Day 9 of Quantum Cleanse

Tempeh

So, yesterday I woke up all cranky and thinking that eating this way sucked. I wanted to pig out on something. My normal vices weren't available but I wasn't ready to give up yet. I was reminded about what I read about 'feeling the feeling' instead of self-medicating with food. Whatever. I had a spoonful of peanut butter. I went to Whole Foods and had a vegan oatmeal chocolate chunk cookie. Deeelightful. Satisfying. A little wheat, a little sugar, no one harmed.

Today I went to Qdoba and had a naked (w/o taco shell) vegetarian taco salad. no dressing. black bean corn salsa. grilled veggies and pico. guacmole. no cheese or sour cream. baked corn chips. I had some vegan sour cream I was going to try but I was too hungry and scarfed the salad as soon as I walked in the door.

For dinner I tried something new. Tempeh. It's a soybean cake. I bought one that had added carrots, red and green peppers. I sauteed it with olive oil, garlic, onion, portobello mushrooms,fresh green beans and teriyaki sauce. It wasn't bad at all. The texture of the tempeh was not what I am used to but it was good. Plus, I was comforted by the fact that is wasn't animal flesh.

Oprah had her vegan chef fed-ex food to her in Vegas. What a pussy. Just kidding. You know I love ya Oprah.

Quantum Wellness

Oprah had Kathy Freston on her show the other day talking about her new book Quantum Wellness. Most of the things they talked about rang true to me. That being all that body, mind and spirit stuff (she calls them 'pillars'). They also talked about something that I hadn't thought about before and I always love to ponder something new.

There's one wellness practice that Kathy says should be observed above all others. "The mother of all pillars is conscious eating," she says. "It doesn't only make a difference to our own personal health and well-being, but conscious eating means you stay aware of where your food comes from, how the animals are treated and how the environment is affected by the foods that you eat. You take in the energy of whatever went into creating that food." Kathy is a vegan, which means she doesn't eat meat, eggs, or dairy. "Nobody was harmed—that's conscious eating," she says.

Sounds great! I see my children being harmed with me eating that way.

She suggests a 21-day cleanse in the book where you give up
* Sugar
* Alcohol
* Caffeine
* Gluten
* Animal products

That's pretty much my entire diet. Sounds pretty impossible. But I like her point about being realizing your attachment to certain foods and letting your mood be ruled by those attachments. I really do think it would be beneficial for me to address those issues in my own life.

So Oprah is doing the 21-day cleanse and blogging about it. After three days she has been completely satisfied feasting on vegan dishes such as asparagus "cream" soup, strawberry rhubarb wheat free crepes and an eggless quiche. Other suggested recipes include Tempeh Scallopini with Madeira Peppercorn Sauce, Artichoke and Oyster Mushroom Rockafeller and Cajun-Seared Portobello Fillets with Avocado Cream. Ok, that all sounds yucky great but I really can't see myself juggling those recipes while preparing our normal fare of chicken nuggets and bagel bites.

But I am thinking about trying it and blogging along with Oprah. I'm not sure what would be the hardest to give up. . . wine. . . lattes. . . Jimmy Dean Lite breakfast sandwiches . . pizza. . . morning coffee . . cheese . . wine . . . oh, I already said that. I definitely think its going to make me crazy worth a try. But I'm still just thinking about it as I drink my coffee with caramel creamer. Oh yeah, and I need to find a personal chef to whip up those delicious recipes.