7 days Raw Vegan Cleanse Meal Plan

I know I know, I'm always praising the mediterranean diet as a way to live so you don't have to go on a weight loss diet, but last winter in Philadelphia was rough, in case you haven't noticed, it snowed almost everyday. That lead to not going out much which also lead to copious amounts of alcohol consumed with our neighbors, several inventions of funny named drinks and, sigh, weight gain.

So I decided to try one of the recent fads that's going viral both online and with my health nut friends (I say this with love, I'm one of them.):

THE 7 DAYS RAW VEGAN CLEANSE

...which for an italian sounds like the title of an horror movie. Last September (2013) I tried and failed, so this time I armed myself with superfood of all sorts, because as I always say, detox and diet doesn't mean you should starve.

For this week I will integrate my diet with:
Spirulina Powder (www.nuts.com), a powerful alga that contains the full spectrum of amino acid, fatty acids and proteins. It is believed it has the power to blend with heavy metals therefore dragging them out of your body. Great for detoxing and also antioxidant.

Maca Powder (www.nuts.com), is rich in the dietary minerals, calcium and potassium (with low content of sodium), and contains the essential trace elements iron, iodine, copper, manganese, and zinc as well as fatty acids including linolenic acid, palmitic acid, and oleic acids, and 19 amino acids. 
It is also used as an aphrodisiac, because let's face it, if we're not allowed to eat anything, let's at least have some sex... No but seriously, it's a hormone regulator for both men and women, and I NEED IT!!!

Matcha Green Tea Powder (www.nuts.com), it's a powerful antioxidant, it accelerates your metabolism and promotes weight loss. And I love the taste of it. I'm going to make several desserts with it. Also no coffee for a week, so this will have to do.

SO...WHAT CAN I EAT?
Raw fruit and vegetables, anything cooked under 118 degrees F, dried fruit, nuts, almond milk, coconut milk, sprouts and seeds. If you want to be a true vegan you should sprout your beans instead of cooking them, but I cooked mine and I promise you that I still got my detoxing done!

DAY 1

Start on Monday. All diets start on mondays...!

Breakfast:
1/8 of Watermelon. Yes, it's a lot of watermelon!

Snack:
Banana, cherry, blueberry, orange smoothie.

Lunch:
Oh gosh it's lunch time!
Zucchini pasta with vegan pesto and fresh cherry tomatoes. BAHM!

Snack:
1 apple with 1 tbsp of peanut butter

Exercise: walk with the dog (most of it up hill... and my dog pulls ALL THE TIME)

Snack:
Almond milk/strawberry/agave nectar smoothie

Dinner:
Kale salad with tomatoes, peppers, avocado, scallion, lemon/olive oil vinaigrette.

DESSERT!!!!
Vegan Lemon Coconut Bars, THANK YOU TO "This rawsome vegan life" for the wonderful recipe.

This is what happened to me: after eating all this nutritious food, my body went in bread/pasta/cheese withdraw and I got a headache. I started munching on blueberries and as soon as I started chewing them the headache went away. That's how I knew it was withdraw and not hunger.
So go to bed early and try not to focus on it too much.

DAY 2

If you made it through the first day the second day is going to be a lot easier. I had a night of very light sleep, any sound was waking me up, I was tossing and turning, but I woke up unbelievably well rested. 

Breakfast:

Smoothie with 1 banana, 1 mango, 1 cup of cantaloupe, 1/2tsp Maca Powder

A strong tea. 

is it lunch time yet? 

Snack: 

4 dried apricots...

is it lunch time yet? 

Lunch: 

YAY it's lunch time! 

Make your favorite Guacamole recipe and add 1/2tsp of Spirulina Powder. Instead of chips eat it with raw vegetables or dehydrated vegetables . I'm going with fresh carrots, celery and some kale I marinated in oil, lemon and salt overnight (so it's easier to chew and digest). Surprisingly satisfying. 

Snack:

6/7 shelling peas mmm... so delicious! 

Dinner: 

Broccoli with tahini sauce
Dessert: lemon coconut bar

DAY 3

This was the hardest day for me for three main reasons:
1. The night before I had a dream about eating a croissant. 

2. I tried to cook a bunch of new stuff and I ended up not liking the taste of it, I had to eat it anyway because I didn't want to waste the food. Plus it was all "really good" for me so ate it and shut up. 

3. I had to do a bunch of physical and mental work, out of the comfort of my home. I packed a lot of snacks and I was fine, but when I got home at 10:30 pm, let me tell you... I was really hungry and the temptation of eating a sandwich was strong. My beautiful partner helped me through this moment of weakness and I was able not to break my diet. 

Breakfast:

Green juice: celery, cucumber, kale, green apple, ginger, lemon (the last two make this drink acceptable)

Snack: 

4 Dried apricot

Lunch: 

Tomato Gazpacho (two huge cups). This dish is particularly acidic, balance with an avocado if you suffer of acid reflux

Exercise: swimming

Snacks:

Watermelon

Banana, Strawberry, Almond Milk Smoothie

6 Almonds

A couple of shelling peas

Dinner:

Avocado, zucchini, onion, salt, oil, basil, lemon soup. A large bowl.
Dessert: green tea "cheesecake", google vegan green tea dessert and you'll find a wide verity of them, or visit "this rawsome vegan life" website for more suggestions

DAY 4

If you feel brave you can make the 4th day an ONLY LIQUIDS day or take it even further and fast. 

If you made it passed the cravings of the third day, today is REWARD DAY. 

This is when you really start seeing the detoxing happening. I've pooped things I hadn't eaten in years. Yes, detoxing is gross, deal with it. 

Today I'm going to try to really eat something delicious. Fuck kale. For one day. 

Breakfast:

Watermelon.

Snack: 

Matcha and almond milk smoothie. A little warning about green tea: it lowers blood sugar like crazy. I almost fainted cause I used too much, if that happens to you, just drink a glass of sugary juice and you'll be fine. 

Lunch: 

Sweet and sour salad with strawberries, dried cranberries or goji berries, avocado, pine nuts, carrots, tomatoes. 

Snack: 

Banana, cantaloupe, mango smoothie

Dinner: 

Zucchini pasta with vegan pesto (I had some left from the other day).
Dessert

If you feel brave you can make the 4th day an ONLY LIQUIDS day or take it even further and fast.

DAY 5

Breakfast:
Smoothie with banana, a handful of kale, berries of your choice, half a teaspoon Spirulina powder

Snack:
Cherries

Lunch:
Chickpea hummus and raw veggies. Delicious.

Snack:
Smoothie with watermelon, strawberries and coconut water, half a teaspoon maca powder

Dinner:
Salad with pistachios, avocado, tomatoes, cucumber, dried cranberries.

DAY 6

Oh dear God, we're so close to the end of this!

Today I was at my in laws all day, they were not prepared for my diet requests. I should have packed my own food but I didn't. So I had to figure it out.

Breakfast:
Mango, banana, almond milk, handful of kale smoothie

Snack:
Mixed dried fruit

Lunch:
Salad with onions, tomatoes, cucumbers
Cherries

Snack:
Fruit of choice

Dinner:
Salad of your choice
Fruit

DAY 7

YEAHHH!!!!!!!! I DID IT!!!!

Breakfast:
You get how this works now!

Smoothie with avocado, watermelon, strawberries and half a teaspoon of Spirulina powder. Very delicious. Tasted like watermelon!

Lunch:
Hummus and raw veggies

Snack:
Dried fruit

Dinner:
Salad with mango, cranberries, cashews, tomatoes, carrots.

10 THINGS I LEARNED FROM DOING THIS:

1. You really don't need to eat that much to survive a busy day! 

4. I can survive without bread.

10. I can survive without coffee. 

1. I can survive without wine!!

2. There are other ways to provide your body with the required protein intake

3. Kale is better then any laxative! And you can't taste it at all in the smoothies. Same thing for the Spirulina, although it's a little confusing to drink a deep blue/green drinks that taste like banana or watermelon! 

5. I was in such a great mood the whole week! 

6. I had no digestive or intestinal issues, which I'm usually very affected by. 

7. I proved myself that I'm stronger then I think. 

9. I got to try a lot of new recipes (good ones and bad ones), some of them made it in my weekly rotation! 

WHAT DO I DO NOW THAT I'M DONE?

Slowly reintroduced steamed vegetables, goat cheese (easier to digest then cow products), fish, rice, in your daily diet. I would suggest staying away from pasta, bread, fatty foods, meats, hard alcohol, for at least another week. Plus you're not going to want any of those things. And absolutely no refined sugars. 

I hope this inspired you to try it, if not for 7 days, at least for 1 day, to show yourself that your strong enough, and to prove to everybody that it's not necessary to eat meat everyday. 

I hope this was helpful! 

Valentina

RealItalianKitchen