Day 21-Cleansing & Vegan Living

Well today ends my 21-day cleanse and vegan eating experiment.

First, let me say that Moira Nordholt-the Feel Good Guru is an incredible inspiration and extremely knowledgeable. It was a joy and honor to travel with her for the last three weeks.

In addition, my buddy Sandi Lei was wonderfully supportive and encouraging. I think we learned a lot and had fun at the same time.

Overall this has been a very empowering experience. I had always thought that I would need ‘free’ time and an uneventful life to embark on such an experiment. I thought I would have to devote all my time and attention to eating clean. But, we don’t live and eat in a vacuum, and this experience was no different.

Once I committed to the 21-day cleanse and wrote about it here at The Dreaming Cafe I couldn’t back out even while working extra hours, traveling, and meeting family commitments. It wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.

I tried to plan ahead and always pack a lunch and several snacks for work. I kept a few boxes of organic raisins with me at all times. Fresh fruit was easy to get just about everywhere I went. Since I didn’t have a lot of time to experiment in the kitchen with the many wonderful recipes Moira provided I fell back on some quick and easy vegan recipes that are mainstays in our household such as chili and bean soup. And, I drank lots and lots of water.

I may have not adhered to all the ‘cleansing’ foods, but I did eat strictly vegan for three weeks. I avoided all caffeine, sugar, flour products, alcohol and all processed foods.

In the end I lost about ten pounds, my clothes are a little loose and I feel healthy and light.

I also let go of a lot of emotional baggage associated with eating. I know now that I don’t have to give into cravings, emotional eating or stress eating. I can make choices that satisfy me and aren’t loaded with sugar and caffeine. I don’t have to ride a roller coaster of sugar highs and lows that just make the cravings for more sugar and salt stronger.

One more thing that the 21-day cleanse did for me…it has reinvigorated my interest in food and nutrition and specifically how our food choices impact all areas of our lives. Food and nutrition plays a role, not just in our physical health and body weight, but it also plays a significant role in learning, memory retention, mental health and emotional stability. (My undergraduate thesis argued that the same dietary choices that cause heart disease, cancer and diabetes were also the same dietary choices that played a role in learning disabilities and mental and emotional health.)

I am not sure where this reawakened passion will take me, but I do know that I feel good and I want others to feel good, too.

Thank you again, Moira, Sandi and all the other 21-day cleanse friends I’ve met over the last three weeks.