We all know being healthy is equally as mental as it is physical. You want a good way to test your mental and physical strength? Try a 48-hour cleanse. As a cleanse newbie, I wasn't even going to consider the 7-14 day cleanses that the celebrities do. While we wish we had those luxuries, anyone with a family and a day job should be able to commit to a manageable cleanse without it interfering in their routine. This one was a real working person’s cleanse. I decided to try Dr. Oz’s at-home recipes not only to rid myself of the endless amounts of cheez-its swirling around in my system -- but to feel mentally renewed and clear.
The cleanse doesn’t call for prep in advance, but by the way I was dramatizing it in the days leading up to the weekend, you would have thought I was preparing for my last supper. When it came to acting on it, though, I was surprisingly reasonable. I began to monitor myself on Wednesday night and used Thursday and Friday to reduce my portions. This definitely eases you in.
Disclaimer: I am notorious for lack of food discipline. I might eat half that box of cheez-its or 10 thin mints with some guilt but no habit changes. So I was optimistic that doing a quick cleanse might help. If you can relate, this cleanse is for you.
Day 1: Breakfast: Quinoa with prunes, nutmeg and rice milk. This is not going to be the brown sugary delight that is oatmeal. The quinoa has that savory starchy flavor and I wanted the bland prunes to be sweet but with every bite they were not. At least it was solid food and held me for a couple hours.
Lunch: Next up was a fruit smoothie. The recipe was easy. Simple ingredients of blueberries, banana, almond milk and ice. The beautiful purple color was irresistible and the taste was tart but creamy. I can’t say I was completely full but I really enjoyed the thicker consistency and the sweet finish.
Snacks: the detox calls for either green smoothies (spinach or kale, pineapple, cucumber and ice) or raw veggies at any time throughout the day. I ate snap peas like it was my job.
Dinner: You may have heard about the “cabbage soup diet” where the cabbage soup is the star. I would never survive on that diet. This soup was rough. The base is water, so you already know the flavor will be weak. I added celery, cabbage, carrots, shallots, garlic and shitake mushrooms. Overseasoned by accident with the caraway seeds, but even if I hadn’t done that, I don’t know how much of it I would have been able to eat. I had one bowl. I hate to be so down on the healthy soup, but maybe mixing up the spices would have helped. I’ll try something different next time.
Good thing about the dinner recipe is it called for apples on the side as a pseudo dessert. I baked mine with cinnamon and nutmeg and that carried me to the end of the night.
Day 2: I was thrilled with my discipline on day 1 and thought day 2 would be a breeze. I swapped the order of the recipes, having a green smoothie before the quinoa. After my blueberry lunch smoothie, I had arugula with lemon juice for a snack, tried desperately to down a bowl of the cabbage soup for dinner and finished the apples.
In the end, a Saturday or Sunday for me without splurge food was hard. But I did it. I challenge anyone to start with this small and reasonable detox plan to get yourself feeling healthy. I'm now of course back on a regular diet, but the mental and physical effects are worth trying. Bonus: you don’t have to drink kale all day.
