By default, Josh and I both having our own well-defined love of foods, we are quite the healthy eaters;  primarily staying away from all dairy products, eating as much organic as possible, growing our own fresh herbs, shopping the local, in-season fare of farmer’s markets, etc. Though since moving to Vegas, we seem to have gotten freer, less organized, and possibly even more lazy with our eating habits. in part it’s due to exploring the restaurants of our new town, and having to redefine the way we shop with less farmer’s markets here than in LA.

It finally reached an apex shortly after celebrating Josh’s Beer-tastic birthday weekend, exploring the breweries and the heaviest, richest foods around town! We not only physically felt the need for a cleanse, but also mentally!!! At various times in our lives, we’ve both gone through our own foodie experiments. Josh has done an actual cleanse of this sort before, whereas the type of cleanses I’ve done have been less about the actual cleansing teas and more centered around raw, vegan foods. So, we decided to embark on a 7- day cleanse… we first mapped out the specific desired goals of the cleanse and from there began to build a list of the foods to eat vs. a list of the foods to eliminate.

A few tips before you begin your own cleanse:

• From the goals of the cleanse, create rules and guidelines to stick within.
• The menu below is simply a guideline and by no means do you need to do it exactly… You may choose goals which we did not have and therefore you will tailor your cleanse (and rules) accordingly.
• Research is ALWAYS so helpful! In looking to achieve certain goals with this cleanse such as ‘clear skin’ or ‘less mucus a.k.a. defeat a runny nose’, if you don’t know what foods or herbal teas would help achieve a goal… Google it!
• Clean your fridge and pantries of anything that should be eliminated during the cleanse… You don’t need a bucket of ice cream in the fridge tempting you!
• Once you’ve made your rules, remember to COLOR within the lines… You have to be creative or you will get bored of your options quickly.
• Eat and drink A LOT… If your body isn’t used to a withdrawal from meats, dairy, or even most simple carbs, you will be hungry!!! Eat larger helpings of vegetables, drink larger quantities of juices, teas, and water… AND keep as many healthy, cleansing snacks around as possible.
• Women: I don’t recommend going through the cleanse while PMSing or during menstruation.
• If you exercise on a daily basis, you might find you need to exercise a bit less during this cleanse as your body will definitely be taking in less calories than usual. For the sake of keeping in the detox state of mind, we chose to focus on stretching, yoga, and time in the sauna.
• Green powders for an additional vitamin boost in your juices, smoothies, and teas is a great addition to the cleanse. We used Vitamineral Green and Spirulina Pacifica powder, though there are MANY on the market… look for organic powders that have a wide variety of vitamins, herbs, minerals in them.

Above you have the oils and vinegars we used throughout the week for cooking and dressing salads (minus Organic Tamari Soy Sauce) and the various teas we drank copious amounts of (each tea occasion isn’t listed in our menu)… Below we have the mixture of raw nuts and dried fruits (with no added sugar) that we kept around all week as snacks!

And so begins our Detox Menu:

Day One: Eliminate all animal products, animal by-products, non-organic products, wheat and most wheat substitutes, most simple carbohydrates, all common allergens (corn & derivatives, potato, etc.), all alcohol, all processed foodstuffs, and all products with any preservatives, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, and other added sugars. Focus on fruits, cooked and raw organic veggies, basmati rice, red quinoa, detox teas, all-natural fruit juices (all organic), and lots of water.

Breakfast – Smoothie: Watermelon, Frozen Banana, Spoon full of Vitamineral Green; Tea: Organic Genmaicha

Snack – Raw Nuts: Walnut, Pumpkin, Almond; Tea: Yogi Detox

Lunch – Steamed Rice and Veggie Bowl: Basmati Rice, Red Quinoa with Broccoli, Green and Purple Cabbage, Kale, Mexican Squash with Organic Tamari Soy Sauce and Apple Cider Vinegar to taste.

Snack – Dried Fruits: Figs, Prunes and Raisins AND lots of water with fresh lime

Slow Vinyasa Yoga Class in the evening followed by time in the Sauna

Dinner – Steamed Rice and Veggie Bowl #2: Basmati Rice, Red Quinoa and Diakon Radish Kimchi mixed with Broccoli, Green and Purple Cabbage, Kale, Mexican Squash

Day Two: Eliminate Rice and Quinoa: the final remaining starches. Focus on fruits, cooked and raw veggies, detox teas, all-natural fruit juices (all organic), and lots of water.

Breakfast – Smoothie: Watermelon, Frozen Banana, Spoon full of Vitamineral Green and one of Spiralina Pacifica powder; Tea: Yerba Mate with Raw Honey

Snack – Raw Nuts: Walnut, Pumpkin, Almond; Tea: Yogi Detox

Lunch – SALAD: mixture of grape tomatoes, celery, red and yellow bell peppers marinated in apple cider vinegar, balsamic and tamari soy sauce over the top of a butter lettuce mixture. A side of a whole sliced avocado topped with our seed mixture and apple cider vinegar.

Snack – Dried Fruits: Figs, Prunes, Raisins AND lots of water with fresh lime

Dinner – Raw food delight from ‘Go Raw Cafe’: Raw Sushi with Raw Mexi and Mediterranean Pizzas plus Kombucha and Braggs Ginger Spice Juice

Day Three: Eliminate all cooked foods to aid in cleansing of our digestive systems. Focus on fruits, raw veggies, detox teas, all-natural fruit juices (all organic), and lots of water.

Breakfast – Smoothie: Watermelon, Frozen Banana, Apple Juice and Spinach with a Spoon full of Spirulina Pacifica powder; Tea: He had Mate with Raw Honey, I had Organic Genmaicha

Intro Ashtanga Yoga Class mid-morning followed by time in the Sauna

Lunch – Green Laver Seaweed and Arame & Ginger Kimchi over Butter Lettuce Mixture with Young Cabbage Kimchi and Apple Juice

Snack – Two teaspoons of Bentonite Clay in Apple Juice with Smooth Move Chocolate Tea and Raw Honey

Bicycle Ride

Snack – LOTS of Coconut Water

Epson Salts Soak Bath; a detoxifier

Dinner – Spinach salad mix topped with avocado, Braggs Amino Acids (soy sauce substitute) and mixed raw nuts; Tea: Homemade Detox Tea (also a wellness remedy) – Ginger, Garlic, Lemon, Cayenne Pepper and Raw Honey

Come the end of day three, I did get a late night migraine probably due to having such an active day with such a great shift in my caloric intact… and not drinking enough water. Headaches will probably happen on some level as your body adjusts to the changes, especially if you tend to drink a lot of caffeine or alcohol. Obviously, the headaches should pass… if they don’t and you can’t seem to abate them, discontinue the cleanse until you have more information about what’s causing the headaches.

Day Four: Eliminate all whole, raw fruits and veggies to aid in great cleansing of our digestive systems. Focus solely on smoothies, homemade juices, detox teas, all-natural fruit juices (all organic), and lots of water.

Breakfast – A cup of homemade Watermelon Juice, Smoothie: Mixed Greens (chard, mustard, turnip, spinach), Carrots, Celery, Cucumber, Water, Apple Juice, Frozen Banana, Spirulina Pacifica powder; Tea: He had Mate with Raw Honey, I had Organic Genmaicha

Spent majority of the day at imperial Health Spa enjoying their saunas and hot tubs to cleanse the skin and calm the mind… Drank LOTS of water.

Late Lunch/Early Dinner – A meal of a giant Smoothie from WholeFoods; I had the Berry Nutritious and he had the Green and Glowing

Movie Time Snacks –  Coconut Water and Flaxseed Raw Chips… I just couldn’t not eat a little something!

Late Night Snack - Tea: Homemade Detox Tea – Ginger, Garlic, Lemon, Cayenne Pepper and Raw Honey

Day Five: A return to all whole, raw fruits and veggies. Focus on fruits, raw veggies, detox teas, all-natural fruit juices (all organic), and lots of water.

Breakfast – Smoothie: Mixed Greens (chard, mustard, turnip, spinach), Carrots, Celery, Cucumber, Water, Apple Juice, Frozen Bananas; Tea: Mate with Raw Honey

Lunch - SALAD: mixture of grape tomatoes, celery, red and yellow bell peppers marinated in apple cider vinegar, balsamic and tamari soy sauce over the top of the Mixed Greens with Arame & Ginger Kimchi.

Snack – Dried Fruits and Nuts

Dinner – SALAD: Mixed Greens, Avocado, Cucumber, Braggs Amino Acids, Olive Oil, Lemon topped with Mixed Nuts (today I added Sunflower Seeds and Cashews to the original mix)

Dessert – Smooth Move Tea with Raw Honey

Day Six: A return to cooked veggies. Focus on fruits, cooked and raw veggies, detox teas, all-natural fruit juices (all organic), and lots of water.

Breakfast – Green Apple and a Banana; Tea: Mate with Raw Honey and a touch of Almond Milk

Lunch – Sauteed Mixed Greens with Purple Onion and Mixed Nuts (cooked the nuts in… so delish), seasoned with Red Wine and Rice Wine Vinegars

Snack – Two Kiwi Fruits

Dinner – Sauteed Broccoli and Mushrooms with Yellow Onion, Garlic, Red Bell Peppers, seasoned with Cumin, Bragg’s Amino Acids, Olive Oil and a splash of Rice Wine Vinegar

Dessert – Smooth Move Chocolate Tea with Raw Honey and Dried Fruits: Fig and Apricot

Now when adding cooked foods back into your system you might notice difficulty in digesting and/or you aren’t able to eat as much in one meal… this is normal. When we aren’t used to eating raw foods, it’s harder for our systems to break them down and vice versa, when we aren’t used to eating cooked foods, it’s harder for our systems to break them down. Personally, my stomach didn’t love this particular Broccoli and Mushroom Dinner… although it sure did taste great! It might have been better for me to start with a softer, more simple cooked veggie meal.

Day Seven: A return to the most easily digestible starches: Rice and Quinoa. Focus on fruits, cooked and raw organic veggies, basmati rice, red quinoa, detox teas, all-natural fruit juices (all organic), and lots of water.

Breakfast – Banana with Mixed Nuts; Tea: Organic Genmaicha with Raw Honey and Almond Milk

Lunch - Steamed Rice and Veggie Bowl: Basmati Rice, Red Quinoa with Young Cabbage Kimchi and raw, Roma Tomatoes with Organic Tamari Soy Sauce to taste.

Snack – Sushi Rolls with Fish Cake and Imitation Crab (we needed a treat!)

DInner – Sauteed Shitaki Mushrooms and Onions, Roasted Cauliflower, Green Laver Seaweed Salad, Anchovy Kimchi, and a Basmati Rice/Red Quinoa mixture with Brewer’s Yeast to taste (all seasoned with the various oils we’ve restricted ourselves to this week and added spices/herbs to taste); Iced Tea: Peppermint Tea with Raw Honey and Lemon

 We finalized our Detox by sleeping with Bamboo Vinegar Detox Patches on the soles of our feet. This was just a little surprise we stumbled across at our favorite Asian Market and they definitely worked!

Additionally, we cheated a little the last night with that Sushi Roll snack and the Anchovy Kimchi… But we just COULDN’T help ourselves and we figured if we are gonna cheat, best to do it with seafood than anything else!!!

In the end, we felt wonderful! Our digestive systems stronger, minds clearer, and we parted the cleanse with a new foot forward to eat more healthy each day! There’s so much information to share about a cleanse of this sort… so please, if you have any questions before embarking on a cleanse of your own, do not hesitate to ask us!!! There are a few great books I can recommend, depending on your cleansing goals… and I am always happy to help by giving more detailed insight into my own personal experience.

Cheers to you and your health!