We did it! Today is day seven and marks the end of the cleanse. It definitely was harder than I originally thought it would be but boy do I feel good! You know how you feel so yucky and bloated after a week of eating out or just eating junk food? Well I feel the complete opposite! My dear friend who did the complete cleanse (21 days) told me that after a week is when you start feeling more energized, less headaches, and overall healthier. I’m going to take her word on it because 7 days was quite the accomplishment for me.
This weekend I finished the cleanse by making protein smoothies for breakfast-one strawberry pineapple and 1 mango pineapple. For lunch on Saturday I went to Sweet Tomatoes were I indulged in all you can eat salads and soups. For dinner I had left over roasted red pepper soup. Sunday I had Panera for lunch and got a classic salad with sesame seed dressing.
What I learned from this cleanse: My weakness (what I mostly craved) is bread. I would catch myself dreaming about eating a delicious, warm piece of garlic toast. I also missed snacks like goldfish and chips. I also learned that I take eating delicious food for granted. Or just having food to eat in general. I can’t imagine what a starving human being goes through every day. As silly as it sounds, this cleanse just fueled my desire to fight childhood malnourished and starvation even more. Did you know that 15.9 million children lived in food insecure households in 2012?* That’s a lot of children not knowing if they will go to sleep on a full stomach. If you haven’t already chosen an organization to get involved in for 2014, please check out Feeding America.
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If you decide to do the cleanse please let me know! I would love to hear about your experience and what you ate. Even if you don’t do the cleanse and you just make some of the recipes I shared-let me know! Hope 2014 is already off to a great start and that you are making it better than 2013.
*Coleman-Jensen, A., Nord, M., & Singh, A. (2013). Household Food Security in the United States in 2012. Table 1B.USDA ERS.
