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“Make Choices”
Eating clean is not about deprivation, it’s about self care. We used to tell our kid as we dropped them at school in the morning (in a half joking manner) to “make good choices”. Now, that is shortened simply to “make choices”. In other words, kids: please be conscious.
How does this relate to radiant eating? You can choose to have the strongest, most radiant physical body you have ever had by every day small choices- and that begins with a decision, with a choice: You are worth it.
You are worth feeding high quality fuel and caressing your insides with tasty nutrients. Radiant eating is also about consciousness: you have control and decision making power over the 1-inch between your hand and your lips.
Pay Attention
We suggest journaling every day- How is your energy level? How is your skin? How is your digestion? Write down what works and what doesn’t work in the eating plan for you. This will help you bring new awareness to the connection between what you eat and how you feel. Notice when old habits of culture based eating try to trick you into doing things not in your best interest.
Repatterning for Radiant Eating
Clean eating requires some new patterns. Once you get the hang of the basic program, you can adapt the daily eating in infinite ways.
Here are the basic guidelines:
Every day, treat yourself with:
· Green drink in the morning (this is super simple to make- takes just a couple of minutes)
· Cooked or braised greens
· Mixed green salads (any variety)
· Colorful fruits
· Grains from gluten free sources (just one or two a day)
· Lightly steamed or sautéed vegetables (more color= more vitamins)
· Fat from almond butter and olive oil
· Use Stevia as a sweetener, not sugar, honey or imitation sweeteners
· Add 2 capfuls of Aloe Juice to your water at some point during the day
· Take fiber pills or psyllium husk drink before bed
· Lots of room temperature and warm liquids throughout the day
Enhance your dailies with the following staple choices, alternating between them for main meals:
· Poached eggs if you’re eating animal products or fishies
· Whitefish or salmon if you’re eating animal products or fishies
· Clear or pureed soups
Unpack it:
· For the duration of this plan, eat almost nothing that comes in a package- no cereals, pastas, yogurts, sauces, frozen foods- with very few exceptions. Do most of your shopping in the produce section.
Taking it to work:
Face it: the dominant culture is not set up to support your radiance. Unless you are lucky enough to live in Santa Monica, or some other bastion of raw clean and green food on every corner, even the salad bar won’t help you because it’s (generally-speaking) low quality stuff. You must bring your own food, and take care of yourself. Let the Tupperware come out, and don’t hide it. Maybe you will inspire someone near you to light up their own insides.
Eating out:
If you are eating out, order fish and veggies, or better yet, just veggies, and eat half the portion served. Don’t eat the bread. Order mineral water, not wine or soda. Remember that you are the only one who will take care of you, and focus on the company.
Mouth hunger:
If habit is taking over and you need something in your mouth, have a herbal tea, or a small protein drink, or some fruit.
A word about coffee:
Coffee is hard on the adrenal system, so go easy. Eliminate completely or limit to 1 cup a day. You can take this a step further and clean out the caffeine- but if you want to start with a cup of morning coffee until you have shifted other habits, that’s okay.
Getting started: Clean Out What Doesn’t Serve You
Clean out all processed foods, bread, alcohol, dairy and sugar (and anything with high fructose corn syrup, silly!) in the house. (As a mom with an active family, I know cleaning out can be a challenge when you live with other people. The best results are when family members all move toward radiance together. If your family’s not up for this, don’t give up- you are worth taking care of. Just because someone in the house wants chips and cookies, doesn’t mean you can’t get what you need, too. One strategy to deal with this is to segregate your food cupboard from the rest of the family’s, or theirs from yours.) It does help to start when you can substantially get a few days to yourself, which creates the space for some meaningful preparation and intention setting.
Try A New Morning Ritual
1. Prepare hot water with lemon and stevia
2. Do your affirmation/journaling/intention setting
3. Make Your Daily Green drink:
· 1 packet or 1 scoop of super green
· 8 oz apple juice (or half water and half juice)
· ½ banana (optional)
· 1 scoop vegetable protein powder
· Mix in Blender and drink immediately
Then, exercise: Walk, Run, Bike, Yoga, Dance around the living room, play Frisbee. Just MOVE. If you’re already an exerciser, this is an easy one, and if you’re just getting started, set a timer and have fun playing. You can structure an exercise routine later, just get used to moving.
Supplements:
In addition to lots of fruits and veggies and some gluten free carbs, here are some supplements we have found necessary to the program:
· Vegetable based Protein Powder. We like pea and hemp based, whey is absorbed well, but it is derived from animal products. After much research and trying several products, Jarrow Formula’s Optimal Plant Proteins work best for us.
· Stevia packets or drops (sweetener)
· Super green powder (everything from probiotics to Vitamin C to spirulina- the “everything but the kitchen sink” supplement of choice). Our favorite is Green Vibrance from Vibrant Health. I use the single serving packets because I travel and for ease of measuring. www.vibranthealth.us
· Fiber (Psyllium) or Fiber pills (Cleanse pills) If you’re going with the pills, we like Cleanse Smart and Nature’s Secret, 2 capsule taken at night before bed. This will vary depending on your body.
· Aloe Juice (for intestinal health and soothing) The Whole Foods house brand works well.
SAMPLE: 4 days of Radiant Eating
Here are a few sample days. Each day, have your morning green drink, then fruits until noon. In the afternoon and evening, eat in any order, but finish eating at least 3 hours before going to bed. Try to space out your eating every three hours. Before bed, take 2 cleanse pills and more water.
Day 1:
· Mid morning: Papaya and Blueberries
· Lunch: Braised greens, poached eggs, polenta
· Dinner: Mixed lettuces with celery and apple, Leek and Potato Soup, rice bread
· Lots of water, lots of herbal teas
Day 2:
· Mid morning: Watermelon and Pears
· Lunch: Braised greens with quinoa
· Dinner: Mixed lettuces with beets, Sauteed Snap Peas and Pureed carrots, steamed whitefish
· Lots of water, lots of herbal teas
Day 3:
· Mid morning: Mango
· Lunch: Rice bread with Almond Butter and Banana Slices
· Dinner: Mixed lettuces with orange slices and red onion, Salmon fillet, green beans
· Lots of water, lots of herbal teas
Day 4:
· Mid morning: Pineapple
· Lunch: Braised greens with Poached eggs and Rice Crackers
· Dinner: Big bowl of Roasted root vegetables from the deli case,mixed lettuces with cherry tomatoes and sprouts
· Lots of water, lots of herbal teas
Sample shopping list for the first 4 days to get you started:
Fruits:
· 2 apples
· 3 tropical fruits (papaya, mango, pineapple)
· Watermelon or Canteloupe wedge
· Blueberries
· 3 bananas
· 2 lemons
Vegetables:
· A variety of lettuces (Butter, Frisee, Endive)
· A variety of greens (Spinach, Swiss Chard or Rainbow Chard)
· Garlic, Red and Yellow Onions, Green Onions
· Carrots
· Tomatoes
· Green beans or snap peas
· Beet
· 1 leek
· 1 potato
Dry Goods:
· Organic Apple juice
· Vegetable broth
· Rice Crackers
· Almond Butter
· Quinoa
· Polenta
· Dry goods staples to have on hand: Olive Oil, Sea Salt, Black Pepper, White Vinegar Balsamic Vinegar
Freezer Section:
· Rice bread
· Optional Wheat Grass shots
Optional Animal Derived Foods:
· Eggs
· Whitefish
· Salmon
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