Clean Days 1 - 3 (Take 3, I think!)

So while I have not talked about it the last few days we are back on the clean program.  Third times the charm, right?  In order to help curb some of our cravings we have upped the amount and variety of food we are eating a little and adding "clean" desserts.  I haven't really weighed myself over the past few days or anything but I'll probably give a general update some time over the weekend for all my stats.  So what I have been eating?

Monday (Day 1)

AM - Mango & Coconut Milk Smoothie + vitamin/supplements
Lunch - Hummus Crusted Chicken with Rosemary and Lemon; Steamed Broccoli & Asparagus; Chocolate Cupcake (NOT clean) + supplements
Snack - Watermelon & Cherry Popsicle
PM - Berry Smoothie with Coconut Milk & Cinnamon

Tuesday (Day 2)

AM - Energy Smoothie with Almond Butter & Cardamom + vitamin/supplements
Lunch - Stir-Fried Vegetables & Chicken with Buckwheat Noodles; Watermelon + supplements
Snack - Watermelon & Cherry Popsicle
PM - Mango & Coconut Milk Smoothie
Snack - Coconut Seduction Brownie w/cherries

Wednesday (Day 3)

AM - Blueberry, Carob, & Almond Milk Smoothie + vitamin/supplements
Lunch - Grilled Chicken Breast with Grilled Vegetables; Coconut Seduction Brownie w/cherries + supplements
PM - Mango & Coconut Milk Smoothie; Few pieces of Watermelon

I also consumed 75 to 100 oz of water, or water w/lemon & mint, and 17 oz coconut water.

As you can plainly see we have upped the amount of food we are eating and we are adding the hemp protein to all of the smoothies.  I'm also now consuming at least one coconut water a day due to the heat.  I did slip up a little on Monday when I ate that cupcake, but I just couldn't bring myself to throw it away.  It was the only one we had left over from the holiday weekend so I figured one cupcake is far from the end of the world.  Last night we also ate the coconut seduction brownies after dinner which wasn't ideal but we didn't make them until later (had to make our own coconut milk first) and I wanted to try one warm.  Today the one I had was cold and still just as good, although as with regular brownies you can't beat a warm one.  I say a warm because you don't actually bake the coconut seduction brownies and they don't really taste like a brownie.  They taste different, but still just as delicious, especially paired with the fresh bing cherries.  You got that great combination of salty and sweet.  We also made the Popsicles ourselves so they would be "clean."  The recipes for both are below and I would suggest you give them a try.  They are simple, healthy, guilt-free, light and delicious - perfect for summer!  Most of the ingredients we used below were organic.

Coconut Seduction Brownies (serves 4)

• 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1 cup walnuts
• 2 tablespoons brown rice syrup
• Pinch of Sea Salt
• Sprinkle of cinnamon
• 1/4 cup water (just enough to thin)
• 1/4 cup carob or cacao (we used cacao powder)
• 1/4 cup protein powder (we used organic hemp)
• 1 tablespoon coconut butter
• 1 tablespoon raw nut butter (almond, cashew, hazelnut, etc.) - we used almond
• 1 cup wild organic cherries for garnish sliced in half (we used bing)

Blend in a food processor until a smooth dough forms.  Next press the dough into a square pan (we actually used 4 ramekins lined with plastic wrap) and slice into sections, you can serve immediately when they're soft and delicious (and slightly warm from mixing) or store at room temperature or in the fridge for bars that stay soft and full of rich chocolate flavor.

Watermelon & Cherry Popsicles (makes 4)

• 1/4 Seedless Watermelon, cut into pieces (minus the rind)
• 20 Bing Cherries

Use either a blender or a juicer to puree the watermelon.  We used our juicer so we didn't have to worry about removing/any stray seeds!  Cut the cherries into halves and remove the pits.  Divide the cherries equally into 4 Popsicle molds and then top of the watermelon puree.  Put in the freezer until frozen solid, about 3 to 4 hours, and enjoy!  


Obviously the Popsicle recipe above can be adjusted so you have enough for how ever many Popsicle molds you have (if you don't have Popsicle molds and don't want to buy any just use an ice cube tray!), and based on the size of your watermelon.  I also found this to be a bit sweet so next time I think we will also add the juice of one lime.  You could also use a variety of fruits and the variation is practically endless.  Plus the best part is that they are much better for you than the Popsicles you would buy at the store because they don't contain extra sugar, food coloring, etc!  We currently have some coconut milk/coconut flake Popsicles in the freezer and I can't wait to see how they turn out.

Today on my way home from work I got a new product at the store (Whole Foods), Badger Anti-Bug Balm.  I bought it because this weekend while I was out weeding I got at least 10 mosquito bites.  It is citronella & rosemary scented and certified USDA organic.  Obviously its also DEET free. It also scores a 0 in the EWG database!  I'll write more about it once I've had a chance to try it and out see how well it really works.  I'm also expecting some new soap and toothpaste to arrive tomorrow so I'll probably be talking about all these items over the next few days.  Interestingly enough while talking to my mom on the phone tonight about all this she started saying how "oh this product is terrible, and oh you shouldn't use that."  I just thought to myself why didn't you ever tell me this?  Although I guess that explains where I get my hippie ways...

Buyer Beware!

So yesterday I briefly mentioned about how companies like Tom's of Maine & Burt's Bees are generally viewed by the public as "greener" options.  While this was true at one time, you know back before you could buy it at Wal*Mart or Target this is sadly no longer the case with many of there products.  Part of the reason you can now buy either brand so many places is because they now have the resources of a multi-national conglomerate behind them.  In 2006 Tom's of Maine became part of Colgate-Palmolive.  While the original owners still have a stake in the company, slowly over the past few years Colgate-Palmolive has been changing the original formulations and using more chemicals, but they didn't really want you to know that part.  In 2007 Burt's Bees was purchased by the Clorox Company.  I mean come on, you want the same people who make your bleach to make your lip balm right?  Now thats not to say you should no longer buy there products.  Many of them are still good and one could argue there ingredients are more natural than other brands even though they may be just as harmful in the long run.  Sadly more than not it seems like the US (FDA/EPA) approves something for general use only to ban it later after using the general population as lab rats and realizing it has horrible side effects.  Basically it just means you have to do a lot more research before you buy something rather than going on the brand name its self.

I like so many people fell for the name recognition of a Tom's of Maine product recently.  When we started clean one of the things it talked about in the book was how many deodorants contain aluminium.  It is basically used to seal your pores shut so you wont sweat.  Well the problem with this is aluminium in large enough quantities is a neurotoxin.  Now there is an on going debate as to weather or not the amount of aluminum in deodorant is enough to cause any damaging effects in humans (some studies say yes, others say no).  However, when you really think about it, at the end of the day do you really want to be putting something that is a known neurotoxin on your body daily when you can easily find deodorants without aluminium in them?  You can read more about the debate here.

So in search of my new aluminum free deodorant I found Tom's of Maine 24 hour odor protection long lasting aluminum-free unscented deodorant.  I thought great, this has to be better then the Degree Adrenaline series that was I uses a large amount of aluminum and just went ahead and bought it.  Well once I started doing research on deodorants I found out in the end that while my new Tom's of Maine deodorant may not have aluminum in it its first ingredient is propylene glycol.  So what is propylene glycol?  It is "natural gas from the earth" used for consistency.  See because its "natural" I don't really need to worry.  Also, really?  There was nothing else you could use for consistency besides natural gas?  My old deodorant scored a 4 over at EWG, and the new Tom's of Maine deodorant only scores a 2.  So while it is definitely an improvement over my other deodorant many of Tom's of Maine's other deodorants scored a 4 as well.  Not exactly the "green" image most people hold of this company and not nearly as eco-friendly as I had hoped.  Especially considering the effects of drilling for natural gas on the environment.  On the bright side though it does contain several natural ingredients like aloe and sunflower seed oil.  I can at least report that the deodorant does work.  I didn't sweat at all today (it was in the 90's here).

Through my general research it seems that when it comes to deodorants it is rather hard to find a truly natural or totally green way that works.  Apparently you also have to rotate them frequently.  So while I love the idea of getting rid of every chemical in my house, practicality has to come first.  I'll probably keep looking, but for the time being I'll probably just stick with the Tom's of Maine deodorant.  Its not ideal, but nothing in life ever is and either way I'm lowering the amount of daily chemicals I'm exposed to.

Change!

So I'm going to be changing the way and what I blog about.  First off, I'm changing the title and layout (although you probably already noticed that!).  While I was originally just going to talk about my journey through clean I'm going to start branching out and talk about how we are going to "clean" or detox our lives, talking more about food in general, and sharing some healthy and not so healthy recipes.

So whats happened since my last entry with clean?  Not a whole lot.  I made the decision on Friday to go off the program for the weekend.  Mostly because I knew it would be too hard for me to resist a hamburger on Memorial Day.  I had my hamburger smothered in cheese sauce and I have to say I made the right choice!  Although I also ate a ton of watermelon and cherries too.  Nothing makes me happier than all the fresh fruit in summer.  I also took the opportunity to make some chili (recipe below).  One thing I have noticed though since being on and off clean is that my cravings have all but ended.  While I still want things, say a Krispy Kreme donut, if I really think about it in my head yes I do want it, but I don't crave it and can now realize I just don't need it and move on.  I even had a cookie (oatmeal raisin from the Whole Foods bakery) the other day that I ended up just throwing away because I found it was way too sweet for me now.  Food is just starting to taste different, but in a good way.  I can also no longer stand the taste of soda (regular/zero/diet) so I just stick to water, coconut water, or tea (that we make), which is better anyway.  Tomorrow though we were back on clean.

So our chili recipe is below, I don't claim to be an expert or anything and we are constantly changing it.  Also while we used canned tomatoes this past time we will probably switch that due to the fact that they are now finding BPA in canned vegetables.  I think the next we make this I will try just buying some organic tomatoes, cutting them in half and roasting them on the grill and then crushing them and adding them to the chili.  You could easily cut this in half or freeze it for later.

Chili Recipe - Makes 6 hearty portions or 8 regular portions

• 1 large onion, diced 
• 3 to 4 cloves of organic garlic, diced
• 1 1b of grass-feed organic ground beef (other options in include organic turkey (if trying to cut the fat) or lamb, or a combination of them.  You can go vegetarian just by increasing the beans)
• 8 oz organic black beans (dry that have soaked overnight)
• 8 oz organic kidney beans (dry that have soaked overnight)
• 2 28 oz cans of Fire Roasted Crushed Tomatoes (we use Muir Glen Organic)
• 1 Organic Beef, Turkey, Chicken or Vegetable Stock (we only use this if the beans start to soak up too much liquid and add it as needed to give us the consistency we like)
• 3 to 5 thai green or habanero chilies, diced 
• 1 package of frozen organic corn (we use frozen because you can also find it)
• Chili Powder
• Cayenne Red Chili Powder
• Cumin
• Coriander
• Hot Sauce
• Sea Salt
• Ground Pepper
• Olive Oil

Start by sautéing the onion, chilies and garlic in a small amount of olive oil in a hot pan.  After a few minutes add the meat and brown until fully cooked.  We also add in a few dashes of the spices (chili powder, cayenne, cumin, coriander, pepper & a couple shakes of hot sauce) at this time to help add flavor to the meat itself.  We don't really measure anything, we just do it based on our own taste, generally just two or three shakes at this point.  Once it is done remove the pan from the heat and drain off any fat/excess liquid.  We then place the meat into a large Crockpot and add the beans, frozen corn & canned tomatoes.  At this time we will also add additional spices (chili powder, cayenne, cumin, coriander, pepper & a couple shakes of hot sauce) to the sauce and mix everything together.  We will then set the Crockpot to high and leave it for the next 6 to 8 hours (or however long it takes the beans to fully cook - you'll know when they are done, theres nothing worst than the taste of an undercooked bean!) checking on it every hour or so.  If you don't have a Crockpot you could easily leave it simmering on the stove (I used to make mine in a large dutch oven).  As it cooks we add the stock as needed when we check on it to get the correct consistency and to keep it from drying out.  Towards the end we will once again adjust the spices and add salt to taste.  You may find that you need more salt than you would normally add to things since the only ingredient you added that contained some level of salt was the tomatoes.

In a previous entry I talked about the fact that we were looking to try a protein powder that wasn't soy, wheat or egg based (sticking with the elimination diet).  We ended up buying Nutiva organic hemp protein powder (it also has the addition of fiber).  Although we also found a brown rice protein powder we may try as well.  While it changes the color of our smoothies to something that resembles a swamp, I have to say its not bad.  In our smoothies that contain cinnamon or other spices you don't even notice it.  It fruit smoothies it adds a nutty flavor which is nice since we often use almond milk.

In addition to just doing the clean program and being stricter about what we buy (we have now almost switched over to purchasing everything we can organic) I decided its time to start phasing out all our old cleaning products and beauty products, etc as they need to be replaced.  A great starting resource is the EWG Skin Deep Cosemtics Database (EWG = Environmental Working Group).  As almost everyone knows trying to determine what is good and bad at the store as far as anything from toothpaste to shampoo can be confusing as all get out.  Especially with so many companies using terms like "natural" on packaging for everything these days.  The other problem is many brands that people just think are safe and purchase blindy, such as Tom's of Maine or Burt's Bees are now owned by larger companies who have changed the original formulas and made them just as toxic as everything else on the market.  So while you think you are getting a better product, and generally paying a higher price, the sad truth is you aren't.  Over the weekend I tried to research four things I knew needed to be replaced:  toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo/conditioner & body wash.  Now I thought it would be pretty easy, boy was I wrong - especially when it came to the shampoo and conditioner.  Everything is either toxic or cost $30 a bottle (for the shampoo I'm just looking into making our own).  As we get things and try them out I'll let you know how they work out.  

Trying to be an informed consumer is just exhausting!

Clean Day 2 & Day 3 (Take Two)

So while I was feeling remarkably better yesterday I decided to take a night off from updating.  We worked outside in our yard again and I just didn't have the energy to update.  Tonight though I'm taking a night off from the yard. My Monday night meditation was wonderful, I plan on doing it again tonight.  I don't know that I have time to do it daily, but I'm going to try for at least every other day.   I've noticed my energy has gone back up again which is great.  I also feel better all around.  The only problem I've been having lately is a cramp in my right calf muscle.  I'm going to try drinking a coconut water tonight and see if that helps after doing a light workout.  Why would that help, see the image below...just one of the many reasons to drink coconut water!

So what did I eat Tuesday (Day 2)?

8 am - Tropical Smoothie + vitamin/supplements

Noon - Grilled Chicken Breast with Grilled Vegetables + supplements

5 pm - Mango & Coconut Milk Smoothie

32 oz water, 68 oz of water w/lemon

What did I eat today (Day 3)?

7:30 am - Blueberry, Carob, & Almond Milk Smoothie + vitamin/supplements

11:30 am - Sweet & Sour Chicken with Mixed Greens + supplements

5 pm - Mango & Coconut Milk Smoothie

32 oz water, 68 oz of water w/lemon, 17 oz coconut water

If you would like to try the Sweet & Sour Chicken with Mixed Greens you can find the recipe here (page 24).  I thought it was great.  The only thing I would add is a serving of steamed brown rice on the side.

As you can see this time around I'm really upping my water intake mostly due to the heat.  I know I said I would post stats/picture etc. but I think I'm just going to wait until this weekend.  At the moment its too much hassle to take a picture (my dog got our memory card the other day!).  We are also going to start adding hemp protein powder to I smoothies I think.  We can't use most protein powders because they are either soy, egg or wheat based but apparently the hemp one is ok.  I'm going to do more research and I'll share what I find.  

Clean Day 1 (Take Two)

Today is going to be really short because I have a killer headache.  I think due to the fact that we cut out the elimination diet portion and ate out so much this past week my body is starting to detox really quickly.  So maybe I shouldn't have had a huge slice of chocolate cake yesterday?  I'm hoping by tomorrow I will start to feel better.  That said, I would recommend that everyone do the elimination diet first before starting clean.  You'll thank yourself for it and I did not feel this bad the first time around when we included it.  I also had to do some work out in the yard tonight (we are putting in a new bed) and that probably didn't help but I wanted to get my plants in the ground (it was 90 today!).

So what did I eat today?

8 am - Pineapple, Lime & Mint Juice + vitamin/supplements
11 am - Stir Fried Vegetables & Chicken with Buckwheat Noodles + supplements
5 pm - Mango & Coconut Milk Smoothie

Water (100 oz)/Coconut Water (17 oz)

Be ready to see those three things a lot.  There are some of my favorites however we will be trying out two new clean recipes this week and they are recipes anyone can access.  Depending on how they are I may or may not post a link to them.  That said I'm going to meditate and take a bath then go to bed.  Hopefully by tomorrow I'll be feeling better.  If I am I'll post all my stats again and a picture.

Delayed a Day!

So we had to delay the start of clean by a day.  Today we decided to redo a section of our front garden so doing the clean program today just wasn't going to work since we had planed on only drinking juice today.  Working outside, a high of 90, and only consuming juice just isn't a good combination.

Day 9 & Beyond - What Went Wrong...

So what happened after day 8?  Day 9 was going great, we stuck to the clean program for most of the day.  However, that night after consuming our smoothie we decided we had to eat something else.  Lunch that day was not good and I think we were both just hungry.  I know I personally only consumed half of my lunch.  Rather than deciding to make something from the clean program and just having two clean meals (which would have been the smart thing to do) we went out and ate pizza and bread sticks.  We then followed that up by a trip to the store where we continued to go down hill buying not one, but two packages of oreos and ice cream.  The next day we found ourself eating fast food and buying cupcakes (ironically enough after going GNC to buy more supplements).  Then last night at 9:30 pm we ordered a pizza, wings and bread sticks.  Needless to say we fell off the wagon and slid down hill out of control.  At the end of the day we failed to reach our goal.  I say failed on purpose because by failing we can learn what went wrong and fix it.

I have a couple of observations I now want to share.  My first comment is immediately after eating the first non clean food I felt different.  That foggy head feeling thats hard to describe but that we so often experience came back and my vision got a little blurry.  I've also noticed over the past several day my energy level has fallen back to what it was prior to clean where I'm always exhausted, something I didn't experience on the program.  I have also gained some weight, although surprisingly little considering how much crap we have eaten and my face is starting to get puffy again.  This past week while we have been eating terrible things for dinner we did stick to the smoothies in the morning, our supplements, and eating a lunch from the clean menus.  We also continued to leave the 12 hour window between meals (last meal/first meal of the day), although it was hard today not to eat anything until 10:30 am.

So why did we fail?  I've been thinking about this for the past few days and I have a come up with a handful of reasons.

• We thought this would be really easy.
• We didn't really think about our cravings and examine why we had them.
• Will power is not unlimited, if you don't allow yourself anything, eventually it will run out.
• We went to the regular store (it is surprisingly stimulating when you are used to shopping at places that do not carry highly processed food in colorful packaging)
• We used each other to justify cheating rather than why we should stay on the program.
• About half of the recipes we tired were not good.  This becomes a big deal when you only eat one solid meal a day.  
• I don't think we were consuming enough protein.
• Maybe we aimed to high saying we would do all three weeks right out of the gate rather than saying we will start with a week and then go from there based on how we felt.

There are probably other reasons as well, but these to me are the big ones.  I really think the biggest problem was we just jumped into the program, thought it would be a breeze and thought we knew better than doing everything he recommends and that we could will away our cravings.  I would also recommend for anyone who may consider doing this that you give yourself time ahead of starting to try out a lot of the recipes.  This way you will really love what you are eating when you are on the program.  Like I said, if you only have one solid meal a day you better like it and want to eat it.  When you don't like it and don't eat most of it you just end up hungry and craving all the things you shouldn't have.

So what are we going to do now?  Well we have talked about it and we are going to try again.  We will actually be starting tomorrow.  We are taking everything we learned from our failure and using it to make sure this time we will be successful.  We are eliminating the elimination diet phase though.  We were seeing benefits on the clean program and I still fully believe it is worth doing.  So stay tuned, tomorrow will be Clean Day 1, Take Two!

Clean Day 8

Today was once again just a lazy day.  It feels really good just to do nothing.  Today was really easy.  I had energy and didn't really have any cravings despite the fact that I was doing research for our upcoming vacation and spent a solid hour researching restaurants.  Although, it may have just been that I was so focused on planning and taking care of stuff I didn't have time to let me mind wonder.  I would still like a cookie though!  Todays lunch was amazing - easily restaurant quality, so that probably helped.


So what did I eat today?


8 am - Berry Smoothie with Coconut Milk & Cinnamon + vitamins/supplements
12:30 pm - Asian-Flavored Tuna with Stir Fried Vegetables + supplements
6 pm - Tropical Smoothie


While we normally plan on doing only liquids on Sunday we bumped it to Monday this week because we wanted to make sure our vegetables for todays lunch were as fresh as possible.  Cooking the meals on the weekend also allows us to enjoy them warm.  Normally during the week we do not heat them up again since they are meant to be eaten cold or at room temperature.

Berry Smoothie (those are the jars we take all our liquids in)

Tuna (Amazing!)

So after a week on the clean program I can say I am seeing some changes.  All of my stats went down over the past week.  I also think I am settling into my bodies natural ideal weight.  While they suggest you put the scale away during clean and let your body find its own natural balance, I like the idea of keeping track at least once a week so I can make diet modifications as necessary.  At this point I'm mostly concerned with loosing too much weight.  This weeks stats are below.


Stats for Sunday 5/15/2011:

Weight:  144.2 lbs (change of -2.8 lbs from 5/8)
% Body Fat:  12.5 (change of -0.7% from 5/8)
% Water:  70
BMI (Body Mass Index):  20.1 (change of -0.4 from 5/8)

Weekly weight/body fat % lost (goes back to when we started eating better in Nov 2010)

All that said, I guess the best way to compare is with actual pictures of me!  Although, they are not exactly the same since the picture last week was taken during the day and this weeks picture was taken at night.  For all future pictures I'll try to make sure they are taken during the day, especially the last once since that is when there should be the most change visible.  The things that are supposed to change over time is the white of your eyes becoming brighter, your skin becoming tighter, you skin will clear up/better complexion, and the overall puffiness most people have in there face is supposed to go away.

Day 1 (start of Week 1)

Day 8 (start of Week 2)

While I think it is harder to truly compare the photos due to the difference in light (I may take one tomorrow during the day) I think it is safe to say there are some differences.  It will be interesting to compare as we go through the coming weeks since the detox becomes more effective the longer you are on it!  Tomorrow I'll try and touch on how we keep everything organized and plan for the week.

Clean Day 7

Hooray!  We made it through the first week!  I have to say though I really want to eat out.  I miss that type of food.  While the lunches certainly are delicious, they don't make up for a good old fashioned plate of greasy food.  I also really miss carbs.  We never really ate like that often, but I would be lying if I said we didn't at least indulge once a week.  I miss it, but we are staying on this for at least another week, probably all three.  There is really no reason to stop.

I'm feeling pretty good overall.  We had a very low key Saturday where we basically did nothing.  It was nice.  I honestly can't remember the last time we didn't go anywhere on the weekend.

So what did I eat today?

8 am - Blueberry, Carob, & Almond Milk Smoothie + vitamins/supplements
12:30 pm - Parsley & Mustard Flavored Lamb Loin and Spinach Salad + supplements
5:30 pm - Mango & Coconut Milk Smoothie

I also had organic green tea with ginger and lemon this afternoon.  It was very good.  I didn't do two things today though like I should have.  The first was I didn't work out.  Not because I didn't have the energy but mostly just because I didn't feel like it.  Secondly, I completely forgot to take any pictures and todays lunch would have made for a great one.  If it means anything, I remembered after I finished everything...

Clean Day 6

So today has been a roller coaster of energy.  Either I have it or I don't.  I don't think I consumed enough water yesterday because today while I was at work I got so light headed I could hardly do my job.  It happened when I was out working in an area outside and away from my desk so getting water wasn't possible.  By the time I got back up to my desk I wanted to pass out.  After drinking a whole nalgene bottles worth of water (32 oz) I finally began to feel better.  So lesson for today, drink lots and lots of water.  I also drank a coconut water when I got home just to make sure I was good.

Today I also had a LOT of cravings.  We went shopping for the week tonight and at the store I just wanted to buy everything I couldn't have.  I even spent five minutes or so in the cookie aisle trying to find a gluten free, egg free, sugar free cookie I could eat.  I found one that was close (I probably could have gotten it and been ok) but I couldn't do it.  In the end I figured if I'm going to do this I need to do it right.  I mean when you stop and think about it 21 days is nothing in a year.  That leaves 344 other days I can whatever I want.  It probably wouldn't have been very good either anyway.

So what did I eat today?

7:30 am - Pineapple, Lime & Fresh Mint Juice + vitamins/supplements
12:30 pm - Halibut with Capers, Lemon, and Fresh Thyme, Served with Swiss Chard + supplements
5 pm - Tropical Smoothie

Lunch was fantastic! That is something I will definitely make again.  While I don't think I'll follow the elimination diet once we are done (I don't know how I could live without things like pizza!) I do know at least we will try and incorporate more clean meal recipes into our every day life.  I figure every little bit helps.

I'm going to be taking lots of pictures this weekend so stay tuned, plus tomorrow is the end of week 1!

Clean Day 5

Well unfortunately due to the problems blogger was having yesterday I was unable to post.  Mostly yesterday I was just tired so in a way it was nice to have a night off from blogging.  I just ended up watching a couple of movies and going to bed early.

So what did I eat?

7:30 am - Energy Smoothie with Almond Butter & Cardamom + vitamin/supplements
12:30 pm - Quinoa Salad with Chicken & Mixed Greens + supplements
6 pm - Fennel & Apple Juice

Clean Day 4

So today was pretty good.  Felt great and had lots of energy.  I've noticed I no longer feel tired in the afternoon and I am no longer tired when I get home.  The past two nights I've even worked in the yard.  Before clean I was fighting just to stay awake waiting for dinner.  I also have a lot more energy in the morning and can get ready in half the time.  I'm still feeling those muscle pains in my lower back though.

So what did I eat today?

7:30 am - Mango & Coconut Milk Smoothie + vitamin/supplements
1:30 pm - Stir-Fried Vegetables and Chicken with Buckwheat Noodles + supplements
5:30 pm - Carrot & Ginger Soup (Apple Juice)

I also drank a lot of water and a coconut water like normal.  We had the apple juice tonight in addition to the soup because neither one of us liked the soup very much.  We each only a small amount so we made the apple juice to add something else.  Also, if you have never had fresh apple juice you should probably go out right now and find some.  I have to say sadly we honestly haven't liked any of the soups in the recipe book.  We decided from now on we wont make them.  While this week has brought several misses in the meal department it is at least helping us plan for next week based more on what we know we will like.  Being able to plan is key if you decide to do this program.  Keeping track of everything you need and how long it stays fresh for can be rather complicated and it will require at least two trips to the store a week.  We used to only go on Saturday but we now have to supplement it with a mid week trip or else too many of our greens don't stay fresh or we run out.

So I know I promised pictures, but I forgot every time I ate.  So....now presenting my dogs!  Adorable...

Sweeney

Sunny

Technically we have a third dog, however she just runs around the backyard like a chicken with her head cut off so getting a picture of her is difficult to say the least.

Clean Day 3

What a difference 24 hours can make.  I'm feel much better today.  I was also so excited to eat some real food I ate my lunch before 11 am.  The only thing I'm suffering from today is muscle aches, especially in my lower back.  However, that can be a symptom of detox so hopefully something good is happening.  I'm also continuing to loose weight.  While the primary purpose of clean is not to loose weight it is obviously a side effect of such a drastic change in diet.  The only thing I am finding is that I am becoming tired really quick if I don't keep up with the water.  In the past couple of days the day time high temperatures have been in the upper 80s/low 90s and because I spend part of my time outside at work afterwards I'm left feeling really exhausted.

So what did I eat today?

8 am - Kale, Pineapple & Chia Seed Smoothie + vitamin/supplements
10:45 am - Stir-Fried Vegetables & Chicken with Buckwheat Noodles + supplements
5:45 pm - Blueberry, Cacao, & Almond Milk Smoothie

I have to say, I'm growing to hate kale.  Especially the super dark kale.  When you mix it into all these smoothies etc. I can't help but feel like I'm drinking lawn clippings with some sweetness added on top to make it some what less bitter.  We are also finding that while all the recipes state that they make two portions, some of them clearly make more.  Today's lunch for example is easily 4 meals.  I don't know how one person would ever just finish half of that at one time.  We have run into the same problem with almost all the soups as well, however we have yet to really try a soup we like.  So that wont really be a problem since its doubtful we will make any of them again.

Well I guess thats all for today.  I'll try and post some pictures tomorrow!

Clean Day 2

Wow!  So the past 24 hours have not been easy.  I think due to the fact that we only did liquids yesterday and that it obviously carried into today until lunch time I began to detox faster than I would like.  Needless to say up until this afternoon I did not feel well.  I suffered some of the worse symptoms of detox and it was no fun.  I'll leave it at that.  If you really want to know all about the bad detox symptoms you can go here.

So what did I eat today?

8 am - Energy Smoothie with Almond Butter and Cardamom + vitamins/supplements
12:30 pm - Macro Bowl with Quinoa and Ginger-Miso Dressing + supplements
7 pm - Apple, Ginger, Lemon and Spinach Juice

The smoothie this morning was pretty good.  It reminded me of fruity pebbles.  I'm not sure how it had that flavor profile but it did.  Lunch was not so good, I hardly ate 1/4 of it.  Between not feeling well and just really not liking the way anything tasted it was sad since I had been looking forward to eating some real food.  Last night I began craving steak and today when lunch didn't pan out how I had hoped it would I almost gave up and went out and got something.  However, I just drank a bunch of water and the craving passed.  Tomorrow we are having chicken in our lunch so I think that will help.  My partner is actually making it now and its taking everything I have not to go in there and eat it all!  We have decided its probably better for us to try and include more protein in our lunches either with chicken, lamb or fish to help curb our cravings.  I've never had lamb before so I'm excited to get to try something new.  I have to say I'm surprised I'm having meat cravings as I never really was a huge meat eater.  Generally before this I only ate meat maybe two or three times a week.  I thought I would miss sweet stuff more but I guess not.

Tonight I plan on doing pilates and relaxing.  I've been going to bed earlier and just listening to my body.  If I feel, tired I sleep.  I've also been destressing my life as much as possible.  Even today I had a terrible day at work, but I just went with the flow and didn't stress, it was really nice.  Normally I'm the complete opposite.  One thing did get to me today though, my Starbucks gold card came.  It just makes me sad because I can't use it until June and I spent a lot of money at Starbucks to get it!  I guess if I really wanted to use it I could go to Starbucks and get tea, but who really gets tea at Starbucks?  Oh well, I guess life goes on!

Clean Day 1, Part 2

So as promised here are two pictures.

Apple & Butternut Squash Soup

Me - Clean Day 1

I took the photo of myself just against one of our living room walls so that any change would be more noticeable due to a lack of background.  I'll also try and post some full body shots along the way.  However, now its time for a nap.  So far today I've mostly just felt tired and a bit weird at times, however I assume thats the detox process beginning.

Clean Day 1, Part 1

So today is our first day on clean!  Although it honestly just feels like another day since we have already been following the clean recipes, etc.  I'm a little tired today but I'm letting my body tell me what it can handle.  I'm also still waking up early, although today was better than yesterday since it wasn't until 7:30 am.  Each Sunday I'm going to post a picture and my weight related stats to keep track of how I'm progressing and so I can compare from beginning to end.

Stats for Sunday 5/8/2011:

Weight:  147 lbs
% Body Fat:  13.2
% Water:  69.4
BMI (Body Mass Index):  20.5 (calculate your BMI here using the NIH calculator)

The chart below actually tracks my weight and % body fat since we began our journey into getting into better shape last November.  As you can see early on I weighed myself every week (Sunday's) so I could keep track as to whether or not things were working (ie amount of exercise/what we were eating).  Towards the end as I was nearing my goal (losing 50 lbs) I stopped weighing myself as frequently.  I will start weighing myself every Sunday again so that we can see the difference during clean.

Just to put those stats into perspective based on my height (5' 11") healthy ranges for those stats are below:

Weight: 136 - 179 lbs based on BMI
% Body Fat:  18-24% is considered avg; 14-17% is considered fit, 6-13% is common for athletes (these are calculations for men, to see calculations for men and women or to find out more go here)
% Water:  60 to 65% is the avg for men (50 to 60% for women)
BMI (Body Mass Index):  18.5 to 24.9 is considered normal weight for everyone

For more information about just getting in shape or how to maintain a healthy weight check out the CDC's website for lots of useful information.  For the record I do not attest to the fact that any of these figures are correct.  They are just general information I have found through my own personal research.

So what will be eating today?

8:30 am - Mango & Coconut Milk Smoothie + vitamins/supplements
12:30 pm - Apple & Butternut Squash Soup + supplements
6 pm - Green Juice

As you can see today we are only doing liquids.  Ideally they would be all juice, however since today is technically our first day on clean we add a soup and smoothie to make it a little more filling.  This will also help make the detox less intense.  We plan on doing only juice every Sunday.  Normally we wouldn't start off on our first day like this, however since we have been following the clean program unofficially for the past few days and followed it yesterday we felt comfortable doing this.  We picked Sunday's because we can just lay around the house and do nothing.  That way if we are tired we can just take a nap, etc.  I'll update again later today with how I'm feeling and post pictures!

Lastly, Happy Mothers Day to all the moms out there...

Elimination Diet Day 6

Well today was our last day on the elimination diet and I'm feeling great.  I've noticed I'm starting to have a lot more energy.  I've been waking up ahead of my alarm clock during the week and now I'm doing it on weekends.  I work up at 5:30 am this morning, needless to say I forced myself to go back to bed.   While we wont start clean until tomorrow we basically did a practice run today.  So what did we eat?

8 am - Berry Smoothie with Coconut Milk and Cinnamon + vitamin/supplements
2 pm - Adzuki Beans and Brown Rice + supplements
7:45 pm - Green Smoothie

Then like normal I drank a lot of water with mint and a coconut water.  Despite the fact that we only had one solid meal today I never felt hungry.  It was hard for me to finish my lunch today and after our smoothie tonight I feel stuffed.  The reason our lunch was so late today because we didn't get to the store early in the morning like we normally do.  I'm hoping this past trip to the store was the list time we will have to by new staples used heavily on the clean program (ie chia seeds, almond butter, etc).  Some of them are rather expense, especially when purchased organically, so between that and the great increase in organic produce we are purchasing our grocery bills have nearly doubled.  Although I will say it is rather nice doing 90% of our grocery store shopping in the produce section since it makes the trips really fast since you pretty much skip the rest of the store.  I figure in the end the larger grocery bills probably even out since we wont be going out to eat anymore which is something we used to do at least once or twice a week.

I can also sense my palate changing.  While I still talk about how much I want to go out to various places or how I want to eat a whole cake if I think about it, I really don't anymore.  Although I have noticed that in general since we started eating considerably better even when I would allow myself to buy something that was bad for me it never tasted as good as I remembered it tasting.  It usually just ended up tasting way to salty and fake.

I know I said I would post my stats and pictures today but I forgot to weigh myself this morning so it will have to wait till tomorrow.  Stay tuned...

Elimination Diet Day 5

So I think both the week and the change in diet have finally caught up with me.  While I had energy today at work, I'm now exhausted.  We even ate two solid meals today due to the fact that we need to do some yard work tomorrow.  Over all though I'm happy about how all this is progressing.  I do in fact feel better.  It is weird to think though that I haven't had any packaged foods or sugar in several days.  That said, I have thoroughly enjoyed all the meals.  Tonight I tried quinoa for the first time and I look forward to using clean as a way to expand my diet.  So what else did I eat today?

8 am - Apple, Ginger, Lemon & Spinach Juice + vitamin/supplements
12:45 pm - Roasted Chicken with Balsamic Vinegar, Garlic, & Rosemary Wild Rice Pilaf + supplements
6 pm - Roast Salmon with Broccoli Rabe & Quinoa

Than like normal I drank lots of plain water and a coconut water.  I think I may also try some herbal tea tonight and just try and relax.  Tomorrow is our last day on the elimination diet and Sunday we will start clean!  Tomorrow I'll make sure to post pictures along with all my stats so as each week progresses we can see the progress.

Elimination Diet Day 4

Today we once again stuck to using only clean recipes.  I also stopped taking my allergy medication in preparation for starting clean on Sunday.  Luckily living in the South most of the trees (which I'm allergic too) have bloomed by now so stopping my zyrtec only leads to a runny nose every now and then.  I also stopped having my morning snack this morning.  I just decided not to pack it today and in the end I didn't even miss it.  I think my morning snack was more of a mental thing because most of coworkers eat then too, rather than me actually being hungry.  So what did I eat today?

7 am - Pineapple, Lime & Mint Juice + vitamin/supplements
12:30 pm - Easy Pineapple and Avocado Gazpacho + supplements
6:30 pm - Roasted Chicken with Balsamic Vinegar, Garlic and Rosemary Wild Rice Pilaf

So basically today was a sample of what it will be like when we start clean.  Additionally I drank lots of water with lemon and mint.  I have to admit, since we have scaled things back slowly this wasn't a huge challenge.  I wasn't really even hungry most of the day. I even found it was hard for me to finish my gazpacho.  I also turned down a cookie offered to me by a coworker!  I have noticed I am starting to loose weight again as well.  Lastly, I think I'm beginning to see some signs of detoxification taking place.  Manly I'm starting to get headaches off and on now.  However, the generally go away if I drink a bunch of water.

We have also began the process of detoxifying our lives.  We have been making an effort to buy greener products and use less plastic.  We are also starting to switch over things like our deodorant, mouthwash, toothpaste, laundry detergent, etc. that contain chemicals that can be harmful.  The one area I am sort of resistant to go green is in our cleaning products despite the fact that I know this is where most of the toxins in a home are.  We tried several green cleaners previously and found that while many of them do work (some don't) its a lot more work.  Although I guess at the end of the day thats just an excuse.  Either way we are only changing things out as we need to replace the old ones.  While I would love to just toss everything thats potentially harmful that would not be very cost effective or realistic when you live on a budget.

For those of you who read my entry on a few of our favorite things I just found out there is also now an app available for the iphone, etc. for "How to Cook Everything," & "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian."  For more information you can go here.  The apps are $4.99 each, however there is a free version called "How to Cook Everything Essentials."  You can read about it here.  There was also recently an interview with Dr. Alejandro Junger about Clean that includes some more great looking recipes.  I think when I finish clean I'll celebrate with some Coconut Seduction Brownies!  You can read it here over at The Chic Foodie Report!

Elimination Diet Day 3

Today was a huge success for me.  Today was the first day where I only ate things off of the elimination diet.  It was a lot easier now that we don't have anything tempting left in our house.  I'm still working on getting rid of my AM snack.  Today I just ate half of what I normally would and my hope is by Friday I no longer need/want it.  I also can't explain it, but I am starting to feel different.  So what did I eat today?

7 am - Tropical Smoothie + vitamins/supplements
9 am - 1/4 cantaloupe
11:30 am - Chilled Cucumber Soup with Mint; a few pieces of cantaloupe + supplements
6 pm - Warm Salmon & Asparagus Salad w/Pesto (pictured below).

All of these items were from the clean recipes.  To get an idea of what it will look like once we are on the clean program remove the cantaloupe and switch the Salmon and Soup.  As you can see the portion for your daily meal is plenty!

You can actually find the recipe for the Warm Salmon & Asparagus Salad w/Pesto online here (its on page 34).  All I had to drink today was plain water, water with mint or coconut water (the coconut water is in addition to at least 64 oz's of pure water).  I'm also finally starting to get in the swing of things and the routine in general which is making it easier.  

We have also found that it works really well to transport all our liquid meals (smoothies, juices, soups) in canning jars you can buy at the store.  This way if we need to make them ahead of time (the night before) we can just put them in the fridge and then grab them and go.  It is also nice not having to worry about it possibly spilling.  They also now have plastic lids you can buy for the jars that can go in the dishwasher which makes cleaning all of them really easy.

I'm still drinking the 2 tablespoons of olive oil at night.  We couldn't find any alternatives for this so I have decided to just tough it out for as long as I can take it.  I found if I drink it like a shot its easier and then I drink water/brush my teeth right away to get rid of the taste.  Tomorrow we are upping the challenge by adding a juice as our AM breakfast rather than a smoothie.  During the clean program to increase its impact we plan on doing at least one day of juice only, probably on the weekend so we don't have to do anything.  I'm becoming increasingly excited as we move forward and hope others will join in!  If you need some motivation did you see what came out today about potato chips?  YUM!

Elimination Diet Day 2, Almost!

So today was the second day on the elimination diet.  It was a lot easier.  I was able to stay on the diet until dinner when we had to finish off the rest of our tilapia and ice cream (ok so we didn't have to finish off the ice cream, but I wanted to!).  The biggest thing I am struggling with at this point is skipping my morning snack.  Once we start the clean program we are only supposed to eat three times a day, while you can have an AM/PM snack, its better if you don't.  I would really like to get the most out of the program so I really want to be able to avoid it.  I also thankfully didn't miss my coffee as much today and was able to drink all my water for the day at work.  Drinking 64 oz's of water a day has always been a challenge for me mostly because I've never been a big water drinker.  It's helped though trying to make it more interesting by adding lemon or mint.  I also take two 32 oz nalgene bottles to work with me so I can keep track of how much I'm drinking.  So what exactly did I eat today, its as follows:

6:45 am - Blueberry, Cacao & Almond Milk Smoothie + vitamins/supplements
10 am - Organic Apple
Noon - Spinach w/olive oil and red wine vinegar; 1/2 to 3/4 cantaloupe; handful of raw almonds + supplements
6:15 pm - Baked Tilapia w/lemon, brown rice & steamed broccoli
6:30 pm - ice cream

The only thing I drank today was water.  Starting tomorrow we will be on the full elimination diet as we are now out of everything that isn't included on the diet.  One tip I can share is if you do decide to do this it will be easier if you eat or throw away everything you aren't allowed to eat so you aren't tempted, or better yet plan ahead so you can eat it all.  This will give us 4 full days on the elimination diet before we start clean.  It should be enough for us since the majority of what we were eating was already on the approved list.  How long you have to do the elimination diet prior to starting the clean program is based on your diet.  Obviously the more junk food, prepared foods, and take out you eat the longer you will need to be on the elimination diet to give your body time to adjust.  Even eating pretty clean before I have found it difficult to make a full switch.  While we ate healthy we still allowed ourselves to go out or eat things like ice cream.  You may also notice that everything I ate before dinner tonight was not cooked which is again something that takes some getting used to.

All and all though I feel pretty good.  I had more energy today and I didn't get a headache.  Although due to all the water I did have to go to the bathroom what seemed like every 10 minutes.  I am excited to see how I feel tomorrow once we are on the full elimination diet.  We are also going to have two liquid meals, a smoothie for breakfast and soup for lunch out of the clean recipes.  Actually even our dinner tomorrow comes from the clean recipes.  Although once we are on the actual clean program we will have our liquid meals for breakfast and dinner and our actual meal at lunch.  We are just trying to ease into this to give our bodies time to adjust and to make sure we don't just get frustrated and give up.

So I have two more things before I wrap up my entry today.  The first is another tip for if you decide to do this program.  Due to the number of supplements you should take while you are on it I recommend you either buy them online or go to GNC and get their gold card.  You have to pay for the gold card, but it gets you additional savings on top of the sale prices.  We were even able to get the gold card on sale and its already paid for its self.  Originally we bought some of our supplements at Whole Foods while we were grocery shopping and I'll just say I now get the joke "Whole Paycheck."  However, keep in mind that the good supplements are always going to cost more than the cheap ones, as with everything in life you get what you pay for.  You can also buy them from on the clean program website. For anyone who may be tempted to try this program there are two places online you can get free recipes that are part of this program (these are not the ones included in the book).  You can find them here and here.  These recipes were designed to go with the program sold online, however I'll warn you it isn't cheap!  Although I guess based on everything we have bought over the past few days it wasn't cheap either.  However, if you have patience (I don't) and can wait and buy stuff over time before you start it shouldn't be too bad.  Also, keep in mind if you do the program odds are you'll do it again, so consider it an investment.  At least when it comes to the juicer and blender anyways.  Plus who doesn't love a good mixed drink?

Lastly, you will need a good blender since you are replacing a large number of your solid meals with liquid ones.  Like most people we had one that was ok for the occasional mixed drink but really wasn't for every day use.  So we did a little research and found a great and affordable blender.  It is the Kitchen Aid 5 Speed Blender.  You can find them pretty much anywhere, however we got ours at Macy's on sale and were able to use a coupon.  We have used it several times now and can't believe how well it works compared to our old one.

If anyone has any specific questions feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer them!  Starting tomorrow I'll start posting pictures of some of our meals.

Elimination Diet Day 1, Sort of...

So today was our first day on the elimination diet, sort of.  I say sort of because we still were trying to eat everything that was not part of the elimination diet that would go bad before we finished clean.  As it is we had already have thrown some stuff away, but you have to draw the line some where.  I drew it at the cupcakes and the last of the Easter chocolate.  The big thing I eliminated from my diet today was coffee.  It turned out to be harder than I thought.  I usually drink 3 to 4 cups every morning.  As a result I've been some what tired all day and have had a headache.  However, I'm comforted by the fact that by tomorrow hopefully it will be better.  My lunch also did not meet the diet requirements because it was left overs from last night.  That said my breakfast, morning snack, and dinner will meet the requirements.

So what exactly is the elimination diet?  Its a dietary program based on removing all the foods from our diet that are known to cause food allergies, sensitivities, and disruptions to the digestive process.  It is used as part of the clean program because when your body generates allergic responses to food you may have eaten it is consuming energy that could be used to detox and repair functions.  For a list of what is and isn't included in the elimination diet click here.

We have also begun trying to modify our normal eating behavior/pattern so it is more in line with the clean program.  This morning we had our first clean program smoothie (Mango & Coconut Milk) rather than our normal bowl of cereal or oatmeal.  I also skipped my afternoon snack and began attempting to drink my full 64 oz of water a day.  I also plan on changing my normal exercise routine since it would be too intense once I start the clean program.  Normally I do at least 30 minutes of pilates, 15 minutes of strength training, and 45 minutes on the elliptical or a 2.5 mile run.  My goal has always been to do this routine five days a week but more realistically I do it 3 to 4 days a week and balance it out with working in the yard on weekends.  I'll be replacing that routine with 20 minutes of pilates and 10 minutes of meditation every day during clean.  I figure I can add stuff back in depending on my energy level.

The other thing we began doing today was taking all our supplements.  I kind of felt like an old person carrying around my little AM/PM pill holder.  I think total for the day I've taken around 15 pills.  We originally tried to eliminate a few of them by doing things like eating a whole clove of raw garlic instead of taking a garlic pill.  We thought this would be easier and save us some money.  Have you ever tried to eat a whole clove of raw garlic?  While it can be done if you like the taste of fire in your mouth and don't mind offending everyone with your breath, I wouldn't recommend it.  Pay the few extra dollars for the pills and learn from my mistake.  The other one I'm having a problem with is taking the olive oil.  You are supposed to take two tablespoons a day.  I thought it wouldn't be a problem since I love the taste of olive oil and we regularly cook with it.  What I do not love is the feel of two tablespoons of olive oil going into and in my mouth.  Today at lunch I couldn't even eat my salad because I could taste the olive oil in the dressing.  We may need to look for an alternative here!

As we go along I'll try and take pictures of the food we are eating, etc.  I also think I'll include pictures of myself along the way since that will be the best way to compare my results from beginning to end.

A Few of Our Favorite Healthy Things

So in my last post I said I would share a few of our favorite things.  I'll start with a three healthy cookbooks we found that we cook out of almost every week:

1.  The Golden Door Cooks at Home:  Favorite Recipes from the Celebrated Spa

I LOVE this cookbook.  Everything we have made out of it has been amazing.  A few of our favorites are the Roasted Poblano, Corn, and Potato Soup; Miso Soup; Parmesan Chicken Schnitzel with Warm Potato and Garden Bean Salad and Creamy Mustard Sauce; Adobo-Marinated Grass-Fed Flank Steak with Spinach Salad and Roasted Poblano Dressing; Cottage Griddle Cakes with Blueberry-Peach Syrup; Indvidiual Sharp Cheddar Frittata with Potato, Spinach, and Red Onion; Vanilla Creme Brulee; & Chocolate Chip Cookies.

You didn't misread, those last two are desserts!  There is a whole section.  We were blown away by how good the creme brulee was.  You wouldn't even know it was a much healthier version.  The only down side to this book is some of the recipes are rather complicated and require a lot of ingredients.  That said its perfect for foodies, anyone who wants to treat themselves and not have to feel guilty, or anyone who loves to entertain!  You can find it on Amazon here.

2.  A New Way to Cook by Sally Schneider

This is a great cookbook for every day.  Many of the meals can be thrown together in minutes or even made several days a head.  Additionally, a lot of them require ingredients that are easy to find and inexpensive.  Again, everything we have made out of this cookbook has been great.  To get a better idea about what's in this cookbook its probably easiest to go over to Amazon since you can look inside it (including the index).  Make sure you try the Ravioli with Garlic, Olive Oil and Crispy Sage!  

3.  How to Cook Everything Vegetarian:  Simple Meatless Recipes for Great Food by Mark Bittman

We have the vegetarian edition because my partner was originally a vegetarian when we met several years ago.  However, there is a cookbook by Mark Bittman entitled "How to Cook Everything," that may be more appropriate.  This is also a great stand by cookbook with easy healthy recipes.  It also a great resource at almost 1,000 pages.  To get a better idea of whats in this cookbook head over to Amazon as you can look inside this cookbook.  Some of our favorite recipes include the Potato & Leek Soup (it has 3 different variations) and the Pasta with Broccoli.  We also consult this cookbook for a variety of information such as how long to cook various rices, etc.

Some our favorite health food finds include:

1.  Coconut Water

There are several varieties of coconut water and they are readily available at various grocery stores and even on Amazon (a great way to buy them if you drink a lot as they give you free shipping and a discount).  Coconut water is a natural way to hydrate!  I live in the South and do a lot of work outside and coconut water re-hydrates me faster than Gatorade ever did.  It also makes a great post-work out drink.  When buying coconut water make sure you look at the package to make sure its not from concentrate. Vita Coco and ONE are two of the brands to look for.  I wouldn't recommend ZICO because it is from concentrate rather than just fresh coconut water.  They also come with several flavors added, however these contain more sugar.  I've heard its also great for curing hangovers, but I haven't had a chance to try that out yet.    To find out more about coconut water head over to Fooducate to see the 10 things you should know.

2.  Fooducate Blog/App

If you have an iphone this is a must have app (find it in the app store for free).  I believe they are working on one for the droid as well.  It allows you to scan items at the grocery store and then gives them a grade based on what they do/don't contain.  It will also give you better alternatives.  It makes it easy (and fun!) to buy better food at the store.  If you don't have an iphone you can read there blog here.  It is very informative and covers a variety of food related topics.  They also have really fun giveaways and on the blog they play games like "guess whats in the picture (see below)."

Any idea what that might be?  It's Chicken!  Yummy...

3.  Breville JE98XL Juicer, Two-Speed Juice Fountain

So you are probably thinking, a juicer, really?  Why would I want to buy something that I'm not going to use, will be a pain to clean up, and will just sit in a dark corner some where?  So now that we have covered why you shouldn't buy one, lets cover why you should.  This juicer is great.  If you do decide to do the CLEAN program you will have to invest in a juicer because as part of the program you make a variety of juices at home.  This juicer isn't huge, so it wont take up a lot of space and makes great tasting juice.  This morning we made a Green Apple & Fennel juice.  Its also pretty easy to clean up and parts of it are even dishwasher safe.  We bought ours at Macy's because we got it for a great price on sale, but they can be found all over the place.  This model is in the medium price range, but they have a variety of juicers that should meet most budgets.  Lastly, once you have had your own fresh juice it will hard to go back to anything pre-made from a bottle, so consider it an investment in your health!  I mean you don't need juice with added sugar and chemicals do you?


As time goes by and I continue to discover new things I'll try to share them.