Detox Update

My detox diet has been going extremely well so far.  I immediately started feeling less of my digestion issues, my headaches have been minimal, I feel more energized throughout the day, and even though I got a horrible splotchy sunburn this weekend at the beach, my skin has almost completely repaired most areas in only 3 days!  Amazingly enough, I'm not left feeling hungry either (although smelling everyone around me eating PapaJohns pizza while I was watching the Nadal match at the Sony Ericsson Open was pretty much torture of the worst form). This week starts the second phase of the diet in which I eat mostly liquid meals for breakfast and dinner, and I can't wait to see how my body responds.

Here's how I've been making it work: I've been drinking smoothies for breakfast made with fresh and/or frozen fruit (peaches, raspberries, mango, and blueberries have been my go to fruits), a scoop of vanilla whey protein powder, a dash of fiber, a little bit of ground flax seed, and then topped of with sugar free almond milk and blended.  I sometimes add a squirt of agave nectar to sweeten it up too.  Lunches have been dinner left overs, salads, and sandwiches made with roasted chicken breast, organic dijon mustard, and greens of some sort on brown rice bread (which when lightly toasted tastes much better than it sounds).  During the day I snack on almonds, cashews, apple slices, or veges with hummus.  And dinners have been truly fantastic.  I made the lemon chicken recipe I posted in my first Detox post and it was delicious.  We've also had pan seared mahi mahi, roasted salmon, salads topped with carrots, avocado, green onions, toasted pumpkin seeds, and vinaigrette, an incredible spiced quinoa dish with onion and zucchini, spaghetti squash with turkey meatballs and pesto, brown rice pilaf, and quinoa pasta with fresh steamed broccoli, chicken, and a garlic-olive oil sauce. I even succeeded in making a desert despite the no wheat, dairy, or sugar stipulations of the diet: a modified rosemary plum crisp with brown rice flour, chopped nuts, canola oil, and agave nectar.

For my dinners in the second phase of the diet, I plan on relying on soups and freshly juiced beverages chock full or nutrients.  Last night I had a leek and butternut squash soup modified from a recipe on one of my favorite blogs, Cannelle et Vanille (no potato, extra squash) topped with some fresh arugula and with a beet, apple, carrot, celery and spinach juice.  Tonight I'm planning to try my hand at a mushroom miso soup...