Breakthrough! This week the cleanse finally started to feel comfortable to me. It wasn’t the initial change that was difficult but the following through and sticking with it for a full 3 weeks. The more comfortable you get with something, generally, the easier it is to slip up (eeps) which happened to me last weekend. Instead of letting the situation spiral downwards, I motivated myself to refocus. A healthy lifestyle is a process and one mistake doesn’t mean all hope is lost.
Inspirations
I got an amazing phone call from an old friend this week who told me how much I have inspired her through my journey on the 21 day cleanse. That made my heart do the happy dance! It was motivating to know that I have possibly helped someone else see how small healthy changes can affect your life positively. One of ladies here at Bramble Berry even started a kale chip craze in her circle of friends. Have you inspired someone close to you to make healthy choices? If so, let me know about it and let’s revel together! I have also found inspiration through compliments! I’ve received several random compliments about my skin and over all radiant glow (that must be the sexy part, right?). Who doesn’t like a compliment? It really gives you a little skip in your step to know people can tell a difference when you’ve been working so hard to make healthy choices in your life.
Challenges
The challenges this week were more about looking into the future after the cleanse is over. In the office we have realized that we don’t necessarily miss meats and dairy. It is SUGAR that we really miss! Chocolate, ice cream and carmel- you name it! This shows you how addicting sugar really is. But let’s face reality, sugar is just not good for you. Sad but true. This is going to be my struggle after the cleanse. Just remember that it’s all about training your body to crave the healthy and deny the bad stuff, which is a challenge in itself.
Recipes this Week to Try
Chia Pudding
1 cup Hemp Milk (or any non dairy milk)
½ tsp Vanilla Extract
3 Tablespoons Chia Seeds
Pour milk + vanilla extract into a bowl. Add the chia seeds. Stir every 10 minutes for the first hour to break up any chia seed clumps that form. Leave in fridge overnight. By morning, you will have a thick pudding with little chia seeds in there. You can serve with fresh fruit (we’re just getting strawberries into our stores in Washington State). If you end up having to buy a big bag of Chia seeds for this recipe, you can use them in raw crackers and smoothies. They are a delicious source of fiber and protein and omega 3 fatty acids.
Yummy Salad
Spinach, dried cherries, pistachios and sprouts with a lemon olive oil dressing
Full Belly Pasta Meal
healthy olive oil + garlic + chili flake + broccoli + brown rice pasta
Inspirational Blogs
Omnomnom Living
Whole Foods Market
The Rawtarian
The Gluten Free Girl
Also, I have been adding things like crazy to Crazy Sexy Vegan Pinterest Board, Check it out!
Last day of the cleanse! Eek! I am kind of sad. Is that weird? I want to leave you with some empowering information. Here are a couple of tips that I have learned this week that are great for “life after crazy sexy”. The first one is reading ingredient labels! This is a must on anything packaged or processed. It is surprising what can be hidden in something stating it’s the healthier option. Try to stay as natural as possible. There are a lot of resources online about ingredients to avoid. Also focus more on what you ARE going to include in your diet rather than focusing on what you CAN’T have. Good example: “I am going to eat more salads and do more yoga”. Bad example: “No cupcakes or milkshakes”. Positive thinking changes perceptions by focusing on the things that are wonderful about a life change. You kind forget about the negative. So when you start feeling negative, start making a list of all the positive things in life or positive changes you are going to make. So as Monday draws near just don’t think of it necessarily as the end but rather beginning to the new healthy you forever!
“The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time.” – Abraham Lincoln
hi anne-marie,
I couldn’t join you for the cleanse but my friend and I started ours on Feb 1. We’ve just finished week 1 and so far so good! We’re happy to have the benefit of extra recipes that you posted, and also I wanted to thank you for introducing me to the adventure cleanse and the book. The juicing is a little time consuming but I feel so healthy for drinking it. Also, while I was doing the cleanse more to recalibrate my taste buds and get off of refined and processed sugars and desserts, I have lost 2 lbs in this first week. what an unexpected benefit! thanks so much. i am an avid B&B crafter, and I love your blog so much because not only do you give us great project ideas but you also post things about health, business and life in general. I am always learning something new. thank you for being so inspirational!
Wonderful! I am so pleased to read this.
Did you see all the Pinterest goodies we posted?
http://pinterest.com/brambleberry/
There is a Crazy Vegan board with lots of great recipes there.
I lost 3 pounds in the 3 weeks – but Craxy Sexy is similar to how I eat (a bit stricter but I eat pretty clean normally). Some other gals emailed me and they lost over 10 pounds in the 3 weeks. WOW! That is amazing.
Thanks for reading – and thanks for letting me know how it’s going. Keep me posted – and if you need any encouragement or support, I’m here for you.