This is hard.
Not really the cooking part, but going out to eat and drink.
After sipping on a way too sugarized Matcha Soy Latte at Starbucks (am pretty sure they put sugar in it), I was advised by my sister that if I ask for herbal tea, I can be quite safe from caffeine. So I’m glad to have that solution at coffee shop meetings.
Day One of my cleanse, I broke the rules by drinking some sake, but it was sake that my friend had brought to my family from a small town in Japan, so I had to drink some in post celebration of my birthday. Saturday the 7th, I forgot to bring my leftover food from Friday dinner so went over to Safeway to get a 7-Grain Salad for brunch. I’m not sure what kind of rice they used but am hoping it wasn’t too glutenous. That night I used my EthicalDeal voucher at Indigo Food Raw Food Cuisine and had a wicked raw vegan meal, including the Double Layered Mousse for dessert, which is some of the best mousse I’ve had in my life. I can’t believe that didn’t have real sugar in it. After that I was full – and I’ve never felt “full” after eating raw vegan.
Raw Pizza at Indigo Food ($9): Raw organic sprouted buckwheat, flaxseeds, cashews, sunflower seeds, bell pepper, carrot, celery, tomatoes, spinach, zucchini, mushrooms, dates, olive oil, parsley, cayenne salt, lemon. Garnish: Asparagus (with shoyu) and radish?
Yeah, THAT’S why I felt full! You can read a more detailed review of Indigo Food on Yelp here. I have my eye on Lovena’s Intro to Raw Vegan DVD, even though I’m sure a class would benefit me as well.
Easter Sunday (April 8th) I broke the rules again with a dinner of noodles, selective meat & dairy, and sugar. Lots of it. My body really felt the effects, as I crashed for a good 20 minutes right after. Last night at an event, I ate a “gluten-free” sandwich which had tuna in it. They really need to provide more details at these hotel offerings.
I cooked quinoa for the first time, which wasn’t as tasty as the salad I had at CHOICES Market but an edible attempt nonetheless. Now I have a good recipe I can build on.
Week One hasn’t felt too different, but I am feeling a lot less bloated than usual, my mood is better, and pretty much the only negatives are the sugar cravings and getting used to not eating bread. Though I have a nice stash of Japanese Kit Kats for when this cleanse is over, I’m really contemplating moving permanently to a sugar-free chocolate for during the week to curb those sweet cravings, and only indulging on other desserts on weekends. I am sure that after this week, I’ll be able to feel more of the benefits of a sugar-free diet.
