09 February 2013

cleansing the body. cleansing the soul.

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I wasn't kidding when I said I was going on a cleanse after our New Orleans trip. I've been long overdue for a cleanse to remove those nasty toxins from my body, and I would say while on our trip I went out in style. Bloody Mary's with breakfast, latte's in the afternoon, sweet breads, beignets, nightly sweets and so much meat. For a woman who tends to shy away from meat, I had my fill in New Orleans. I may have even turned my eye once or twice when it came to dairy.

Now that I am home, I'm ready to get back on track to a healthy lifestyle. Tuesday morning began a cleanse that has been on my to do list for some time. As an avid reader of Whole Living, I decided to combine this cleanse and this cleanse. I know I would like to go for more than three days but less than twenty one. Today is day four and I feel amazing. The first three were a tired haze of sleepiness, but I woke up this morning with an abundance of energy and eagerness to conquer the day.

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Basically I've stuck with the concept of "clean eating." No processed foods, no meat (I do eat free range local eggs though), no dairy, no caffeine, no alcohol, no gluten, no sugar. The biggest challenge for me has been the caffeine and the second being the sugars. You don't realize that sugars hide in almost everything we eat. Salad dressings, drinks, salsa, condiments, snacks you name it. The best way is making your own from scratch, and that's exactly what I've been doing this week. My staples have been homemade dressings, fresh salsa, avocados, kale, juicing and lots and lots of water. I've allowed myself decaf green tea with a touch of agave syrup to satisfy my sweet cravings. While it's certainly not coconut ice cream, chocolate chip cookies or muffins, it hits the spot.

Last night I had a serious craving for pizza (thank you Drea) and was determined to make it while still following my diet. I found a couple recipes online, mostly from the Paleo diet, and decided to make my version (recipe below). You can top it with an array of toppings and after not eating breads for four days the crust tasted like little drops of heaven.

Flour less Pizza Dough:
1 cup Almond meal
1 cup ground cashews
2 tsp olive oil
2 free range eggs
salt

Preheat oven to 350
Mix all ingredients together
If your dough is sticky, like mine, add a bit more almond meal until it is manageable
Flatten dough onto a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes
Add your toppings and bake for another 12-15 minutes

Enjoy!

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I've cleansed my body.
My body feels good, rested and full of energy.

The second part of my cleanse is for the soul. For the person within. I've decided to limit my time on social media. It is so easy to fall into the trap and spend your night on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I'm still blogging and I'll still pop into twitter and Instagram here and there, but it's time to focus my energy in other directions. I'm so strict with my children on the amount of tv and computer exposure they get, is it really fair that they see mommy online all the time? I refuse to be one of those parents at the park who "plays" with their kids but still manages to check their phone all the time. Rather than capturing a moment and sharing it on Instagram, I would rather live that moment to it's fullest and keep that memory in my heart. While I enjoy sharing these moments, ultimately they are mine. I'm finding that I don't really want to share all these moments all the time. Perhaps I'm selfish, or perhaps I'm choosing the path of positive parenting.

My children need me, my full attention, my focused attention.
And I will try my hardest to give that to them.
Always.

With that being said, how do you balance it all? How do you balance blogging or a job, social media, family and friend time? When do you step back? What do you cut out? How much tv time do you allow your children? These are always ongoing topics that interest me.

4 comments:

  1. I feel like I am in desperate need of a cleanse. Matt and I were vegan for the entire month of March last year... it was hard.. but I felt great!! It might be about time to try that again... good luck with your cleanse! that food looks delish!

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  2. I also love Whole Living magazine (especially their beauty product recommendations and reviews, and their mental health articles). I'm not sure that a cleanse is in my future -- we try so very hard to eat healthy, overall, and I also like to enjoy a "cheat" every now and then (a slice of cheesecake, an ICEE at the movies ...), but I do feel like I'm much too dependent on caffeine, and I hate that feeling.

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  3. Yay for cleansing the soul and the body! Yay for the re-design. looks good! And yay for thinking about balance, social media, and all that jaz.
    I feel, for the first time since becoming a parent, that I've finally achieved a measure of balance. Part of this is because we have a really good routine now, part is because life got immeasurably easier now that we're living in Jakarta where we have friends and stuff to do, and part is because I have household help.
    But, this is what I do: Stella goes to school 4-5 days / week. I work while she's in school, usually till 1 or so. On Tuesdays I have lunch with my husband (chef life, you know); on fridays, we have dinner together with him at the hotel.
    I clean / run errands on Mondays.
    Then by 3 pm, I'm all Stella's. Playing, baby gym class, playgroup, swimming, etc. happens in the afternoons. No computer, very little phone during this time.
    She goes to bed by 8:30 or 9, then I might blog a bit, tidy up, or hit my pillow depending.
    I also have started working out early in the morning, which helps.
    I allow her about 45 min to 1 hour of screen time in the AM because it helps our day go a lot smoother if I can get tidied up and ready without major drama.
    I tell you, it feels really good to have a schedule sorted out, and feel like I've got things more or less under control. BUT I know its just a season and will change the moment something else changes. AND it's really only possible because I have someone to help me at home 4 days a week.
    Even despite all the help, I still have toys strewn around, laundry to put away, and general domestic chaos.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Are You Having Trouble STICKING with your Paleo Diet?

    Do you want to munch on healthy delicious recipes as soon as TONIGHT?

    Check out: Paleo Hacks Cookbook.

    ReplyDelete

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