Is There Life After Clean?

Life after Clean has been a bit confusing, we must admit. One tends to feel guilty when adding foods back in, afraid that all we've gained could be lost ever so quickly.

We indulged in our first glass of wine on our 22nd day. To One Iowa Girl's delight, we do still love a good glass of wine. She was a bit leery that our tastes had changed so much that we would no longer find a glass of vino delightful. Quite the contrary, we found it to be rather invigorating. We also found ourselves savoring every sip. Looking for the difference in flavor, etc. Seems a bit dramatic for a simple glass of wine, but we've realized that after 3 weeks of a very strict plan, we found our palates are much more sensitive than they have been in years. It seems as if we are tasting these wonderful things for the first time. If you are a red wine lover, then may we suggest to you the Casillero Del Diablo (yes, the house of the Devil - why not go big on our first night!) we know you will find this wine a pure delight.

As for our first weekend after the Clean, we both meandered off the beaten path a bit. Boat Guy succumbed to the pizza gods, while One Iowa Girl enjoyed a Mexican feast with her family. Neither of us over indulged, but each felt the tinge of guilt saying to ourselves, be careful, it's a slippery slope out there.

We will be sure to follow up with pictures very soon. In the mean time, stayed tuned to see how we ease back into the real world, without losing sight of our goals, yet enjoying the wonderful gastronomical world we've come to love!

Milestone

Day 21 is almost over, we have "completed" the Clean Program. I think that the completion of the 21 days has taught us a lot. We have proven to ourselves that we are not slaves to food and that we can be very disciplined. We are both feeling energetic and vibrant. A stranger today told us that we looked like magazine models (that doesn't happen every day).

The challenge before us is to transition into a less restrictive diet, but maintain the nutrition and detoxification benefits of healthy foods. We have found some foods that we love during this process (the boat guy wanted Quinoa for dinner instead of Chinese take out tonight!) and believe that we will continue enjoying the benefits of our healthier lifestyle.

We will continue to observe a twelve hour break for the body between dinner and breakfast. This allows the body to digest completely with a little time to spare for maintenance and detoxification. We are also going to continue to have a liquid breakfast consistently. Snacks will be a handful of raw almonds instead of a bag of Doritos. We also plan to "go Clean" for a week every time the seasons change as a tune up. All in all, we have developed some very healthy habits over the last 21 days that will benefit us for years to come.

So, you will continue to hear from us even though the initial 21 days have passed. We will be letting you know what happens as we go back out there into the wide wild world!

Infomercial Junkie

The Clean Program will kill a 30 year old food processor. One Iowa Mom (that's my momma!) won my current food processor while she was selling Avon in the early 80's. She got a brand spanking new one for Christmas a few years back and I inherited the Avoncessor. And now, I've killed it. I then turned to my trusty Magic Bullet.

Many of you know my fascination with with infomercials. Thanks to the great folks at IGLACC and OTC, I am the proud owner of one of the most popular infomercial products, the Magic Bullet. I am going on two years as a proud owner and I can recite the infomercial from heart (in case you can't recite it, click here). But, it has it limitations, and I have pushed it beyond it's wildest dreams. So, with sadness in my heart, but a skip in my step I purchased a new food processor today. I have done my research and have found the piece de resistance... the Kitchen Aid KFP750CR. It holds 96oz. and therefore I'm going to refer to it as the Ol' 96er. Needless to say at this point, I am pumped about this purchase. I also have to add, especially for Confessed Coupon Addict, I waited long enough to purchase that it was on the sidewalk clearance sale at Le Gourmet and I got it for $100 off!!!

But onto the real reason of our blog, the FOOD! I have to share with you the fabu dinner we

had last night. As has become our Saturday night tradition, we had our solid meal after Boat

Guy's customer event at the marina. I will slide in here that the theme for this event

was Rush Week, which came along with a menu of, what else, PIZZA. Damn, it looked good. But when we got home and had Stir-Fried Vegetables with Buckwheat Noodles, it put the pizza to shame. Also, on a Cliff Clavin note, buckwheat is not really a wheat, but a member of the rhubarb family. There's your useless info for the week.

We both continue to see success and are completely shocked at the amount of energy we have. As I chatted with my good friend Tito today, she asked the question that's probably been burning in all of your minds, "what are you going to do after your done?" Well, it's been a fun ride and we're excited to incorporate all we've learned in the last 3 weeks into our everyday life. I am proud to say that we have inspired at least one person to start the Clean, and he is already finished with week one! We've also heard from a lot of you that are thinking of starting. Please leave comments, etc and tell us how you're doing!

Unit Next Time - Happy Cleaning!

No hill for a climber...

So, we met at the grocery store after work tonight. As we mentioned last night, we planned to go to a high school football game tonight. A good all day rain (still falling) has changed our plans. Usually this would be no big deal to us, but we are growing a little weary of our liquid evening meals. We are also getting pretty good at making them, so it doesn't take much time. So we are finding ourselves saying "what do we do now?"

Our trip to the grocery store was uneventful. The "Red Box" movie rental machine did not render any movies that we couldn't miss tonight, and we are still saying what do we do now? We have determined that some fruit smoothies are in our near future. They sound kind of gross right now, but I am sure they will be good once we get started.

I know that the mood sounds kind of melancholy, the weather is awful grey today and we are used to warming up on a night like this in a booth of a restaurant enjoying a bottle of wine and some WARM food. We still feel great and are glad we are going clean, but tonight is a little challenging for us.

We have been trying to talk ourselves out of following the plan tonight, but we have come so far and will see it through. We also have to make it through the entire 21 days because all of you will know if we don't. Thanks for the support and for helping us feel accountable for following through.

Until tomorrow- HAPPY CLEANING!!

Beans, Beans the Natural Fruit

Going Clean has been a true adventure. As we enter week three, neither of us can believe how quickly the time really has gone. When we started this, I wasn't sure I'd make it through week one, let known be energized enough to want to see this through. I was hesitant to start this program at the time we did, because of the fact that Labor Day weekend fell as the last weekend of our program. Now, I have no doubt that we'll sail through the holiday weekend, including Boat Guy's customer cocktail party on Saturday night, with no problems at all!

I have to give BIG props tonight to wonder of Swiss Kriss. Unlike Boat Guy, the double shot of olive oil each evening, wasn't working it's natural wonders. Well Ladies & Gentleman, I have the miracle cure for you, Swiss Kriss is an all natural blend that will make your life fantastic.

As for our menu this week, I again ventured out for lunch today, and to my surprise, it is just a bit hard to get a regular salad from Applebee's. Every one of the salads on the menu include not only meats, but tons of extras. I asked for a side salad with just veggies. I was greeted with a gorgeous salad that included 1,000 croutons, the biggest chunks of bacon (real not fake) and enough shredded cheese to undo all the work of Swiss Kriss! Oh, the joys of Clean in the restaurant world. Boat Guy on the other hand enjoyed a yummy homemade meal of adzuki beans and brown rice. There's enough left over for us both to have lunch tomorrow - YAH! I took the liberty of making the adzuki beans into my supper tonight by putting the soup like concoction into the food processor. I'm not sure if this was an appropriate dinner, but it was liquid and on the "to do" food list.

Tomorrow night we are going to a football game, and I do have to say that game food is one of our ultimate favorites. Hotdogs (yes, I allow myself a hotdog now and then, because let's face it, are they really meat?) popcorn (NEED I SAY ANYTHING!) and of course hot cocoa. Stay tuned to see if the concession stand gets the best of us! After two weeks, I have no doubt that we'll enjoy the half-time show, with no bumps.

When you're here you're family...

The last few days have seemed very normal. We have fallen into so much of a routine that we don't even really discuss "Clean" or the effects. It has become enough of a habit that we even forgot to write a post yesterday (sorry to those of you who look forward to our updates).

Today was a big day for us. We decided to try going to a restaurant. The book suggests that it is OK to eat out, but to be cautious about what you eat. We went to an Olive Garden; their advertisements say that when you are there your are family, so we figured they would tolerate our quirkiness. We enjoyed their house salad (no croutons, no cheese) and a bowl of minestrone soup. We also asked that they not bring the ever wonderful, but ever terrible for you, breadsticks. A very smart move. All in all a great first trip out in the real world of food. We probably took some loose liberties with the "rules," but we really enjoyed having a meal in a restaurant for a change.

We also spent a lovely amount of time perusing the aisles of Akins Health Food Market. What a joy! One Iowa Girl has not had the fabulous effects of "daily elimination" that the book says you should have. So, we were on a mission to find an herbal supplement the book recommends, Swiss Kriss. We'll let you know how that all comes out - poor attempt at humor folks, but take what you can get! We were also very excited to come across Adzuki Beans. A Japanese bean that we'll be using in a recipe later this week as it calls for some overnight soaking of the beans. We'll be sure to share photos and a review!

As for tomorrow's menu, Boat Guy will be enjoying Asian-Flavored Tuna w/ Stir Fried Vegetables. Iowa Girl is going to stick with the stir fried veggies, you can't go wrong there!

Until Later - Happy Cleaning!