My triathlete husband is headed for Ironman Frankfurt and I am staying behind at home, again – sitter fell through this time. So, feeling a few pounds heavy these days, I thought I’d take the opportunity to do a cleanse and perhaps get back to eating better. I haven’t always been the easiest person to live with when I’ve done a cleanse in the past. I’m not quite as disciplined as my husband and don’t like to “give up” my few pleasures in life. Combine that with losing the enjoyment of sitting down to a real meal and I’m not a happy camper. So, to help keep peace in my marriage, I’m snagging this opportunity when only my pups will suffer my ill behavior. The only downfall with doing this alone is there is no one around for encouragement AND to keep you from cheating….
I’ve been a vegetarian for 30 years and we really do eat healthy most of time, but I feel I need to refresh my diet and get it in better balance. I read about Sakara Life in a magazine and did some research. I really liked their program for the following reasons:
- all their meals are plant-based
- their motto is EAT CLEAN EAT WHOLE
- the idea behind the cleanse is to treat your body to 4 days of detoxifying, ultra-nourishing whole foods to refresh your body, mind, and soul
- their cleanse entails eating actual food – no liquid diets (I’m serious about this cleanse, but know my limits)
- they believe in balance, so no strict diets and they don’t count calories
- their food is prepared from small, local farms as often as possible
- if it helps me look anything like the two founders, hey count me in
So, I purchased the 4-Day Cleanse program, began this morning, and thought I’d let you follow along, through the good, the bad, and the ugly (I’ll use discretion)…….
DAY 1
When I woke up this morning, I found this bag of goodies on my front porch. It was filled with 2 days worth of meals.
I will get another delivery on Thursday. Here is my meal plan for the day:
- Breakfast: Coconut Mint Matcha (say what????) Morning
- Lunch: Superfood Green Kale Salad w/Garlicky Herb Croutons
- Dinner: Spring Vegetable Fiery Fusion w/Coconut Sriracha (again, say what?) Dressing
I had to do my research into Matcha and Sriracha. I had never heard of these before, but was willing to try. Matcha, it turns out, is just fine powder green tea (thanks triwife Dana) and Sriracha is a hot sauce. The breakfast was actually like a chewy parfait and was quite tasty and satisfying. It was actually close to the greek yogurt, granola, and fruit I normally have. So far, so good. I had a cup of detox tea and water in between and no hunger pains or cravings at all.
Lunch was equally tasty if you like kale, which I do. I just wish they had cleaned the stems off the kale better. The croutons were chewy and not crunchy, so perhaps made from nuts. The dressing looked like green goddess, but have to assume it wasn’t. Again, had tea and water in between and no cravings. I was so satisfied, I didn’t even lick the spoon when I gave one of my dogs her medicine in peanut butter. I did have to stop and tell myself “no, Sherry, don’t do it”, however.
Dinner had lettuce, almonds, cabbage, peppers, something that looked like noodles and a very spicy Sriracha dressing. Actually, too spicy for me. Luckily, I had saved some dressing from lunch, so I mixed them together and the fire was just right. It’s now 10 pm and I’m getting ready for bed and I’m actually still very full, with no desire to eat the York Peppermint Patty minis in the freezer or the bag of Skinny Pop white cheddar……
I do wish they had a list of ingredients for each meal, so I’m not guessing what I’m eating. I will check this out better tomorrow. Of course, you can’t have alcohol (will miss my wine), coffee (already cheated), or sugary drinks (not a problem). My only downfall today was the cup of coffee I had for breakfast, instead of the hot water with lemon. Maybe tomorrow……
Of note: Sakara Life is based in NYC and only delivers to areas of NY state, CT, MA, and NJ. This is not an ad or paid article for Sakara. All opinions expressed are my honest, firsthand thoughts on the program.
– SHERRY
HAVE YOU EVER DONE A CLEANSE? IF SO, TELL US ABOUT IT!
Sherry is one of the TriWivesClub and LifeDoneWell co-founders and contributes to multiple blogs. She is a former co-owner of the California Apparel News and had a career in the healthcare industry. Her passions include traveling, real food, the environment, and animal rescue/welfare. She lives a healthy lifestyle and has been a vegetarian since 1987. She and her husband are parents to two rescue pups and reside in Connecticut.