post-cleanse wrap-up and an uninspired wiaw

Good Wednesday morning everyone!

Firstly, just want to say a huuuuge THANK YOU to Annie at An Unrefined Vegan and all the other wonderful blogger participants for the Virtual Vegan Potluck. I discovered new blogs and have so man recipes I want to try I just don’t know where I’ll find the time! I’m so glad it was such a success and I already can’t wait until the next one. If you missed the action, check it out here (for my post) or here (for the beginning of the chain).

I have to admit I have been feeling less than stellar the last few days- I feel completely worn out as if I hadn’t slept in days. But I have, so I don’t know what’s happening. In truth it’s been lingering for a couple weeks and exercise has completely fallen to the wayside. I’ve had a couple days where I feel energized, and I took advantage and had a good sweat, but other than that, it’s been low energy and time spent on the couch. I hope this lifts soon because I miss exercising! I also miss feeling inspired, which I haven’t lately. So my eats unfortunately haven’t been super interesting.

Don’t worry though, I have lots of tasty recipes coming up! They were all just created pre-lethargy ;)

I feel I should insert here- I do not think this is the result of my cleanse at all! In fact post-cleanse there is a part of me that feels fantastic…

Post-Cleanse Thoughts

It was such a rewarding, positive and fun experience that left me feeling ready for the warmer months! I don’t feel as weighed down anymore and feel like my digestive system has been given lots of rest resulting in a little less tummy-trouble than usual! And as I discussed before the experiments with other detoxing practices such as dry skin brushing, yoga, getting a full 8 hours sleep, meditation, positive affirmations, deep breathing etc. were all very rewarding and I plan on incorporating those more fully into my daily life. There are quite a few items there that I never mentioned on the blog, but that’s because I want to wait until I have a more solid practice and understanding of them before I share my thoughts! I truly do feel I have come out of the cleanse healthier, detoxified and more positive!

Some changes I noticed:

• Softer skin– I think this is the result of both the dry skin brushing and an emphasis on healthy fats
• Stronger nails– I used to have very brittle nails that peeled and that barely grew! Now they are strong I can actually grow them past the slightest little white line :)
• Fewer breakouts– I tend to have pretty good skin, but I noticed that after the initial outpouring of toxins from my body I got fewer breakouts and those I got healed faster!
• Increased regularity– I’m sure I don’t been to get too into detail with this, you all get it!
• A more positive outlook: I worked hard on self-love and gratitude throughout the cleanse and I have definitely noticed increased kindness towards myself and others.
• Fewer afternoon slumps– since giving up coffee and drastically reducing my intake of caffeine I notice I don’t get that loss of energy in the afternoons
• Cravings for raw foods– I genuinely crave raw fruits and vegetables now, anything with high water content. While I still crave sweets (didn’t cure myself of that!), I find fruits and much less-sweetened treats satisfy that craving. I relied primarily on stevia and dates throughout my cleanse and I think this is something I’ll continue

Stay tuned for more on my cleanse- I have a post coming up that I think will really show you all just how much I gained!

Jumping back to the last few days, I think my exhaustion is sprouting from somewhere else. And those iron tablets I’ve been taking just aren’t the little energy bullets they once were. Ah well. I will continue to listen to my body, get lots of rest and hopefully emerge from this soon!

And of course, now that my cleanse is over, I am reintroducing foods such as soy and sweeteners. I am trying to eat mostly according to the cleanse principles though because I loved the way I felt eating that way! Still lots of raw foods, not nearly as much soy or sugar and lots of psuedograins, nuts and seeds.  I think I’ve found a way of eating that my body really loves!

So here is this week’s WIAW!

Breakfast

A blueberry-pomegranate smoothie which followed lemon water!

Snack

An apple with a raw nut butter I concocted. It’s delish let me tell you…. ;)

Lunch

This is actually a picture of when I made this up for dinner the night before. I packaged half of it up for leftovers but this photo was nicer. It’s tons of steamed and raw vegetables with an avocado “sauce/spread” that I make up all the time. I spread it on toast, put in on pasta, dip veggies into it. It’s fantastic. I finally got around to measuring the basic ingredients so I could share it with you. Scroll to the bottom to find it!

Snacks

A terrible looking, but delicious green smoothie! This one has 1/2 a frozen banana, an orange, spinach, raspberries, spirulina, hemp seeds, coconut water, walnut milk, vanilla and ice. Topped with a little blueberry swirl and puffed millet.

A couple of these coconut butter-covered goji-berry bites. They are pretty good, but not quite blog-worthy.

Dinner

A snack plate type thing. Chopper red pepper, pickles, sauerkraut, more of the avocado dip and a teff flour tortilla. I bought the tortillas ages ago in Quebec but hadn’t tried them yet. I like them a lot more than brown rice flour ones. These are actually pliable and don’t break when you try and roll them! This was followed by another goji-bite and some tea!

Avocado “Everything” Spread (Vegan, Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free, Raw)

I call this an “everything” spread because it’s good on everything! In it’s most basic version (*starred ingredients only) I love it spread on toast (my mom says it reminds her of eggs on toast), but it’s also great as a dip, on veggies, on pasta, etc. Sometimes I like to jazz it up a little by adding the rest of the ingredients. It’s so easy to throw together too and there are so many ways you could vary it!

• 1 avocado, mashed*
• 1 tbsp tahini
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast*
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice/lime juice/apple cider vinegar, etc.
• couple pinched red pepper flakes*
• salt and pepper to taste*

Mix it all up in a bowl and serve! It’s great with fresh herbs tossed in it as well. Feel free to mix up the seasonings to your taste. This is just the most basic way I do it!

**UPDATED to include variations based on my own and others’ ideas!

Possible variations:

• mustard (dijon, honey, etc.)
• add a sweetener like dates or agave
• fresh herbs like dill, parsley or coriander
• add water or non dairy milk to make a dressing
• let your imagination run wild! Coconut? Sundried tomatoes?  Go for it!

And that concludes this WIAW. Thanks for Jenn at Peas and Crayons again for hosting!

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I’ll just apologize in advance if I blog a little less often while I try and sort out this energy thing. Even writing this post took a huge amount of effort. I’m hoping to keep writing because I love it but I also recognize that I need rest. Thanks in advance for being understanding :)

Have a good rest of the week everyone!