audrey michelle’s colourful DIY cleanse – DAY #2

alright.  here we are.  my roommate and his friend are drinking a nice cold hefeweizen in the room downstairs, and i’m sitting here next to my homemade soda water.  *ahem*  and i’m okay with that… actually, i really am. as much as i love my brewskies, i realize that the ones i like to enjoy would and do keep me pretty much couch-bound for the remainder of the evening. mmmm, la fin du monde…

it’s odd how my energy levels have shifted.  i’m definitely having a harder time in the morning “waking up” and i tend to get my energy after around 2 p.m., where i’d normally be tired.  it’s interesting.  i kind of like it.  especially since i work at night, or will be again once my vacation is over.

okay, so here’s how day 2 went :

it always starts with lemon water.  this is because your body is naturally in a cleansing process in the morning.  we typically shock the sh– out of it when we hit the coffee machine first {guilty!} so i have read that lemon – of course being naturally cleansing – with at least 24 ounces of water first thing in the morning, is the best thing for a cleanse.  so, that’s what i’ve been doing… then yoga – which i only did lightly this a.m. and opted for my fluidity workout at lunch. i’m telling you – buy one!

breakfast :

smoothie with raw protein powder, OJ, mixed berries, bananas, spinach, and chia seeds. MUCH better today than yesterday – hAhA! and i like serving it out of fun glasses, it makes it feel different.  as you may have noticed, i like to drink my water out of a mason jar.  besides, my roommate and i have the most bizarre collaborative collection of glassware i’ve ever seen in my life.  it’s very funny – i should photograph it some time! hA!

snack :

another great thing to begin the morning with. i opted for a pink lady. apples are so full of fiber and tons of other good things.  they don’t say, “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” for nothin’ – 😉 i also had the other half of my banana from my smoothie and a tablespoon of local honey.  – i should probably write a blog about why local honey is so good, too.  sigh – so many ideas, i wish i could do this full time!

water, water, water… lemon water, water, lemon water… you get the idea…

lunch :

GREEN PLATE theme for lunch today.  raw celery, cucumber, and avocado, served with steamed spinach.  i really really really REALLY love spinach!  any way i can get it, really. but i had almost forgotten how much i like it steamed, as i typically make a huge salad with it. and let me tell you, it’s surprising how filling an entire avocado can be.  try it sometime!

i didn’t really snack much this afternoon, since i had a solid lunch today versus my kombucha yesterday. i nibbled on a few english peas and such while preparing dinner, but mostly i just kept the water going and to avoid any temptation, i went and laid out by the pool for a good hour 🙂 – i seriously would not be able to do this cleanse if i wasn’t on vacation!

let’s pause to talk about these amazing little beauties i discovered today.  well, i didn’t just discover them – i see them all the time, but never had them.  i figured this was the perfect time!  they are chioggia beets – which i have nicknamed “zebra beets.” and no, i don’t know how to actually pronounce their name, but that link said they are particularly good with avocados, so holy smokes i can’t wait to try that tomorrow!  they look just like other red beets, but the skin is more of a crayon red versus that deeper rich red we usually see in beets.

but can we just jaw-drop for a moment at these?!  i so appreciate the magnificent colour and patterns inside!  i was SO surprised when i sliced it open – i had no idea it was going to look like that.  it was such a fun little simple surprise.  i smiled all big and immediately sat them in front of the camera.  i initially had no intention of photographing it, but hello – why wouldn’t i?!

also, i only do minimal colour correcting to account for the lighting in my kitchen, these are not retouched – they actually look this colour!

you want to try one now, don’t you?!  😉

dinner :

those pretty little beets lose a lot of colour when you cook them – still, a pretty plate, no?!

left side, raw : celery, heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers

right side, steamed : kale, carrots, chioggia beets

those beets are SO FLIPPIN WONDERFUL!  if you like beets, you will love these.  way less of a bite than red, more similar to a golden beet, but almost sweeter?!  sheesh, they were seriously so good, i wish i would’ve bought more!

dessert :

strawberries, peach, black plum…. don’t they look friendly?!

finish the night with my favourite tea :

i also love that this is a local product 🙂  did you know that the founders of celestial seasonings teas were a couple of college students picking wildflowers in the mountains back in the day?!  love it.

i’m kind of surprised only a tad at how well i’m getting along with this cleanse. it’s only day two, tomorrow or thursday could be worse… but i find that doubtful.  i really think it’s amazing how our minds work.  i believe that knowing i had this cleanse scheduled, and the almost eagerness behind my reasoning for it, have made it a whole lot easier – mind over matter, if you will. my biggest complaint at the moment is that i feel a little lethargic.  even with the hydrating properties of water.  my workout isn’t super intensive, and my caloric intake is reasonable… i just think i’m detoxing a little – i mostly feel good, but i do feel different… kind of hard to explain.  i did get up super early too, i’m probably getting tired.  — oh!  it just dawned on me, i ought to buy some coconut water tomorrow. that will help.

day two is over.

i’d like to thank everyone for their support!  it’s been so nice to talk amongst the blogging community about this.  to share my journey with you all, and to read your comments and have a good laugh – it’s all good stuff.  thank you!  🙂

Tags: cleanse, cleansing, colourful cleanse, DIY, no food, organics, raw, vegetables