Eating Clean

I am currently doing the Clean program that was designed by Dr. Alejandro Junger, MD. It is designed to detox the body. The methodology behind Clean is outlined in the book of the same name and you can do the detox at home by purchasing all of the ingredients locally. I have done the one week at home version of the program with success but wanted to try the 21 day detox using the shakes and supplements available on the Clean website. I have two shakes one for breakfast and one for dinner. For lunch I prepare a Clean meal (free of processed food, pork, beef, most seafood, eggplant, oranges, diary, wheat, gluten etc.) and if necessary I can have my main meal for dinner but it is encouraged not to do that often. After dinner, I fast for 12 hours this enables the body to cleanse itself at night when it is least active. 

You may be thinking this doesn't sound like enough food but trust me, I truly haven't felt that hungry over the past four days. The shakes are made from rice protein and are very filling, I drink tons of water and if I want to snack I'll eat fruit or nuts. I wanted to give you examples of some of the clean meals I've prepared.

Felafel! I am a big fan of falafel and was so happy to find a recipe in the Clean Support Community for these. I made them with lentils, chickpea and millet flour, and various herbs and spices. The homemade tahini sauce is to die for. Although traditional falafels are wrapped in pita, I wrapped mine in romaine lettuce to stay "clean".

Today I made homemade roti, I was again inspired by the same member of the Clean community that made the falafels. For my roti I used lentils, chickpea and millet flour, baking powder, and herbs and spices. Basically, roti is a flat bread that is enjoyed in India and many countries in the Caribbean. It was delicious!

Next I made a filling that is a curry. I used baby spinach, chickpeas, almonds, coconut slivers, coconut milk and herbs and spices. This has a kick! I really didn't measure anything and since I'm not really familiar with Garam Masala I may have been a little heavy handed but the curry was still good. 

I served the curry and roti together, it was absolutely delicious! Since I am practicing mindful eating I had to remind myself not to eat too much. It was just that good. You will notice that although there is no meat in my meals, they are protein rich. On the clean program you are allowed certain fish and poultry - I just don't eat poultry but I did make a fish curry on Monday. 

Everything so far is going well with the Clean program for me. The first couple of days I did have a headache but I know that is from the toxins leaving my body. I've been able to exercise as usual and overall feel great. I've lost 9 pounds (now I'm just 3 away from my maintenance weight) and I know most of it was water. 

I'll give you an update on how things progress over the next couple of weeks but if you are looking for a detox I recommend Clean. You can try it out on Goop.com, a one week home version of the Clean program is available there, complete with recipes!

Disclosure: I received the Clean program for review purposes but my opinions are 100% my own.