January cleanse: week 1 recap

Hello again! I'm a few days into my Crazy Sexy Diet cleanse and I'm feeling great! After a few fibs, I'm still quite proud of where I am so far. Now it's day 6 and tomorrow is my first fasting day, so here's a recap of the week:

I have always been a huge breakfast person, so It's actually a bit of a shock (but also a time-saver!) to not be eating solid foods in the morning. Lemon-cayenne water, tea and green juice has become my morning routine and so far I'm loving it. Just a bit of advice: be VERY careful shaking cayenne into your water, mine came out way too fast and it became a glass of spicy with a bit of water... The book suggests to make green juice yourself but I did buy a bottle of Bolthouse green juice for the days I didn't have time to do it. My Ninja blender was all I had to make juice, so I had to strain the pulp out of my "smoothie" with my metal mesh strainer, which is not fun at all. A juicer would come in VERY handy for this kind of lifestyle, but I have a million kitchen gadgets so I will put up with the pulp for now. My spinach-celery-apple-banana juice still turned out great, but I was left over with a big portion of pulp and I didn't want to waste it. Again, +Eco-Vegan Gal came to my rescue with her suggestion to make flax crackers with leftover pulp. I added ground flax seeds and sesame seeds to the pulp until it was firm enough to hold its shape, formed little cracker shapes and baked them! Horray for not wasting!

Food restrictions haven't been a big shock, since I have been easing my way (baby steps!) into the healthy plant based diet for a few months. I've been making huge batches of bean salads, quinoa, bowls (grain+bean+veggie+sauce) and cutting up fresh fruits and veggies to have on hand. I've been making regular romaine salads, spinach salads, sushi salads, warm kale and mushroom salads, and I'm still excited for the next salad I'll come up with! Being creative and having fun is the best part of salads because they are so versatile. Packing lunches has become a pretty big priority, but it's definitely worth it. During a grocery trip, I discovered an amazing new product called Soyganic Smoked Tofu from Sunrise Soya. Did I mention it's AMAZING?!?!? It is the best tasting tofu product I have found, it even tops restaurant-prepared tofu in my eyes! My first dish using the smoked tofu was a big lunch-worthy bowl: steamed asian-style vegetables, quinoa, an asian-inspired vinaigrette I made, and the cubes of tofu. I just pan-fried them with some onions, then just threw them in the bowl! How easy and delicious!

I have been abstaining from gluten (except on day one, I didn't know barley contained gluten) and I've noticed a difference in how I feel after my meals. My body feels lighter and I'm less slouchy. I have gone without alcohol and sugar except for one flimsy Whiskey Sour, that I totally regretted. Social situations are definitely a tough one when it comes to diet. Giving up coffee has been no problem at all suprisingly, although I did feel a bit tired the first few mornings. Gym dates with a friend have been helping the both of us get back on track, plus we can get all our chatting in at the same time! Walking around campus more has been my way of spending more time "in nature" so I hope it counts. Putting my phone away and actually paying attention to my surroundings is actually very satisfying. If it wasn't insanely cold up here in Northern Ontario, I would definitely be spending more time outside. All I'm asking for is some POSITIVE degrees Celsius! Is that so hard? Ok, yes it is. I have to move...

I haven't been meditating much, although I know I should be doing it more. The book suggests to do it at least 15 minutes everyday, which I haven't made into a habit yet. I need to find my "quiet space" where I can go and know it will be quiet and relaxing. My apartment isn't always quiet since I live with 2 roomies (my sister and my bunny) and I usually have a huge to do list that I wouldn't be able to get out of my mind. Another option could have been the sauna at the gym, but there is usually other women in there chatting away. I'm still keeping an eye out around campus for a quiet spot, but nothing seems to be private enough. Still looking for an ideal spot, but it shouldn't be my excuse not to be meditating at all and I know it.

So help me out! Where do you like to meditate? Do you have a dedicated place for it?