It's time, people: The Clean Food Challenge

I have been sick for 10 days.  During this sickness, I have had conjunctivitis (two times) and I have had a cough, sore throat, body aches and headaches the whole time.  During these past weeks, I have also been super busy and therefore eating on-the-go.  My diet has mostly consisted of bread in many forms, you know, like bagels, bagels and more bagels.  Today two things happened:  I felt like crap in a way that I only feel when I've been eating too much bread and not enough whole foods and veggies.  And, my friend at work told me he is going to do the Clean Food Challenge with his wife next week.  (You are OMIM official, Tony and Kate!)

I did finally get in a run today and felt pretty good, so I'm ready to make my way back and get super healthy.  But I have the upcoming week off from school, and I do much better on the CFC when I am working and my time is very structured. 


I've been leading up to this for a few months, knowing it was time to cut the crap and clean myself out, so here we go.  I will be doing the CFC for 7 days beginning on Monday February 27th.  That means I can spend next week, vacation week, organizing and stocking my freezer with extra clean soups and dinners.





What is the CFC?  It's a simple cleanse that I made up last year and this is the 3rd time I'll be doing it.  It feels so fantastic, and I recommend you try it. 

Here are the "rules" of the CFC (remember that I made these up but was guided and inspired by other cleanses).

-No Dairy
-No Sugar
-No Alcohol
-No Gluten
-No Processed anything
- Only organic and lean proteins like fish and chicken.

I will eat:  vegetables, fruit, whole grains, nuts, fresh-pressed juices, green smoothies, and a gallon of water per day.   I will drink one cup of coffee per day.  You may call this cheating.  I call it necessary.

Have you been interested in doing a cleanse, but never been brave enough to try?
Would you have better luck on a cleanse if you had friends doing it with you?
Whether you've done it before or whether you are a cleanse virgin, would you like to join me?

If you are thinking about it, you may want to read these two previous posts:
getting ready for the CFC
shopping for the CFC

And use these tips to help keep you organized.   

1. Plan Ahead.  Pack your fridge and cupboards full of CFC friendly foods.  If you want to go crazy, you might even make a few soups and salads (like quinuoa, veggie and bean salads) to have in your fridge for quick lunches.  Almonds, cashews, pre-cut fruits and veggies work well for snacks you can grab when you are hungry.  The afternoon hours before dinner are hardest for me, so I like to drink a smoothie or eat something filling that will get me through the dinner prep time.

I also prepare for the CFC by deep-cleaning my fridge and my oven.  It just seems like the right time to do it.

2.  Go for filling foods.  You are giving up processed food, yes, but that doesn't mean you need to be eating celery sticks for a week. Especially if you are exercising, or if you are like me, you'll really want to feel full after you eat.  Curried Sweet Potato Soup (skip milk) is a life saver and keeps well in the fridge.  Anything made with potatoes will fill you up, and baked sweet potatoes are packed full of nutrients and taste really good.   I even love to cube and bake a sweet potato and then put it, still warm, on top of a giant salad (thanks, Ange!).   Eat oatmeal for breakfast with a pile of blueberries on top and some maple syrup.  For a snack, slather almond butter on a banana, eat handfuls of dried fruit and nuts, or eat a whole avocado sprinkled with sea salt.

3.  Go for flavorful foods.   Grill some pineapple or mango for a fruit salsa.  Add curry or cayenne or paprika to your dishes.  Dress your salads with lemon, agave, olive oil, salt and pepper.  Make a pesto (no cheese) to put over fish or boiled potatoes.  Eat spicy black beans and salsa with home-made guacamole!  Walk through your health food store with an eye for something new; try new foods and make it an adventure. 

4.  In a pinch?:  During the CFC, I try to eat only foods that are whole when I buy them from the store,  But, if you are in need of a store-bought snack, Kind Bars are dairy and gluten free and are minimally processed so they would be a good choice in a pinch.  Also, Lara Bars are dairy and gluten and sweetened only with dates.

5.  Drink the water:  Water helps this whole cleanse process because it flushes your system right out.  If you can succeed in drinking the recommended 1 gallon of water a day (my camelbak water bottle filled 5 times), you will be peeing all the time.  It's kind of a pain, but I credit all of the water as being one of the things that helped me feel so clean and sparkly during my last cleanse.   And water helps you feel more full, too.

 Here are two recipes I loved last time on the CFC:

Tangy Basmati (from friend Josie)

1 cup basmati rice
1 3/4 cups water
1 Tbsp oil or ghee
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp crushed coriander seeds
3 Tbsp grated coconut
1/4 cup chopped almonds or raw cashews
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

In a small pan, heat up oil and add mustard seeds, turmeric, coriander seeds and nuts. When
seeds begin to pop, add coconut and stir well to toast and blend spices. Set aside until rice is
ready, at which point stir into rice with lemon juice and chopped cilantro.

Tempeh Stir Fry
Stir fry together 4 minced cloves garlic, 1 onion chopped, 1 package of crumbled tempeh, 1 head of broccoli chopped,  a bunch of halved green beans, 1 cup of sliced mushrooms, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.

I served it over brown rice and sprinkled it with peanuts that I ground up in the food processor.
Yum.




ARE YOU IN???

Reed had a swimming party.

And of course, it was duly documented.

 Thanks to all of our friends who made Reed feel so smiley and loved.

 Here are the faces of Reedo's bffs.

 Legos, transformers, spiderman toys, a crayon maker, and a super hero t-shirt?  Somebody please pinch Reed. 

week 4: check

Okay, so it might not have been the best idea to run 11 miles with negative 12 windchill this morning when I'm as sick as I am.  But the sun was bright, the sky was blue, and if you were tucked into your bed this morning staying warm, I'm a little jealous, but you know what you missed?  Besides the best hot shower and the best cup of coffee ever after the run, you missed seeing four white-tailed deer running silently across a frozen pond in the woods.  And it always amazes me that no matter how cold it is, if I am dressed correctly, I actually get toasty warm after about a mile, and even when it's freeeezing cold out, the sun will still be so strong and warming that you can feel it for hours afterward. 

11 miles, slow and sometimes hard, but done nonetheless. 

Okay, that whole sick week thing can be over now, and I'm ready to carry on!

moving right along in February...

Well, hi! I guess I didn't post anything for a week! Let's see. I had a busy busy work week during which I squeezed in editing for Sparrow's next issue, and writing a review of this book that will eventually appear here, did some writing for my graduate class, and... oh yeah, I got sick! Conjunctivitis so bad that I couldn't open my eyes, and that was followed by a hacking cough and cold. So, there was that.

I also had a birthday, number 38. My birthday was full of emails and phone calls and cards and love, flowers delivered to work (see them, Jen?),  new running clothes and new kitchen stuff and good food. 

I have hardly any photos from the evening, but I did have some friends over for Indian food and Suzanne made me this awesome chocolate cake.

We also had a Valentine's Dance at Skyler's school this week.  This was the best I could do to get Reed dressed up.

A quick dance lesson before we left:

Suzanne was in charge of this dance and we went early to help her decorate.  It was a ton of work for her and she pulled the whole thing off with style and aplomb.  Look how relaxed she looks!  (Don't tell anyone I told you, but I saw her popping Tylenol and washing it down with her second coffee in the corner minutes before the dance started.)

The girls helped with balloons.  Reed popped some balloons.  Sorry, Suz. 

There was also just regular stuff this week.  Painting and being silly.  And lots of swim meets, so that is where Sam was. 

I missed one run this week due to being sick, but otherwise I'm on track.  I've got 11 miles on the schedule tomorrow morning even though I'm still not 100%.  I'd say I'm like 75%.  The forecast calls for a "real feel" temperature of -10 degrees, so please don't tell my mom that I'm going to run anyway. 

All this talk of cold weather reminds of something:  I would really like to go surfing in Mexico!  Did I mention that I'm a finalist in this great contest and might win a week at Las Olas Surf Safaris for Women?  Have you voted?  It takes 2 seconds!

If you have gotten an error message or had a hard time voting from the Las Olas site, all you need to do is send an email to scholarship@surflasolas.com with "I vote for Emilie" in the subject line.  Easy, right?

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

It's time to VOTE! (Help a hermana out)

In case you haven't heard, I was chosen as a top-ten finalist in the Las Olas Surf Safari Scholarship contest.  If I win, I will travel for one week to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to learn to surf with a group of women.

Excuse me for this terrible understatement:  I really, really want to go.  Por Favor.

I have been reminded by people who love me not to "count my chickens before they hatch."  Or in my case, not to "look at bathing suits in the Athleta catalog unless I win."  I may have a few pages dog-eared. You understand, I know you do.

Would you vote for me?  You can vote HERE once per email address.  If you FEEL like spreading the word, you know, like, with emails, on facebook, on your blogs, on twitter or on the street corner, I certainly wouldn't ask you not to.  You can vote from today until Feb. 24th. 

It takes 2 seconds and just a couple of clicks to vote.

Fortunately or unfortunately, it looks like I will have no idea what the vote count is until it's all over, so just vote and vote away and I will hope for the best.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Just in case, HERE is the link again.  :)

Sunnyday run.

Tom, Rachel, Roger, Ashley, Libby, Charlie and me:  7 runners, 6 miles, 7 degrees.  Week 3:  check!
 
Look at that blue sky!  We had a gorgeous run this morning partly on the roads and partly through the woods on the bike path, and ended up with mugs of coffee and breakfast burritos at Verve.

I missed one run this week due to an especially crazy schedule, but I'm still feeling great about this training cycle.  Things start to pick up in the next few weeks, so we will see if I continue to feel so good.

6 miles @ 9:53 pace.

Thanks for all the love about the Las Olas contest.  Voting apparently starts tomorrow and will be open for about 2 weeks.  I'll post the link as soon as I know it.

Reed's hair gets its own blog post.

If you saw some of Reed's birthday photos, you probably had a thought about the state of his hair.  It's thick and tangled and kind of has a mind of its own, so even though I keep trying to grow it out and create this surferboy look on him, it tends to get a little out of control. 

This is what I was going for:

This is what I got:

Reed brought the concept of bed head to a whole new level.  And yet I still loved it and couldn't keep my hands off of it.  But I got a lot of looks from strangers AND my own mother, and the teachers at Reed's preschool started calling him Rod  Stewart.  I thought it was probably time to address it, so I caved and took him to get it cut today.


What I wanted was a trim.  What I got was Justin Bieber.

He still looks good with a skateboard, but I can't stop calling him JBiebs.