Day 13...

... of my semi-raw; mostly-vegan diet.

So my husband and I are on this cleanse thing. The goal is to jump-start our health for 2011 and get our bodies back in gear after holiday feasting.

And boy, let me tell you. I'm loving it.

Here's what we're doing... We eliminated all meat, all dairy, all grains, and all added sugars. That pretty much leaves us with fruit, vegetables, and nuts. Now when I say "semi-raw", that means we TRY to eat mostly raw fruits and vegetables as opposed to cooking them (raw produce has more healthy enzymes and nutrients than cooked produce). And when I say "mostly-vegan" I mean that I must confess that I had a dozen eggs left over that I didn't feel like wasting and we've had hard-boiled eggs a couple times (btw, best recipe for boiled eggs... although I only let them sit for 11 minutes as opposed to 15 and I eat them right after running cold water over them). We also had two exceptions over the past week and a half - a couple homemade carrot cupcakes (given to me... I felt compelled to partake) and soft tacos at the in-laws house (again... compulsion....)

Otherwise we've been faithful to our cleanse diet. A typical day's meal involves:

• Breakfast: fresh or frozen fruit smoothie OR a couple clementines and a handful of almonds OR a hard-boiled egg and an apple.
• Lunch: Huge spinach salad with lentils, cucumber, carrots, broccoli, pea pods, and to-die-for homemade balsamic vinaigrette dressing OR leftover stew OR veggies and nuts dipped in hummus.
• Dinner: vegetarian chili (canned or homemade) with extra black beans and kidney beans added OR lentil stew OR another huge salad.
• Snacks: apples, clementines, avocado (with olive oil and cayenne pepper on top!)
• Desserts: I could pretty much ruin the whole point of this diet with figs and dates. These dried fruits are DIVINE! (and for some reason I always think of that quote from Aladdin - "Sugared dates! Sugared dates and figs! Sugared dates and pistachios!")

So far I've lost about 5 lbs and my husband has lost about 4. He has told me that he'd like to pretty much keep up this diet one we are done and just have special exceptions. I agree with him. I feel great physically. Plus, I feel good knowing that I'm putting good stuff in my body. I can eat whenever I feel hungry and eat until I feel full. No counting calories.

No matter where you are in your life-walk or what your goals are take some time to care for yourself physically. It doesn't have to be an extreme cleanse. Maybe it's just giving up soda or eliminating added sugar. Try making one positive change for your health. I promise you won't be sorry!!