Ready, Set, Cleanse

Yes, I am ready to start a cleanse/diet/exercise plan of some sort. I am really tired, literally, of not being able to keep up with the athletes in my family. I've even been getting more sleep, not working late every night. I really hate dieting, a lot of it due to being the chubbiest one in the family, which my mom never let me forget. Ironically I am now the smallest, but while I want to fit better in my clothes and spend a new clothing gift certificate on stuff that doesn't look like maternity wear, my goal here really is more energy.

I've just entered my fourth decade, yikes, and I'm loving my hair, got new makeup, and am ready for the body to follow. Working with young pretty fashionable women just gives me that much more motivation. As one co-worker (the person you would totally want to shop with, honest without being mean) said - "you don't need to lose weight, just tone up." I cried for hours (not really) but she's half right.

So here's my plan, which I'm writing down to help me stick to it. 21 days of "cleansing", which I'm only slightly embarrassed to say was inspired by dooce's cleanse, in turn inspired by Oprah. I can't afford (and would probably not read) the book, so I'm making up my own. My last real diet was eliminating all sugar and sticking to a diabetic plan for about 5 months while pregnant, so I think I can do this.

For 21 days I'm going to do my best to eat vegan (which I've never, ever tried and doubt I would again), minimize white flour and rice (pretty much do that now), eliminate sugar (probably the hardest for me) and alcohol, but not caffeine. I'm not going to put my family on this, I mean they are outside running around pretty much every single day, but I am curious how many vegan meals I can serve before they notice. I figure, they can not eat garbanzo beans as easily as not eating chicken. I am also going to work out in some form 4-5 days a week. My goal is to find a yoga or kickboxing gym, but with a bank account at zero that's on hold and my company gym will have to do. I suck at pushing myself so eventually I'll need something else.

I'll try to post the best of the vegan recipes I make, but that may be few and far between. I tried cooking for a vegan once, made this fabulous stuffed artichoke with walnuts, eliminated the cheese for him, which made this dish oh so much better. I personally might cheat and buy soy cheese, which for some reason does not seem to be vegan.

Day 1:

Breakfast: Orange and coffee with soy milk

Lunch: Salad with lots of beans for protein

Ending with this photo for no apparent reason.