Today is Day Two on my "cleanse" --yuck, I know....let's call it a "health plan" instead. This sounds better, because I am trying to make my life, body, and mind healthier! And cleanse just brings up nasty images and makes me cringe slightly.
Okay, so Day One (yesterday) on my Health Plan was awesome! I feel great today, even though yesterday I had a bit too much fruit for my liking, and today a bit too much as well. Overall, I feel great, and I'm not craving fruit as much, which is good.
Today along with the fruit I did end up eating, I had some more soaked almonds! Yum! (p.s. those organic strawberries were on sale for $3 for a giant tub! I had to get them!). And to be honest, I also had a granny smith apple, and a pear at some point today.
My body seems to react pretty quickly, and already this morning, I noticed a few small changes! AND, no bloating this morning! woot woot!
Chewing is apparently, the THING to do. I chewed really really well yesterday, and I upped my consumption of brown rice (to help me eat less fruit and snack less). Brown rice and I are best friends! It seems that I can eat unlimited amounts of brown rice and feel amazing! Fruit though, and sugar--not so much...fruit definitely seems to bloat me up, even if it's not actually making me bigger. So i'm taking it easy on my digestive system, re-kindling the "digestive fire" or agni, as they call it in Ayurveda, and eating mostly whole grains.
Here is my game plan-ish for the next little while:
*BROWN RICE is the only grain i'll be eating for at least a month
*for the next week, i'm including a bit of protein: some sprouted pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds, and soaked almonds (this helps me digest them!)
*a little bit of flax oil (around 1tbsp / day...spaced out over all meals) on top of my rice
*minimal fruit for the first week, mostly berries, green apples, and a pear or two (but ideally, at most one per day)
*lots of GREENS: lots and lots of steamed kale, collards, maybe some dandelion greens, etc.
*a few other veggies: some daikon, carrots, maybe a bit of squash
*seaweed to season and flavour everything (and because it is my best friend)
* a bit of green tea in the mornings, and herbal tea or kukicha twig tea later on
*there will also be a week of BROWN RICE ONLY somewhere in there...perhaps either next week, or the week after
And most importantly: chew chew chew chew chew! (and many times more!). If you think it's weird that I always mention chewing, it's because I like to inhale my food. Chewing is something I personally, need to CONSCIOUSLY think about. I'm hoping that overtime, I'll become a habitual-mad chewer lady, and never even need to think about it. Until then, i'm counting as I chew. Aiming for 30 chews/bite at least!
Some people think it is weird for me to be even more restrictive in my diet, but I have a feeling that if I want to feel my best, I need to make some changes. And while I have been eating healthily for a long time, including very little sugar, only whole grains, and lots of veggies, something is out of balance! Even if it is just my hormones, i'm going to see if a lotta love and brown rice can work it out :)
Goal for tomorrow: a bit less fruit!
And to all you yogis out there, Do you notice the effect of moondays on your practice?. It is a new moon this week, and I really find on some new moons, that my energy is a bit low, and it is hard to get going!