Reflections on Week 3: Whole Living Action Plan

For the last three weeks I've been following the body cleanse plan outlined by Whole Living magazine in their January-February 2012 issue and on their website at wholeliving.com. The 28 Day Whole Living Action Plan is designed to cleanse your body of impurities that have built up in your body {primarily in your liver which gets taxed by the impurities in the food and beverages we consume} and establish healthier and cleaner ways of eating and living. Today is the last day of Week 3 for me... so only one more week to go!

To learn more about the cleanse, visit the link in the paragraph above for the wholeliving.com website.

How was Week 3?
This week was very similar to Week 2 a lot of ways, but I did feel as though I had more breakfast choices--and especially welcomed eggs and oats to fuel my morning workouts. I had a few small servings of brown rice during the week as well--1/4 cup one night with dinner and about the same in a homemade veggie burger two other days.

I thought I would have pounced on the opportunity to have grains back on my plate, but I actually preferred filling up on flavorful vegetables and salmon instead of the rice. That's a good sign to some newer habits setting in.. I hope! Here's a look at what I ate in Week 3:

• hot water with fresh squeezed lemon at start of day.
• green juice {I went to a friend's house and used her juicer!}
• Toasted Coconut Muesli
• egg and spinach omelet
• fresh fruit & vegetables
• steamed or roasted vegetables with olive oil
• Baked Sweet Potato with Citrus
• nuts & dried fruit mix {homemade}
• popcorn! {air-popped or popped on the stove top with olive oil}
• cinnamon poached pears
• mixed green salads with cilantro, radish, apple, and pecans, dressed with homemade pomegranate vinaigrette
• Chickpea-Brown Rice Veggie Burger
• Spiced Butternut Squash and Apple Soup
• oven roasted salmon
• Curry Vegetables {my own recipe}
• sushi {a treat! the only cheat was that the sushi was made with short grain white rice, not brown rice--but still gluten-free so it's technically okay}

What did I learn this week?
It's still really hard to deprive yourself of your favorite foods for so many weeks in a row. For example, my family had Thai take out one night this week and it was pretty torturous to eat sit at the table and sip my bowl of plain vegetable soup with all of that delicious smelling hot food laid out in front of me. I actually had to leave the room. But I chose to do this and it's only for several more days, so I'll stick it out.

How do I feel?
I'm feeling pretty good about the foods I've been eating over the last three weeks. Lots of different flavors, colors, textures and all so healthy! It's a good feeling knowing I'm doing something good for my body. I feel more tired at the end of the day than I did before doing this cleanse so I'm falling asleep earlier and sleeping more soundly, too. I don't know if this is part of the cleanse or the lack of my usual caffeine or if it's because I'm not eating enough calories to sustain my energy for my usual 18 waking hours. I used to get by on 6+ hours of sleep... now I feel I need at least 7 hours, if not more.

I've lost a total of 7 lbs. on the detox in the last three weeks so far.

What do I miss?
I still miss coffee, although interestingly, not necessarily first thing in the morning. I tend to look for a cup either mid morning or mid afternoon. And a cookie. Just one cookie. That's what I'm going to try to do when this plan is over.

As I forge ahead into Week 4:
This week is the bonus week of the cleanse. I can add lean chicken and beef and grains with gluten in moderation. Looking forward to having meat back in my diet, but I'm going to do my best to keep the number of servings of carbohydrates low this week--especially grains with gluten. I definitely feel sluggish and bloated when I eat the smallest amount above one serving of these foods.

Here's to healthier, whole living!

For more information about the Whole Living Action Plan 2012, visit Whole Living at wholeliving.com.