post-holiday cleanse.

a week before thanksgiving i promised myself that as soon as my fifth thanksgiving celebration was over (and cider and donuts) i owed my body a 5 day health cleanse.

i didn't want to go on a juice diet, or lose a bunch of weight, or anything really abnormal.. i mostly just wanted to give my body time to recuperate after all the junk food i ate during the holiday.

i decided to stick to a few basic rules : no dairy. no artificial sugars. minimal processed food. no red meat. no gluten. no alcohol. 

basically, it seemed like all things delicious were off the table. (this turned out to be untrue, of course)

i was also searching for a good morning/cleanse drink and read about several variations of them so i tried a few different ways before i ended up deciding what was best for me.

a hot cup of water, 1 tbsp lemon juice, and 1 tsp of honey.

as soon as i got out of bed, i'd make the drink and sip on it while i did my makeup, read my daily blogs, and etc. it was a great way to wake up my body and warm up my throat in the morning.

i don't really like to cook, that's never been my thing. but this week i totally had to get creative and spend time preparing meals. i'm also pretty picky about fruits and vegetables but i was able to find a few things that i really like and kind of mix and match. (here's just a few)

my favorite dessert was this little beauty.

a halved pear, drizzled with organic peanut butter and agave sweetener.
topped with red grapes, carob chips, cinnamon, and crushed raw almonds (which i forgot for this picture - oops).

weston also invented an "orange soda substitute" which was really just because i was being ridiculous one night and complaining that i missed orange soda when i literally drink orange soda maybe twice a year. but this was a yummy treat with the carbonation and flavor i was looking for.

AND i made my own vegan pesto with no dairy! which was delicious and i was so proud of it! i'll totally make it on a regular basis and i'm hoping to start growing my own basil and garlic for it in my little garden!

after this week i'm mostly excited to have cheese back in my diet again. that was the thing i missed the most. even more than sugar, surprisingly.

long term, this isn't something i will stick to as diligently, but i think after this week i'll be much more conscious about ingredients and nutritional value in food. i want the food i'm eating to count for something positive!

but right now i just want cheese.
bye!