DAY ONE
Breakfast. I’m sipping my breakfast as I write this. The first thing I can say about Cucumber, Cabbage, and Parsley Juice is that it is absolutely godawful at room temperature. Even if you’ve just taken your veggies out of the crisper to juice, the resulting juice will not be cold enough to come across as a pleasurable taste experience. Had I known that before hand (as you now will) I would have blended the veggies along with a handful of ice. Instead, I added some ice cubes to the concoction as an afterthought and then stuck the glass in the freezer for the few minutes it took me to clean up the kitchen mess I’d just made.
Being able to enjoy the recipes in this detox is paramount to its success. If I don’t like how the food tastes, I’m going to find it all too tempting to go back to waffles with jam for breakfast. As it is, I have to wonder how feeling hungry is going to result in boosted energy levels. . .
Lunch. At last! My solid meal has come around! I chose the Roasted Salmon with Broccoli Rabe and Quinoa for my lunch and was happily surprised at how quickly and easily it all came together. I followed the package instructions for the salmon, however, instead of searing and roasting as per the detox recipe’s instructions. The meal turned out to be on the hearty side, portion wise, which I was slightly surprised by.
Also surprising was how I felt come lunch. I was expecting my breakfast drink to barely be a blip on my fullness register, but it really held its own. That’s not to say I wasn’t hungry when lunch rolled around, but I think I had mentally prepared myself for a hunger that was worse than I could stand. Maybe that’s beginner’s luck, I don’t know. In a few days time I’ll know for sure.
Dinner. I made the Zucchini and Basil Soup for dinner tonight and boy! What a lot of soup that recipe makes. Too much, frankly. Where it calls for four cups of water I would substitute three cups or even two and half. Lessening the added water won’t bulk up the soup to a chowder consistency, mind you, because the four cup method makes for a terribly thin affair to begin with. You’ll still be adhering to the liquid dinner rule. Just make sure you don’t snack after. . .
I never realized how much of a compulsive snacker I am until this night. I became very cranky come ten o’clock because I couldn’t indulge in any of my usual desert suspects. Since the summer heat is really hitting its stride this week, I wasn’t fussed about not having ice cream (too heavy). I love to bake cookies, but again, I didn’t mind not heating up the house with the oven. But no chocolate? Was I crazy to do a diet that doesn’t allow chocolate?! I mean, certainly dark chocolate--the only kind I eat--is acceptable, nay, even a good and healthy choice? Feeling the cracks forming in my willpower, I frantically consulted the elimination diet list. Chocolate was definitely in the naughty column. Curses!
Suffice it to say that it was a rather bleak evening, punctuated by a particularly black moment wherein a bag of my favorite gummy bears were wafted under my nose. The tempter shall remain nameless, but know that he received a thoroughly whiney tongue-lashing from Yours Truly. (Small consolation, as it were.)