Day Two Easy Love

On to Day Two. I woke up feeling ok. Nothing out of the ordinary.  On the menu today was:

1 Aloe Vera elixir. this was absolutely disgusting. Yuck! I'm glad it was just a shot and not a full bottle of juice. According to Organic Avenue, "Aloe vera juice is known to help to detoxify the body and cleanse the colon."  If they say so.

2 Pear Juice.  This was sooooo good. Absolutely delicious, I felt great after drinking it.  The fiber in it really helped move things along (ahem) soon after drinking it. 

3 Veggie Vibe. Carrot, Celery, Cucumber, Beet, Spinach, Swiss Chard, Spinach, Lemon, Ginger, Parsley.  Delicious, light and tangy. It was also very filling and that's a good thing.  I only drank about 3/4 of the juice as I just did not have room for more liquid.

Side note: although there is no tomato in it, I think with a little bit of vodka it would make a really great bloody mary ... that is a bit sacrilegious, no?  To be thinking of cocktails while doing a cleanse. Sigh.

4  Arugula Sprout Salad.  This was amazing. I loved it even more than the Caesar salad I had the first day.  The salad is topped with little balls of something  called "carrot cheese."  I swear - they tasted just like a goat cheese. Yum!

5 Sunflower Falafel.  This was very yummy, but I felt stuffed and could only finish half of it. Which left me pretty amazed, because I am a big eater. 

About an hour or two after having the falafel I went to a Physique 57 class.  I felt good, but no crazy wave of energy until after class was over.  I walked out of class feeling great.  I had so much energy I felt like I could go dancing or take a Zumba class.  I felt amazing.  The down side is that the energy surge lasted until way past midnight. That could be a combination of working out in the evening and eating such nutritious foods.

6 Chocolate Mousse. Cacao, Almond.  I like chocolate, but I am not a serious chocolate lover.  I like it in small doses. This was very tasty and tasted like dark chocolate, but I only ate half of it.

7 Coconut Mylk. Coconut meat and coconut water.  Holy moly was this good.  So fresh, so filling, so creamy and so freaking delicious. I happen to love coconut so this was a real treat for me. Just thinking of it makes my mouth water.  It's on the menu for day three, so I am super excited to have it again.

I felt great on Day Two.  No headaches, no light headed feelings.  I am amazed that I could have so much energy without drinking any caffeine and with eating such small portions.  Woo hoo!! On to Day Three.

Day One Easy Love

In my efforts to focus on nutrition in 2012, I started a 5 day raw foods/juice cleanse yesterday - it's the Easy Love cleanse from Organic Avenue.  The way it works: each morning for the next five days Organic Avenue will deliver all the foods and juices I will need for the day.  At night I leave the empty juice bottles outside my apartment door and the delivery person from Organic Avenue will take them when he or she drops off my next delivery.

There are 7 "meals" for each day and the meals consist of juices, elixirs and raw foods.

I opened my apartment door and found this waiting for me at 8am:

Everything was well packaged and clearly labeled. 

Here is a group shot of all the goodies:

The night before my first delivery I received an email from Organic Avenue with instructions and nutritional information about each item.  My mantra for the day is to be "I am happy, I am joyous, I am free."

Throughout the day, I am to think about this: "The only thing you have to remember is how fortunate you are." Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

I like that there is a spiritual/emotional side to this cleanse. 

On to my review of each item!  Each item is to be consumed in order and the order is explained in Organic Avenue's email the night before.

#1  The chlorophyll elixir. 

I drank this like a shot and it tasted like grass. Not terribly unpleasant, but a little gag inducing for first thing in the morning.  It is very (very) dark green.  

Here is the empty bottle so you can compare the two.

Within a few minutes of drinking this, I felt very alert.  As though I had taken a shot of espresso instead. I was very worried that I would not be able to function in the morning without coffee and had considered that if need be, I would go ahead and have coffee during this cleanse.  I am happy to report, it was not necessary today.  According to Organic Avenue, "chlorophyll has the power to regenerate and cleanse your body at molecular and cellular levels. It's known to help fight infection, heal wounds, and promote the health of the circulatory, digestive, immune, and detoxification systems. Chlorophyll consumption also increases the number of red blood cells, thus improving how the body absorbs and uses oxygen." Who knew?

#2  Master Tonic: alkaline water, lemon agave syrup and cayenne.  I think this is similar to the lemonade/cayenne tonic that people drink on the master cleanse.  This was just ok.  I think on a really hot day, this would be delicious ice-cold. But since we are facing an arctic cold front right now, I did not want to drink anything that was ice cold, so I let it stand at room temperature for a while before finishing it.  

According to Organic Avenue, "purified alkaline water hydrates cells, lemon rinses organs, spicy cayenne burns out toxins." The tonic itself is spicy and tangy.  Don't let these little jars fool you - they hold a substantial amount of liquid (16 ounces to be exact).

#3 Carrot juice.  This was eye opening and absolutely delicious.  This juice was earthy and slightly sweet.  Within minutes of drinking this, I felt a slight buzz.  Maybe it's all the nutrients in carrot juice, but I felt really great.   I started getting hungry soon thereafter and it was a good thing that my first solid food was up next.

#4  Caesar Palm Salad: Olive Oil, Miso, Sea Palm, Scallion, Sesame Seed, Seaweed. This did not look very appetizing to me, but I was getting so hungry I did not care.  Boy was I wrong - this salad was delicious! The dressing was savory and the salad has these crunchy things (you can see them in that small container on the lower right side of the salad box) that are soooo good.  They add a nice touch of flavor and crunch to the salad.  Once I ate the salad, my hunger pangs went away.

#5 Lasagna: Tomato, Olive Oil, Zucchini, Basil, Pine Nuts, Sun Dried Tomato, Oregano, Walnut, Cabbage, Bell Pepper, yellow squash.  Very good!  Very flavorful and had some good texture to it - I let it stand at room temperature for about an hour before eating.

About an hour and a half after having the lasagna, I went to a Physique 57 class.  I had heard from others on similar cleanses that they did not notice much of a difference in energy levels when exercising and so I was expecting the same.  The first half of the class, I did not notice much of a difference.  And then during the second half of class I got a great wave of energy.  The class was still tough, but I was able to really power my way through the ab work and planks.

#6 Chia Seed Tapioca Vanilla: brazil nuts, Chia Seed.  I happen to love tapioca pudding, so I enjoyed this treat.  It wasn't too sweet and had a nutty taste to it. It was good, but not exceptional. 

#7 Cashew Hemp Mylk: Alkaline Water, Dates, Irish Moss, Cashew, Hemp Seeds, Himalayan Salt.  This was the most filling of all the juices I had today. It was creamy, slightly gritty and a bit sweet.  I really enjoyed it and it filled me up.  I did not got to bed hungry. 

End of day thoughts:  I feel good.  No prolonged hunger pangs.  No headaches.  I have good energy. I think I had about 2,000 calories today - which helped me work out as usual. I'm excited for day two!

Reset Button

New year, new goals. 

Fitness and Nutrition.  A year and a half ago I tore a small muscle and the meniscus in my right knee.  The recovery process was long and painful.  Last October I discovered Physique 57 and have been going to classes about 5 times a week. I love Physique 57.  Love it!  I have never felt better and I plan to continue in 2012, but I also need to add some focus to nutrition.  So next week I will be doing a 5 day raw foods/juice cleanse via Organic Avenue.  I'm nervous and excited at the same time.  I think it will be a good way to reset the button on food & nutrition.  I will post here about my experiences.

Travel.  I want to travel more in 2012.  I already have a week long trip scheduled in July to the Outer Banks in North Carolina.  I cannot wait!  I want to plan long weekend trips out of town and one big vacation 2012. 

Fitness Retreat.  I want to go on a fitness or nutrition retreat in 2012. I did a yoga retreat in August 2010 and was amazed at how good I felt after only 3 days of vegetarian food, yoga and meditation.  I'd like to do something similar again in 2012 at minimal cost to me.

Career.  I will figure out the next step in my career in 2012.  This is one area that I need a lot of guidance with because I honestly don't know what the best next step should be.  I'm asking for guidance and advice regarding my career.  I am happy now - nothing to complain about in that department - but it's time for me to start planning what comes next.

Social Activties.  I will plan many more social activities in 2012.  I am in a rut and always end up doing the same things: dinner dates, brunch dates and movie dates.  Time to shake things up!  I'm asking for help in this department, if anyone can recommend activities in NYC, please let me know.  I'm not afraid of attending things solo, either. 

Hobbies. I will update this blog with more frequency in 2012. I will educate myself more on interior design and will post more photos I took myself.   Especially since I just bought a fancy new camera - the Canon G12!! 

Charity.  I am down on my knees grateful to life and to all the people that have helped me along the way.  Down on my knees grateful.  I have the financial freedom to pursue my goals and that's a luxury not many people can enjoy in our current economy.  I will be more charitable in 2012.

It's gonna be a good year!