Tag: 30 Day Detox

To close out my posts on the 30 day cleanse, I will leave you with a few recipes I have tried from Dr. Brogan’s book:

 

Coconut Crack Bars:

Makes 6-8 bars

1 cup unsweetened shredded organic coconut

¼ cup pure maple syrup

2 T virgin coconut oil

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

⅛ teaspoon sea salt

¼ cup dark chocolate chips (optional)

Combine all the ingredients except the chocolate chips in a food processor and pulse to combine well or mix vigorously by hand. Stir in the chocolate chips, if using. Spread firmly into a 5 x 7 inch glass dish and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour or in the freezer for 15 minutes. Cut into 6 to 8 squares. Sprinkle with chocolate chips (optional).

This recipe is yummy. It is very sweet, so just a little satisfies my cravings for something sweet.

 

Paleo Pancakes

Serves 1

½ up cooked sweet potato or winter squash (such as butternut, acorn, or kabocha), or 1 banana

3 large pastured eggs

2 Tablespoons hemp seeds, flax seeds or nut butter

Virgin coconut oil

Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Spoon silver-dollar-size dollops into medium heat coconut oil. They cook quickly!

My son and I tried these. I didn’t love them, but he’s asked for them again. He said, “I would rather have buttermilk pancakes, but those were good too.”

 

Meat sauce

Serves 4 to 6

1 bunch Kale, stems removed and leaves torn

Leaves from 1 bunch fresh cilantro

1 onion, chopped

3 beets, scrubbed and chopped

4 carrots, chopped

4 celery sticks, chopped

2 Tablespoons grass fed- ghee

1 pound organic grass-fed ground bison or beef

One 24-ounce glass bottle organic crushed tomatoes

1 tablespoon ground turmeric

Unprocessed sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Combine the kale, cilantro, onion, beets, carrots, and celery in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped but not pureed.

Melt the ghee in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the veggies and saute until the onion is translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the bison and cook, stirring and breaking it apart with the spoon until browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes and turmeric and season with salt and pepper. Bring to simmer and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes to allow flavors to combine. Serve over squash, quinoa, or broccoli.

This recipe is great. I’ll probably change a few things the next time I make it, but I will give it 4 stars.

I wish you success on your journey to health, and would love to hear your favorite “Paleo” recipes.

Exercise:

“Time to get moving if you don’t already keep an exercise routine.” One thing that helps me is to just think about exercise as moving my body. I tell myself, “I’m just moving my body for the day.,” Then, once I get going, I’m usually up for pushing myself a bit harder.

Some great news about exercise is we don’t have to dedicate a ton of time to achieve amazing benefits. I’ve heard lots recently that short, high intensity bursts of movement (thirty seconds of maximum effort with ninety seconds of recovery) is highly effective for achieving amazing health and fitness. Dr. Brogan suggests starting with five to ten minutes of burst exercise and working up to twenty minutes at least three times a week, 5 to 6 times a week is ideal.

Rest and Relaxation:

We all no how much sleep, or  lack of sleep affects us. If we don’t get enough ZZZs, we’re grumpy and have to eat more to help our bodies feel normal. To be our best, we need to prioritize sleep. “Go to bed and get up roughly the same time daily, no matter what, even on the weekends.” Dr. Brogan suggests keeping your bedroom, “quiet, dark, and electronic free.”

Regular sleep also helps ward off depression.

Dr. Brogan says, “Time your last meal smartly: Leave at least three hours between dinner and bedtime so your stomach is settled and poised for you to go to sleep. Avoid late-night eating. If you need a bedtime snack, try a handful of nuts.”

A word about exercise and depression:

I get the occasional winter blues. It hit me hard last winter, and it hit me early this winter. I can usually feel it coming on and know how to fight it off, but that doesn’t mean I always do what I should. The thing is if I am feeling depressed, the last thing I want to do is workout. Depression=I’m moving as little as possible. Without regular exercise, we could end up in a spiral of “I don’t want to work out, and then feeling worse because we don’t.

I was skipping my workouts because I felt like I was too busy at work, and told myself I would prioritize exercise when things calmed down. But, like I said, I got hit hard and early with the winter blues. I talked to my sister/therapist about it. She asked me if I was working out and I confessed that I hadn’t been because I’d felt too busy. “Well,” She said, “you can either spend time working out, or you can spend time crying.” Obviously, I keep her around for a reason.

I’ve recommitted to regular exercise. I’m probably getting in a half and hour, 5 times a week. And my winter blues are far, far away.

I hope this helps and motivates.

This week we are going to dive a little deeper than food into Dr. Brogan’s detox and briefly discuss detoxing our homes. We live in an industrialized nation, and all the chemicals in our environment, including plastics, can also be found in our bodies. For a little “food for thought,” please watch this It’s Okay to Be Smart video.

Dr. Brogan gives some simple, and some advanced detox methods. I won’t go into the advanced methods here, but some simple things she recommends are: filling your house with plants to clean the air. Having your air ducts cleaned once a year. We have never done this, and we lived in our home for 11 years. Drink filtered water, and possibly install under-water filters on all your faucets. Look at the cleaning and self-care products you buy, and try to buy natural.

I have to admit, I’m not great at this. I don’t use natural cleaning or make-up products, but I am committed to trying to change things in my environment a little at a time. This is just part of educating ourselves and doing our part to clean things up around here.

I’d love to hear everyone’s favorite natural products!

Hi Awesome people!

Before you begin our 30 day detox, you’re going to need to empty your kitchen of the foods you are going to be avoiding. I’m not a girl who likes to waste money, but let’s be honest, if there are unhealthy snacks in my kitchen, I’m going to eat them. So go through your kitchen the week after Christmas and toss everything that isn’t allowed. Have a talk with your family and ask them to keep their treats hidden from you, or else those won’t be safe either. I’ve said it before: nothing derails trying to eat healthy like hunger and a pantry full of cold cereal. Have a bowl before you throw it away, but make sure you throw it away. For reals!

Try to go for 100% compliance with the program. This is the food protocol that Dr. Brogan gives her patients, and she demands 100% compliance. This is why we are doing this in January instead of during the holidays when people are dropping off cookies at our door, and there are holiday parties and dinners with yummy, not-so-good-for-us food. The more compliant you are, the better reading you’ll get of how your body reacts to certain foods if you choose to reintroduce them after the 30 days.

From Dr. Brogan’s book:

Start by removing the following:

• All sources of gluten, including whole-grains and whole wheat bread, noodles, pasta, pastries, baked goods and cereals.
• All forms of processed carbs, sugar and packaged Foods: chips, crackers, cookies, pastries, muffins, pizza dough, cake, donuts, sugary snacks, candy, energy bars, ice cream, frozen yogurt, sherbert, jams, jellies, preserves, ketchup, processed cheese spreads, juices, dried fruit, sports drinks, soft drinks/soda, fried foods, sugar (white and brown), and corn syrup.
• Margarine, vegetable shortening, and Commercial brands of cooking oil (soybean, corn, cottonseed, canola, peanuts, safflower, grapeseed, sunflower, rice bran and wheat germ oils)— even if they are organic.
• Dairy (including butter, milk, yogurt, cheese, cream, and ice cream) and soy (including soy milk, soy cheese, soy burgers, soy hot dogs, soy ice cream, soy yogurt, soy sauce and anything that has “soy protein isolate” on the list of ingredients).

Then restock. The following items can be consuming liberally (go organic and local with your whole-food choices whenever possible):

• Treats: honey – try to make it local and raw, dark chocolate, fruit, pure maple syrup
• Healthy fats: organic virgin coconut oil, red palm oil, grass-fed and organic or pasture-fed and ghee, flax oil, macadamia nut oil, avocado, coconut, olives, nuts and nut butters, lard, tallow, and seeds, flax seeds sunflower seeds pumpkin seeds sesame seeds, chia seeds.
• Herbs seasonings and condiments, there are virtually no restrictions on herbs and Seasonings so long as they are fresh, organic and free of dyes in artificial colorings. Toss out your ketchup and any condiments laced with gluten, soy, and sugar or that’s been processed in a plant with wheat and soy. It’s fine to enjoy mustard, horseradish, tapenade, guacamole, and salsa if they are free of processed ingredients.
• Whole fruits and vegetables,
• Protein, whole pastured eggs, Wildfish, shellfish and mollusks, grass-fed meat, foul, poultry, and Fork, Wild game.

I should admit here that after I finished reading Dr. Brogan’s book, I was excited to try her cleanse, but I was also discouraged at all the yummy foods I would have to give up, and ended up eating a lot of foods I wouldn’t normally eat.

Don’t get discouraged! We can do this!

Love,

Rachel

Hi amazing people!

I want to give you an overview of Dr. Brogan’s plan, and then over the next four weeks, I’ll dive a little deeper into the recommendations for each week, including recipes. The next few paragraphs are an excerpt from Dr. Brogan’s Book:

“Over the 30 days, you’ll achieve four important goals:

1. Introduce a new way of nourishing your body through the foods you eat.
2. Green your home environment, divorcing yourself from the modern love affair with toxicants.
3. Incorporate a daily meditative practice into your life, one that stimulates the body’s natural relaxation response and paves the way for lasting transformation.
4. Prioritize getting routine restful sleep and adequate exercise throughout the week.

I’ve broken down the program into four weeks, with each week devoted to focusing on one specific goal so you can establish a new rhythm and maintain these healthy habits for life. You’ll use the time leading up to the first week to get your kitchen organized and begin to wean yourself from sugar and wheat products as you clear out the junk and replace it with real whole foods. During week 1, “Dietary Detox”, you’ll start my menu plan and execute my nutritional recommendations, which you’ll continue throughout the 30 days.

During week 2, “Home Detox” I’ll encourage you to green your home and living environment.

In week 3, “Peace of Mind,” you’ll turn your attention to establishing a daily meditative practice to switch on your body’s natural relaxation response. This will become a daily habit for life.

During week 4, “Movement and Sleep”, you’ll start a regular workout program if you haven’t done so already. I’ll give you ideas for moving more throughout the day. I’ll also be asking you to focus on your sleep habits and follow a few simple guidelines to ensure that you’re achieving the best way possible every single night, weekends included.

I’ll be helping you put all the elements of this program together and equipping you with the strategies for permanently establishing new behaviors in your life. Don’t second-guess your ability to succeed. I’ve designed this program to be as practical and easy-to-follow as possible.”

That’s it. Like I said, I’ll dive deeper into each week’s “plan,” but I wanted to give you an overview so you know what to expect and can get excited.

We’re starting January 1st if you’d like to join us. This is going to be awesome!

Much love,

Rachel

If you are going to do Dr. Brogan’s 30 day detox, you have to find your why. Is it depression, is it weight loss, is it some other wanted change that is nagging at you? I suggest writing your reason down. Be totally honest, no one else is going to read it.

My why is that I want to see how I feel at the end of the 30 days. I recommend keeping a journal detailing how you feel throughout the 30 days.

I’ve seen transformations in my life as a result of dietary and other lifestyle changes. I can do things I didn’t think were possible, and I think Dr. Brogan’s detox will help me realize even more of what my mind and body are capable of.

A few years ago, my sister introduced me to The Four Hour Body Tim Ferriss.  His slow carb diet is so easy to follow, there are no specialty ingredients or diet plans. Don’t let the size of the book scare you, he covers a lot in the book, and the slow carb section is about 2 pages.

I gave up my morning toast, and my daily ham and cheese sandwich. I started Tim’s slow carb diet to lose weight, (I was highly motivated at the time), but I have stuck with it now for years because of the difference in how I feel. I’ve never felt this good. I have energy like I never have before. It still surprises me some sometimes. 

I used to be a slug. I had no energy. This goes all the way back to my childhood. This is how bad it was: if I was throwing a wadded piece of paper into a garbage can and missed the can, it would almost defeat me because I knew how much energy it would require for me to bend down and pick up that paper and put it in the trash. I thought this was just me, this was my normal.

I have a great deal of energy now, and energy is really the first thing we need to accomplish higher goals. Even now I do a little celebration when I miss the trash can and it’s no big thing for me to pick up what I dropped and make the shot.

Another change I’ve seen is organization. I’m not naturally an organized person. My normal was piles of clutter, especially paper, around my house. And despite my best efforts, I couldn’t keep it down. Surfaces were the enemy. 3 big clutter collection spots were my purse, my car, and the ledge above my stairs. I would do occasional big cleans of these areas, but they would inevitably get cluttered again. Recently though, I’ve been able to keep these trouble areas totally clutter-free, and the best thing is, it feels effortless. It’s not like it has been previously where it was such a mental drain to see these areas all cluttered up, and not feel like I had the time or energy to deal with them. I now have the energy and focus to keep these areas clean.

These reasons may seem small, but to me they’re huge, and, I feel, just the tip of the iceberg.

Lasting changes in our lives begin with nutrition and the food we choose to eat. That’s why I recommend journaling your reason for doing this cleanse. I think your why might change. You might start with one reason, but find other, exciting benefits you couldn’t predict. We can be more capable, more energetic and more present in our own lives. And I believe that begins with the food we eat.

I wanted to share the snack list that Dr. Brogan has in her book. Nothing can derail the good intentions of a new food program like hunger, so here is a healthy, yummy snack list you can stock your pantry with:

Have these ready to roll. My goal, which I’ve made before, is to do weekend prep for food and snacks

• A handful of raw nuts and/or seeds (preferably sprouted, and no peanuts)
• A few squares of authentic dark chocolate that doesn’t contain any white sugar (anything 70% cacao and above
• Chopped raw veggies, dipped in guacamole, tapenade, or nut butter
• Roasted turkey or roast beef slices or chicken slices dipped in mustard
• Half an avocado with olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper
• Two soft boiled eggs
• Berries with coconut milk (unsweetened, full fat)
• Bone broth
• Grass-fed jerky
• Lactofermented vegetables
• Seaweed (atlantic is preferable)

Enjoy!

At the end of Dr. Kelly Brogan’s interview with Marie Forleo, Marie asks Dr. Brogan, “Where should people start?” and she says, “With breakfast”. I couldn’t agree more. I think if you can get your breakfast right, you’ve got a huge head start on your day.

If, like most women, you suffer from blood sugar swings, you need to start your day with protein. Protein is the best blood sugar stabilizer.

Here is the recipe for Dr. Brogan’s breakfast smoothie. I have to admit that although I am excited to try this recipe, I haven’t yet purchased some of the ingredients, but I wanted to share it here in case you wanted to give it a try:

The Kelly Brogan Smoothie:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPF1udpUmfU

Serves 1

½ cup frozen cherries or other berries

8 oz coconut water or, or filtered water

3 T collagen hydrolysate (as a protein base) – Collagen hydrolysate is a protien food supplement high in amino acids glycine, proline, and lycine. It comes as a dry powder.

1 T sprouted nut butter or sunflower seed butter

3 large pastured egg yolks

1 T virgin coconut oil

1-2 T grass-fed ghee

1-2 T raw cocoa powder

Dr. Brogan says that this smoothie tastes like chocolate milk, and with all it’s good fats, keeps her full for a long time.  

Give it a try and let me know what you think.

 

Rachel’s breakfast

Another reason I haven’t tried Dr. Brogan’s smoothie yet is because I feel like I have breakfast figured out for what works for me. I eat the same thing for breakfast every day. I love it and haven’t tired of it in almost 5 years now, but I realize that other people might need more variety.

I start my morning with what my sister calls, “Morning Sunrise.” 8 oz of water with a splash each of sole water , organic apple cider vinegar (I use Bragg’s organic because it is very easy to find and has “The Mother,” which the bottle states, “occurs naturally as connected strand-like chains of protein enzyme molecules.” And a squeeze of lemon.

I’ve read that you’re supposed to wait 30 minutes after drinking sole water before eating, but I usually don’t.

I saute spinach in coconut oil and sprinkle it liberally with Tumeric, which has natural anti-inflammatory benefits. With that, I eat 2 whole eggs, fried in coconut oil and slathered in Salsa.  

This will usually tide me over until 9 or 10 in the morning, and which time I will have a banana and almond butter.

This usually tides me over until about 11. Around 11 I usually have a bowl of grapes and raw pecans.

It’s more like 1st, 2nd and 3rd breakfast than a traditional breakfast. But it works for me.

I would love to hear the go-to healthy breakfasts that you love.