This is the last of the Cleanse Posts...I promise. But I'm still getting emails and questions about it, so I figured why not just post. If you want the first two installments, here and here.
Being a nurse practitioner can be hard. Being a healthy nurse practitioner can be even harder. There are so many days that just fly right by and you realize you didn't have the chance to eat a real meal. And certainly healthy eating takes planning.
But I must say that with this planning, I have felt healthier, have clearer skin, and have been more (maybe only slightly, but still!) energized than before.
As I said in previous posts, I truly enjoyed and would recommend the Whole Foods Cleanse that I did (which can be found here). It was definitely worth the money spent, as well as time and energy used into sticking to it!
The biggest questions I've gotten about it are what does my typically grocery list look like, and what meals do I make?
Jon and I usually divide up the grocery list and either hit up Costco on the weekend together (if we are gonna use their amazing pizza as one of our 10% meals), or he goes to Costo and I'll do Caputos. If you don't have a Caputos Fresh Market where you live, I am so sorry. It is the most amazing, fresh and inexpensive place ever! I LOVE it! And they have every vegetable and fruit known to mankind.
So here's the 2 grocery lists:
1.) Costco:
-almond milk (unsweetened, all natural)
-almond butter
-pecans, walnuts, or almonds (unsalted, all natural)
-hummus (they now have individual serving sized containers that I love!)
-red peppers
-2 bins of organic spinach
-large bag of organic carrots
-big container of blueberries and blackberries
-frozen organic strawberries or berry mix
-bag of avacados
-chicken, lean ground turkey, eggs, or salmon
-apples
-pesto
-kalamata olives
2.) Caputos:
-mangos, grapefruit, pears or whatever fruit sparks my interest that day
-2 heads of kale
-2 heads of swiss chard
-6 cucumbers
-head of cauliflower
-brussel sprouts
-fresh ginger root
-4-5 large handfulls of bean sprouts
-2 bushels of parsley
-1 bushel of cilantro
-lime juice
-2-3 yellow or white onions
-1 purple onion
-2-4 sweet potatoes (depending on our menu for the week)
-spaghetti squash
-butternut squash
-5 beets
-2 large cans of Hearts of Palm
-bag of lentils
The above groceries usually last us about 2 weeks. We try to stagger our Caputos and Costo runs so that we have room in our fridge. And while we would love to buy everything organic, it's just too expensive. That being said, much of Costco's produce is organic, and you only get one choice there (which is cheaper than other stores!) so it's a win, win. Last time I went to Caputos, I spent $46 and got all the above plus a few extras (can of black beans, buckwheat flour, etc) which lasts a couple weeks, so not too shabby.
Now for what I actually eat:
I always start the day off with a Green Juice. We have an awesome juicer that we bought about 7 years ago, and unfortunately does not have its name anywhere!!! I have no idea what brand it is...so sorry! I just put whatever green veggies are in my fridge, with a handful of baby carrots, lemon juice, and occasionally a beet or 2. Mmm! This will sound crazy (I'm well aware) but after drinking it I feel way more energized, a zing, and almost high! High on veggies apparently...told ya, crazy! But whatever, I'll take crazy b/c it works.
Snacks I love:
-apple with almond butter
-hummus with red pepper
-kalamata olives and hearts of palm
-blueberries with almond milk
-my healthy version of hot cocoa: just pour almond milk into a pan and add vanilla and a couple tablespoons of natural cocoa powder (to taste), whisk until it gets as hot as you like it...I like mine really steaming! Mmm! It's not sweet, but I like it that way. Jon adds a bit of Stevia to his.
Meals We Like:
-Veggie stir fry (broccoli, bean sprouts, water chestnuts, mushrooms, red pepper, carrots, and whatever else we feel like putting in there). We also add chicken or shrimp if we are in the mood
-Eggplant Parmesean: In all fairness, we can't call this "parmesean" because we don't use cheese, and instead of breading it, we coat it with a pecan meal we make in our food processor, bake it in the oven, and top with a homemade tomato sauce. But" Eggplant with pecan meal and tomato sauce" just doesn't sound as good : )
-Homemade organic tomato soup
-Roasted veggies: cauliflower, brussel sprouts, and sweet potato fries with avacado dip
-Salmon with lemon caper sauce (use vegetable stock for the base, do not add butter or wine to keep it low cal and super healthy)
-Lentil and veggie chili
-Lentil soup
-Lentil taco wraps: romaine leaves as taco shell, top lentils with tomatoes, cilantro, brown rice, and avacado
Those are the basics. And the great thing about all the meals and snacks above is that they are easily portable to bring to work. While there is more prepping, chopping, and cutting than I would love, once we make a meal at night, there are always leftovers to bring for lunch the next day.
Almost daily someone comments on "what a healthy eater" I am. And yes, it takes work. And it takes will power to say no to that cupcake or piece of chocolate. But I can eat a lot of food, feel full all day long, and still work on losing those last few pounds and tightening things that certainly need to be tightened.
And after doing the Whole Foods Cleanse I am on my way to continuing to eat in a healthy, sustainable way which just feels great!
Note: I did not get paid to endorse the above cleanse. I just completely loved the results, both inside and out! The above are my opinions, and my opinions alone. Although if Yuri would like to endorse me as a nurse practitioner, I wouldn't say no : )
As a total side note, there's been a lack of PICU posts in the past 2 weeks or so because we've just been too busy and way understaffed for me to take too much in! That, and I've done a ton of night shifts which leaves me groggy and in a "is it 3 am or 3 pm?" fog for quite some time! I promise I will get back to regularly schedule PICU posts this week as I actually have an entire week of day shifts...no nights included! YIPEE!!
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