From a girl who’s started many cleanses and never seen any through to the end, I’m thrilled as all-natural fruit punch to say that the 40 Days of Yoga cleanse thus far has been a blast.
The cleanse is a simple or as challenging as desired. Everyone was asked to give up the six foods that are toughest on the body (sugar, alcohol, caffeine, meat, dairy, and gluten) and focus on the food that are best for the body (fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, and non-glutinous grains). At this point in the workshop, I’m only still consuming one of the forbidden six: gluten. So in order to make the cleanse just a little bit more cleansing for me, I decided to give up grains, as well. This coming from the self-proclaimed carb-aholic, too.
It’s been surprisingly effortless, I’m happy to report. Fruit or green smoothies for breakfast, bean soups or salads for lunch, and steamed veggies for dinner, topped with fabulous nut or seed sauces, like kale and shiitake mushrooms with parsley-tahini sauce, and rainbow chard and butternut squash with creamy macadamia sauce. I forgot how satisfying simply prepared vegetables can be. It feels a little like getting reacquainted with old friends.
On the docket for tomorrow, a personal fave – Cinnamon Chili Sweet Potato Puree. Sweet, salty, and spicy. Just about everything you could ask for in a dish. And easy as all-natural fruit pie (see what I did there?). Roast 2lbs of sweet potatoes in a 400 degree oven for 1 hour 10 minutes. In the meantime, whip together 1/2 cup coconut oil, 1 tablespoon cinnamon, 1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons chili powder, 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon sea salt. When the potatoes are tender, cool before removing the skin and pureeing with a hand mixer or food processor. Stir in the cinnamon-chili coconut butter and enjoy hot or chilled. Quick enough to make before you leave for work in the morning, delicious enough to eat for dessert, if you’d like.
Verdict: cleansing, not so hard. Definitely worth doing a few times a year to aid in restoration.