Last night, David and I dreamt about all the foods we would enjoy eating today, our first official day off the cleanse. David salivated at the thought of starting the day with eggs, turkey sausage, grits and an english muffin from our favorite breakfast place, J Christopher's. My taste buds drifted in a different direction - cake. I still wanted to indulge in a moist piece of layered chocolate cake that I missed on my birthday last week. I could just imagine the texture of the thick, sweet icing rolling around in my mouth.
These provocative visions never came to fruition. Early this morning, our neglected coffee pot remained silent as we discovered our desire to continue on the healthy path we began 3 weeks ago. I automatically opted for sprouted grain toast spread with vegan butter, and David was happy to have his cornflakes and soymilk.
I went to the farmer's market without a list thinking that on a whim I would purchase items that we had denied ourselves for 21 days. Near the end of the shopping trip, my buggy looked the same way it has for the past several weeks - piled high with fresh produce and vegan fare. The only exceptions were organic brown eggs, antibiotic-free turkey breast and seitan. David expressed his desire to add meat and eggs back into his diet. Previous to the cleanse, I would always treat myself to a vegan chocolate chip cookie straight from the oven in the market's bakery. I would take my time choosing the cookie with the perfect number of chips. The thought to stop for this tasty treat never crossed my mind, and I was surprised by this realization as I stood in the check out line.
I thought our old habits of caffeine, sugar and gluten would be hard to break; but it seems our new habits got the better of us. I've decided to continue on the cleansing diet for a while longer. David is adding animal protein back into his diet. Other than that, he will try to maintain the healthy eating style we have grown accustomed to recently. Maybe it's true afterall - it only takes 21 days to change a habit, good or bad.
I will continue to blog my thoughts and our experiences as they relate to food, dining and health. Bon appetit!
Today's Menu:
Breakfast: I had sprouted grain toast with vegan butter, a half glass of oj and Pero with almond milk. David had cornflakes with unsweetened soymilk.
Lunch: I had a vegan protein pack shake with almond butter and soymilk. David had a turkey breast sandwich with vegan mayo on sprouted grain bread.
Snack: Natural trail mix
Dinner: Havana black beans served over brown rice.
For those of you interested in our weight loss resulting from this cleanse, David has lost over 6 lbs.; and I have lost 5 lbs.
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I finished more than a month ago and can relate. I have made few changes. I have had a few pieces of dark chocolate here and there, no gluten(although I have loosened up to having soy sauce now and then), caffeinated tea a few times, no alcohol and besides an occasional bowl of yogurt and a few eggs, I'm mostly vegan, too. 21 days does seem enough to foster some great new habits. I have a husband and two daughters(7 and 5) who are on board with me as I cook vegan nightly(although my 5 year old loves her hamburgers!!). I have really loved the cookbook Moosewood Cooks for Health and HIGHLY recommend it! Best of luck to you moving forward. I enjoyed reading all of your blog. Not many folks can relate to this cleanse, it seems ominous to most! As well it should, it takes a lot of will power and self exploration. Kudos to you and your husband.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments, Christine. It's inspiring to know that other families are trying their best to stick with a vegan or mostly vegan diet. I will definitely check out the Moosewood Cooks for Health that you recommended. Congrats to you for successfully completing the cleanse and adopting new eating habits.
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