January Cleanse - Here we go again!

So my January routine for the 3rd year is to do a #Vegan cleanse but last year I took it up another level and thought about doing a 'Fat Sick and Nearly Dead' juice cleanse.  This is a store bought cleanse or money grab.  This just means you drink pure nutrient extract and no animal products whatsoever.  The documentary, though a little annoying because I thought it was just a rich guy making a movie, and why is this australian going to the States to do it?  Weird.  Anyhoo, the clinical evidence was intriguing. A friend of mine had gotten into a juicing kick a few years ago, just as an added snack not a cleanse, and so I told her my plans.  She thought I was being too 'radical', she's brazilian. :D  Anyhoo, she thought it would be too hard to maintain.  I told her I was only going to do it for a month and not the 90 days the dude did it.  She said, supplement with rice and veg too.  So that's what I did last year.

What I essentially did was for the entire month of January, from January, was a combination of 'Fat Sick and Nearly Dead' and the documentary 'Forks Over Knives', plant based diet.  I drank cleansing smoothies for breakfast with green tea.  (not juices since hubbo didn't want another appliance but I get the difference of the benefit of juice v smoothie but I wasn't going to let a gadget stop me).  I had steamed brown rice and some vegetables for lunch at work with tea (big portions)  and a smoothie for dinner with more brown rice or quinoa with veg for dinner.  I got more creative with the veg by making soups and stews toward the end.  What's missing?  Well this is where it departs from a simple vegan diet.  Based on 'Forks Over Knives', I cut out all fats, no butter, no oils, NO OILS... no not even coconut oil or olive oil. NO ALCOHOL....waaah bourbon! I cut out coffee.  I cut out ALL added salt and sugar.  I was peeing all the time at the beginning.  I mean I'm asian, there be soy in my diet and that makes you retain water whether you know it or not.  So once I was rebalanced, it calmed down.  There is natural sodium in vegetables.  No added sugars, no not maple syrup, agave syrup, brown sugar, molasses, no honey.  Think of it this way, I cut out man made concentrated calories into a dish.  If that dense amount of calories didn't naturally occur without being boiled, pressed or cycloned, then it was out.  The only 'processed' thing I allowed, toward the end was plain Tofu.  It's not really processed.  It's mashed soy that's solidified by an algae.  So when hubbo asks me every other hour, am I allowed to eat this or that (YES HE'S DOING IT TOO THIS YEAR) I told him, I'm making this up as I go along.  Basically, nothing that comes from any animal, fish, fowl or insect and nothing that has been unnaturally been manufactured to concentrate calories. i.e. whole avocadoes are okay.  Which is what I said when hubbo asked me what he was allowed to put on his toast.  Also I told him he could have Shredded Wheat or Oatmeal or Cream of Wheat if you want to follow my questionable logic.  Because the only incredient is Wheat or Oats.  If there is sugar or salt, I say no. He's being lenient on himself A TINY bit on salt.   I did that last year and after 1 week of some sluggishness of giving up coffee, I was wide awake all the time even without my tea.  I stopped catching back to back colds.  I was more alert.  I had more energy.

I did the juices again in July but was more difficult to do for a month with camping with the kids.  Hubbo did only the juices once a day last year but ate as normal.  This year he didn't even officially tell me he was doing it.  He just said 'yay, you're cooking for a month.'  He is the antithesis of vegetarian, let alone vegan!!!  I think his bad knees are making him think twice.  In Forks over Knives, they talk about what animal protein can do to your joints and inflammation.

Day 4 and going well.  Hubbo let himself finish some Christmas leftovers for days 1 and 2 but that's okay.  He put a pinch of salt on the Ratatouillle I did as well as the yummo Lentil and Cauliflower soup I made last night.  I'll post both later.

I know it sounds weird to fry your mirepoix (onions, garlic, carrots, celery.....) with no oil but it's fine in a non-stick or a ceramic cooking vessel like a creuset.  Just stir alot and I don't put the pan on insane levels like #Engine2diet recomments to brown onions.  You really should not put teflon on anything higher than medium heat.  Then you can 'deglaze' the yummo brown fond off the pan with vegetable broth or water.

I'll post my Lentil and Cauliflower soup soon.  It is VERY VERY GOOD, hearty and filling.