Tag Archives: 7 day cleanse

Start the day right

Posted in Uncategorized by

Picture 1

I can’t get enough of quinoa for breakfast these days. Ever since my cleanse (and my husband bringing home two HUGE Costco packets of it from his recent trip to Canada), I’ve been all over it.

Here’s how I make it:

2 cups low fat milk (or coconut/rice/almond milk)

1 cup rinsed quinoa

Agave/Honey/other sweetener

Cinnamon

Fresh berries, dried fruits, nuts

Bring milk to a boil in a small saucepan. Add quinoa, and return to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and simmer, covered, until three-quarters of the milk has been absorbed, about 15 minutes. Stir in sweetener and cinnamon. Cook, covered, until almost all the milk has been absorbed, about 8 minutes. Serve with additional milk, sugar, fruit and nuts, cinnamon, and blueberries.

Yum! What’s your favourite breakfast dish?

image c/o marthastewart

Fully cleansed!

Posted in Uncategorized by

My 7 day cleanse is officially over. However, I have three days before we leave for our little holiday so thought I’d continue for a few extra days. Why? Because I feel great! Without coffee, I feel like a new woman. I have a full nights sleep, bounce out of bed in the morning, have no headaches or grumpy spells and am not constantly craving coffee, more food or more rest! It’s amazing! I have LOVED eating so healthily and haven’t missed meat, sugars and carbs. I do miss dairy so if anything will come back it will be that. I can highly recommend taking a cleanse – it really does your body – and your mind a lot of good! *A tip for fellow cleansing coffee addicts: carry around a flask of herbal tea (it’s a good mind game: you tell your mind you’re drinking your daily coffee-to-go but in actual fact it’s a Yogi Cinnamon Spice!)

Daily eats from the rest of the week:

Day 4 

Breakfast: brown rice with coconut milk, cranberries, almonds and agave

Snacks: trail mix and tea

Lunch: salad bar selection at work canteen, water, tea

Afternoon: Fruit, chopped veggies, orange-spinach-almond butter-rice milk smoothie

Dinner: Veggie minestrone and avocado-lemon pudding, tea and apple

Day 5

Breakfast: herbal tea and brown rice wit coconut milk, seed, nuts, cranberries

Snack: trail mix and chopped veggies, tea and a mandarin

Lunch: quinoa veggie soup (below) and tea

Afternoon snack: chopped veggies and fruit

Dinner: Roasted Root veggie fries with almond butter, quinoa salad and banana soft serve

IMG_2005Day 6

Breakfast: scrambled eggs and vegetables, tea

Morning snack: cashews, tea and water

Lunch: Quinoa veggie soup

Snack: Chickpea/Apple mix (below)

Dinner: Vegetable stew with kidney beans

IMG_2015Day 7

Breakfast: Banana & Spinach Smoothie and Tea

Lunch: Quinoa Soup

Snack: Fruit and nuts

Dinner: Carrot & Tahini soup, raw broccoli salad (below) and berries with ‘cream’.

Almost halfway

Posted in Uncategorized by

End of day three of my first ‘Danish’ 7 day cleanse (and detox) and so far so good.

Shopping for items I needed proved interesting and very expensive. I had to go to three different stores and still wasn’t able to find some basic things such as plain almond milk – however I managed to find most other things at Naturkost. NB. Quinoa was about $5 for a tiny pack, so wont be downing that like I did last time!

IMG_1954

I love how Katie suggests we start the cleanse on Saturday as it gives me time to get used to the idea, time to make good dishes and time to relax and hangout rather than a Monday morning rush to school, preschool and Danish class.

We spent most of Saturday in the woods enjoying the sunshine, the beautiful trees and racing each other on our bikes. I’d had only a smoothie for the morning and while the boys enjoyed leftover homemade pizza and cupcakes for their picnic lunch, I had a simple veggie platter and fruit dish which wasn’t that fun. The worst thing about day one was the incredible headaches I had due to coming off coffee for the first day in almost a year. Katie suggested stocking up on water and almonds – and other magnesium rich foods – so I did and it definitely helped. Also I was super grumpy and snapped a lot at the kids on day 1 which wasn’t fun for anyone but made sure I apologised and explained that when Mummy doesn’t have coffee (a good thing), it makes her grumpy (a bad thing)… Nevertheless, that night I had 10 hours of sleep!!

IMG_1957

Day 2 the headaches had lessened but were still present so continued with the water and even popped a ibuprofen. Going out and eating out always proves difficult when cleansing so I went prepared with bags of food and thankfully I only had to eat some of it – at church there were various salads so was able to eat one of them with my food from home. By the end of the day I was tired but all my headaches were gone and I crashed by 9.00pm. The funniest thing I have experienced is that my appetite has really decreased which is odd for me as am normally ravenous. Also having a cup of herbal tea with me at all times has really helped me as I’ve struggled with the coffee cravings.

Today, have felt absolutely great and have loved absolutely everything I ate – bounced out of bed after another wonderful night’s sleep and ran about with the kids doing drop offs, 4 hours of Danish, pick ups, play time, dinner, stories, bed, tutoring, blog posts, emails etc etc… amazing that I can function on a Monday with no coffee, who would’ve thought?

Let’s see how the next four days go!

Have posted what I’ve eaten during the last three days below in case you’re interested.

Day 1

Breakfast: smoothie (rice milk (couldn’t get almond milk so this is cheating), spinach leaves, banana, agave and almond butter)

Lunch: fruit and veggie platter with a bowl of hummus and a dried fruit/nut/seed mix

Dinner: Avocado, tomato, red onion and tuna salad

Snacks: chopped fruit, water, Yogi herbal teas, almonds, celery with almond butter

Day 2

Breakfast: banana, scrambled eggs with sundried tomato, spinach and artichoke hearts and a raspberry & blueberry smoothie

Lunch: Quinoa and green veggie soup

Dinner: (at church) veggies and hummus and pre-made salad

Snacks: Apples and almond butter, tea.

Day 3

Breakfast: brown rice with coconut milk, almonds and agave

Snacks during Danish: trail mix, chopped veggies, herbal tea and water

Afternoon: fruit, veggies and strawberry & pineapple smoothie

Dinner: grilled zucchini, tuna, spinach, sundried tomato and hazelnuts salad with balsamic vinegar

Snack: Apple, Nuts, dried fruit and almond butter

Eating habits gone bad.

Posted in Uncategorized by

Picture 1

6 months ago I was living in a city that was so green and granola that my Birkenstocks were so well-worn out. Now, I’m living in a place that I have to bike with all my wine bottles clattering in my basket to the nearest bottles recycling depot and where almond butter is completely unheard of. And a cleanse, from alcohol, bread and caffeine? Forget about it. I love the Danes and how they love their food. They exercise a lot so I think it makes up for the carbs and booze but seriously, thanks for the wonderful Danish food, my body is in BAD shape. I completed my first 7 day cleanse in August 2011 when my husband was away for the month and I was home alone with my kids. It was a challenge, but it was wonderful. However, it was summer and it was in Vancouver – almond butter, chia seeds and quinoa were at my fingertips… this time not so easy. When I completed that last cleanse I didn’t drink coffee for almost a whole year! But during last spring, just a simple visit from my coffee-loving parents and our once-a-day latte trips re-started my coffee addition – then with the stress of moving over the summer, then moving to a new country that drinks ‘kaffe’ like it’s water…., now I’m consuming 1/2 L of the black stuff most days and the idea of a week without it almost kills me! My body is crying out for a cleanse and with my husband away again (it’s hard to do a cleanse when you live with a ‘meatatarian’) this is as good time as any. And to make it easier, Katie, from Rooted Well-Being has come to the rescue. She’s started up a facebook group for all the survivors – and crazy ones – who want to cleanse again – and so I’m joining in, starting this Saturday. Thankfully tomorrow night a group of girlfriends and I are decorating cupcakes so hopefully that will get at least the sugary carbs out of my system for a week!

But for now, a shopping list:

- Brown Rice (easy to find)

- Quinoa (this is super expensive here and not in every supermarket but at least it exists!)

- Seeds (Hemp, Chia, Flax) – I’ll be raiding the town’s only organic food store!

- A big trip to the farmers market for some locally grown fruit and veggies, nuts and free-range eggs

- Beans (so expensive in Denmark unless they’re red kidney beans?!)

- Almond Milk (not sure if it even exists here?!)

- Fish (yay, the only ‘meat’ I’m allowed)

- Yogi herbal teas

Wish me luck!

7 day cleanse: final day + a giveaway!

Posted in Uncategorized by
I woke up on my final day of my cleanse (at 6am) thinking = this time tomorrow, I’ll have a coffee in my hand. Hahaha. Oh well, I drank some water and made a omlette and had half my daily smoothie. The boys, a girlfriend and I went to a local street fair today, so I took a well stocked care package of veggies, crackers, dip and trail mix (above).
After coming home I had the other half of my smoothie and cucumber soup. Dinner was delicious and a great way to end this cleanse: mushroom risotto – the kids and my friend loved it too – especially as theirs had melted cheese on it! Dessert was watermelon and I totally felt like a glass of wine to celebrate – but I refrained, opting for water :(
But this cleanse has been amaz-ing! The challenges have been all the prep work and the expense of purchasing local, organic produce (where I could) and extra ‘fancy’ ingredients eg. raw apple cider vinegar and almond butter. But I loved how I was encouraged to cook healthier meals for myself – and my kids. I absolutely LOVED Katie’s recipes and am going to keep using them. My favourite was a soup that I will share soon – perfect for the Fall. I loved how the cleanse made me stop and think before putting something in my mouth – too often I grab the boys leftover muffins/granola bars etc and shovel them quickly in my mouth but this week I had to consider a) can i eat this and b) should i eat this?
To sum up, five reasons why I loved this cleanse:
1. I was introduced to new methods of eating and looking after myself inside and out
2. I learnt about new ingredients and the benefits of certain foods
3. My body feels cleaner and healthier than it has in a long time
4. I enjoyed Katie’s recipes and making delicious meals for my boys and I
5. I loved the challenge of doing something I thought I couldn’t do – and succeeding!
I highly recommend doing this for yourself. lucky for you,
rooted wellbeing is giving away one FREE 7-day cleanse to my readers!
Since there can only be one winner, Katie is also offering a major discount on the 7-day Rooted Cleanse (start date options: September 10th or 17th). just follow this private link and enter “SoFreshSoClean” to get over 30% off!!!
This is a fantastic deal and so worth it. if you need a reminder, just read through my cleanse recaps…it’s amazing the benefits i received in just seven days. Katie’s coaching is a gift that will last a lifetime. she will stick with you through all the ups and downs of the cleanse and you’ll learn things that could literally change your life. The SimplyStylishMom discount will end Thursday, September 8th, and only has 15 spots available (last cleanse sold out in 4 days, don’t wait!)
But wait! there’s more!
For a limited time, Katie is offering FREE 20-minute, one-on-one strategy sessions to help you identify your health goals and come up with a plan to reach them. just click here, select a date & time, and Katie will be all yours. (well…for a phone call, at least.)
Here are the giveaway rules:
1. leave a comment below including your e-mail address.
2. You can tweet the giveaway (@RootedWellbeing) for an extra entry
3. “like” rooted wellbeing on facebook for an extra entry
4. winner will be selected randomly on friday, 9/2.
5. Katie will contact you to set up your cleanse (must start cleanse on 9/10 or 9/17)!

7 day cleanse: day 6

Posted in Uncategorized by

Leaped out of bed at 7.30 today (despite #2 keeping me up from 3-4am singing to himself in his bed) and wasn’t hungry till 9am (usually I’m shovelling breaky down as soon as I get up). I had a lovely apple mix (above) for breakfast and my morning bottle of water. Spent the morning at my favourite coffee place with friends and our kids and while they enjoyed their Americano’s, I sipped on half of my daily smoothie and munched on a banana. By midday, I was STARVED and digged into a HUGE lunch (below) that was sooo filling and gave me a heap of energy to get through the rest of the day. Took the boys to a waterpark in the afternoon and had the other half of my daily smoothie (sooo good, Katie’s smoothie recipes are THE BEST!). In the evening we went to dinner at a friend’s house and they thoughtfully cooked my fish separate to the others and then we had brown rice and a green salad (again with my own dressing!) Dessert was a fruit platter (all the kids bare-chested tonight!) A bit tired this afternoon and this evening, again not sure if it’s the physical exhaustion of being a single Mom at the moment, the summer heat or the effects of the cleanse, but… one day left!!!

xxo, SSM

7 day cleanse: day 5

Posted in Uncategorized by

After another wonderful night’s sleep – though awoken by #2 at 5.25am, I felt refreshed and ready for Day 5. I drank a bottle of water and enjoyed a brown rice breakfast mix. The boys and I had a lovely walk in the morning and we snacked on water, strawberries and bananas. For lunch I made a tasty soup – that was more like a smoothie, from Katie’s recipe book: Strawberry Gazpacho (above, pinker in real life!). It was so sweet and fresh – though make sure you use fresh strawberries, not frozen ones or your blender may get jammed! In the afternoon we had a 2nd birthday party and I felt quite embarrassed turning up with my berry smoothie and a container of celery and trail mix?! Thankfully our friends were understanding and there was even a fruit platter for me to pick on but it was hard bypassing the beer, cake & nachos! Dinner was leftovers of recipes I’ve made this week – I have been stoked as to how much food I’ve made and have leftover – it’s great, as I said before I certainly haven’t gone hungry this week. Another thought – and question I have for Mom’s who have done a cleanse is – how much do you involve your kids in with your cleanse? I have given my kids tastes of everything I’ve made and on the whole they’ve loved it all and it’s only encouraged me to cook healthier meals for my family and to make it a priority in our lives. Dinner for the three of us (below) was very appetising and popular, dessert was watermelon (both the boys ate it bare-chested, the ONLY way to do it!) – a hit!

A wonderful day – lots of energy, enthusiasm and a happy, healthy body!

xxo, SSM

7 day cleanse – day 4

Posted in Uncategorized by

Possibly the hardest day so far. After a rough day yesterday with tons of personal stuff going on, I crashed and had 8 hours of sleep (I never sleep that much!) but still woke up exhausted. I breakfasted on quinoa, coconut milk, almond milk, berries & nuts and then snacked on trail mix (and cheekily pulled out the cranberries from my sons’ cranberry/oat muffin). I think the key to keeping up my energy is the water drinking – the moments I feel the most fatigued are when I haven’t been keeping up with the liquids. Water, water, water: so important! Lunch was the other half of yesterday’s lunch – a Spring Greens soup (above) with qunioa (recipe from Katie) – I added some tuna to it for extra meatiness. After lunch I had my daily smoothie, it was so tasty and gave me a good kick for the afternoon.
For my late afternoon snack, out at the park with the boys and our friends, I had pineapple and these wonderful brown rice crackers I found. My energy levels were really low by dinner time – I managed to feed the kids, get them to bed and crashed in front of The Office with Katie’s Black Bean Avocado Salad (below). I think a great lesson i learnt today was to think before you open your mouth (yes it’s not only when you’re talking!) When I fix the kids meals or feed them i find myself munching on whatever they’re eating and then find that I don’t make a proper meal for myself. This week though, I’ve had to stop, realise I’m about to stuff a muffin, fishy cracker or some yoghurt or cheese in my mouth – then, realising my faux pas, stop myself and later – when the kids are settled, fix myself a proper, nutritious meal with all the correct ingredients in it!

Four down, three to go!

xxo, SSM

7 day cleanse: Day 2

Posted in Uncategorized by

I woke up feeling refreshed and excited for another day’s cleanse. I was sooo thirsty – so downed a few glasses of water before tucking into a breakfast mix of apples, nuts and coconut milk (one of Katie’s recipes). And get this, I didn’t feel the need for a coffee! More water and a quiet morning at home with the boys, I snacked on celery and trail mix and drank a glass of almond milk (love it! – and so does #2).

For lunch I tried another of Katie’s recipes and oh my goodness – the best – scrambled eggs with veggies dish (above). So so good. More water and some ‘me’ time: feet up watching Harry Potter and checking out my favourite blogs. So far with this cleanse I must say I’ve never gone hungry – I was worried that I would constantly be starved and dying for some carbs but so far I’ve felt so satisfied with everything I’ve eating and not as ravenous as I usually am. I think the water drinking definitely helps.

By three o’clock my energy was waning so I had some home-made guacamole and fruit – and more water! Dinner was at a friend’s house and I’d pre-warned them about my cleanse and they were sooo sweet and had made a cleanse friendly dinner! Salmon marinated with olive oil and fresh herbs on the BBQ and veggies on the side (and I brought my own quinoa!) Everyone else had a delicious crisp for dessert but I managed to eat the fruit without the ‘crisp’. Still a little peckish at 7.30 so had my daily smoothie!

Another good day – feeling great and more energetic than I’ve felt for a long time!

7 day cleanse: Day 1

Posted in Uncategorized by

Day 1 of my cleanse organised for me by Katie from Rooted Wellbeing. Kate sent me an enormous amount of fabulous info and as I do most things, I’ve gone out and bought all the ingredients, made a daily menu planner and am following her guidelines constantly. As I type this I’m even sitting here drinking Raw Apple Cider vinegar and cinnamon mixed in water… something I’d never do.

So how am I feeling? Well I had one of my usual night’s sleeps last night – bed at 10, awake with a nightmare at 3, reading Harry Potter till 5 and the boys both up at 6.30… not a great night, so I certainly woke up with my usual craving for a coffee. But after a breakfast of quinoa, berries and coconut milk I felt totally satisfied but still a bit tired. The boys were intrigued with my breakfast and both tried it but decided to opt for their usual cereal and eggs on toast. At church I snacked on trail mix and the rest of #2′s breakfast egg. And water, every time I think ‘coffee’ I take a big swig of water and that certainly helps! Another ingredient that is new to me is stevia. I’d never heard of this before Katie introduced it to me but it’s amazing – a natural sweetener without the calories (yes please!) – I’ve added to my smoothies and breakfast so far and I’ve really enjoyed it.

Oooh, so last night I did some cleanse prep. and I think that’s going to really help me out as time for me to prepare and eat for myself is always at a minimum. Katie suggested I pre-make my smoothies and freeze them. My freezer is now full of some delicious tasting smoothies. Also I made a big batch of quinoa, guacamole and chopped up some veggies and fruit. That’s a great trick for me – to get ahead – even when I’m not cleansing, I could be doing this normally, and I don’t.

Lunch consisted of a nutritious plate of goodies: a chickpea almond butter mix (one of Katie’s recipes), carrots, pineapple & some green leaves drizzled in Olive Oil (below). And of course, water. Again #1 preferred his pb&j sandwich while #2 happily tucked into the chickpea almond mix. The afternoon consisted of some exercise outside with the boys – trail mix and fruit.

Dinner was at a neighbour’s place – hot dogs for everyone else – I took a roast yam salad (below) to share and brought some quinoa for myself. It was hard to be missing out on the hot dogs!!! I also grabbed some tomato and hummus from their spread which added to my meal. And for dessert: a bowl of local cherries (yum!) And more, more water…..

All in all, a pretty good first day – I am loving drinking so much water, I have so enjoyed Katie’s recipes that I’ve made and am excited about the rest of the week!

xxo, Simply Stylish ‘cleansing’ Mom