started to live each day without caffeine.

Oh, how I simply adore caffeine, but I felt that this old habit also needed a rest. Not that I'm much of a coffee drinker, but I started to drink almond mylk lattes and Americano's lately, not to mention the plethora of matcha green tea that found its way into my morning cup. I had also been experiencing some sleep issues recently, and although I would only drink caffeine first thing in the morning, I felt that omitting this stimulant would help to reset my body clock.

So, out with the sugar, caffeine, and in with the protein. Bye bye, matcha.

Here's a look at what's on My Healing Cleanse Plan. This is one similar to my recent healing diet, but with none of the old sugar triggers. In addition, this plan has me eating every few hours, with three meals and two-three snacks per day, and intaking lots of water.

My Healing Cleanse Plan also follows some of the recommendations for people with adrenal fatigue issues, namely vitamin support, a low carbohydrate/high protein diet right in Omega 3's, and avoiding high potassium foods like bananas, which can worsen one's symptoms.

And I can't forget to mention the importance of yoga, getting back into my practice on a daily basis at home, and taking classes 3-4 times per week.

Out with the old:

- no caffeine (including tea, coffee, and cacao)
- no high sugar fruits (no bananas, dates, grapes, melon)

In with the new:

- some fruits allowed (low glycemic berries, lemons, apples, kiwi on occasion)
- lots of greens (kale and chard in smoothies or salads)
- pulses/legumes (lentils, chickpeas)
- quinoa
- organic, local, free range eggs
- organic goat yogurt
- nuts (almonds and brazil nuts)
- seeds (hemp, chia)
- superfood powders (spirulina, he shou wu)
- adaptogen herbs (cordyceps, holy basil, maca)
- bee pollen
- sea vegetables
- avocados
- lots of vegetables
- herbal teas and lots of water
- chaga tea
- vitamin supplements: Mega Food Adrenal Strength, Vitamin D, Prairie Naturals Hair Force

I've been keeping a food journal for each day of the detox, in order to chart my experience with eating this way, and also to see if my sleep patterns get back on track. I don't really portion my food, or count calories either; I just eat wholesome foods to feel satiated and satisfied. Here's a look at the first few days of the cleanse:

Day 1

Breakfast
- chia seed pudding with goji berries and crushed almonds
- 2 eggs prepared with sauteed mushrooms, cabbage, and kale

Snack
- handful of walnuts

Lunch
- quinoa and chickpeas mixed with mustard and nutritional yeast

Snack
- cabbage coleslaw with sesame seed dressing

Dinner
- miso soup with carrots, leeks, garlic, cabbage, nori and kelp

Snack
-almonds

Sleep
8 hrs

For the first day of the cleanse, I noticed I was really hungry. Usually, with hunger pains I would grab an apple or some fruit. I find that I have to retrain my thinking habits about hunger and sweets with this new cleanse. This day was a bit more of a higher fat day as well, which I think was due to my body craving fruit sugar.

As for any caffeine cravings, I was surprised that I didn't really have any. I sort of missed my morning routine of reaching for my morning matcha, but apart from that, I made it through the day with no withdrawal symptoms.

Day 2

Breakfast

- chia seed pudding with goji berries and crushed almonds

- 2 eggs prepared with sauteed mushrooms, cabbage, and kale

Snack

- an apple

Lunch

- Green Smoothie (pear, swiss chard, hemp seeds, maca, spirulina, chaga tea) 

Snack

- 8 brazil nuts

- green salad with carrot and nutritional yeast, sesame seed dressing, nori 

Dinner

- Mushroom Soup recipe from Healthful Pursuit

- quinoa and chickpeas

Sleep

8 hrs

I wasn't as hungry on Day Two of the cleanse, but looking back I can see that my body was readjusting to this new eating approach. I was still craving more higher fat foods to take the place of my fruity snacks.

The Mushroom Soup recipe I made for dinner is inspired by one recently posted on Healthful Pursuit. I really enjoy this recipe, and made a few modifications, using leeks instead of onions. I highly recommend this delicious vegan alternative to traditional cream of mushroom soup - such a velvety soup made with almond milk and cauliflower.

I'll be sharing my experiences with this cleanse in the next few posts, and I hope you stay tuned for the progress!