Helpful Cleanse Hints

The cleanse is already almost half over!  In many ways, it seems to be going by quite fast this year!  All of my suppers so far have been simple suppers - tonight I had Lemon Quinoa from Kris Carr's new book Crazy Sexy Juice.  It was quick to prepare and delicious!  The book contains loads of great juice, smoothie, and nut milk recipes, as well as some solid food recipes, and is well worth picking up.

Some strategies to make the cleanse a bit easier and a bit more supportive include:
1.  Drink at least 2 litres of water per day - this helps to properly hydrate the body, support the liver in cleansing out toxins more effectively, and helps out with food cravings that can occur especially at the start of the cleanse.
2.  Add a fresh squeezed lemon to one of the glasses of water - this offers further liver cleansing support.
3.  Focus on liver friendly vegetables which includes beets, carrots, leafy greens (kale, collards, chard), brassica vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, cabbage) - this further supports healthy liver cleansing.
4.  If craving/missing sweets, have a variety of fresh fruit options to choose from - the fruit can help satisfy some of the sweet cravings.
5.  Prepare snacks ahead of time - this can include fresh fruit, small servings of raw and unsalted nuts and seeds, cut up raw vegetables, bean dips.
6.  Try vegetables you wouldn't normally eat - this expands the food variety and can help make missing the foods that have been removed from the cleanse a bit easier/a bit less obvious.  For the cleanse this year, I have had acorn squash, bok choy, green beans, and golden beets, in addition to the regular vegetables I eat.
7.  Make extra when you do cook - I have leftovers every day for lunch to simplify things.   As well, so far on this cleanse, I have been cooking primarily only every second day because of extra food from the previous night's supper.  This greatly reduces the amount of time required and the overwhelm around preparing food for the cleanse.
8.  Try making a green smoothie for breakfast - it is an easy and quick breakfast solution and is a great way to start the day.  The smoothie I have each morning is made up of 1 green apple, 2 inches of cucumber, 1 cup of chard, 2 tbsp of hemp seeds, 1 tbsp of cashew butter, 1 tbsp of coconut oil, 3/4 cup of water.  From start to end of clean up, it takes approximately 10 minutes to make.
9.  Integrate avocado and coconut oil if missing the higher fat foods that are removed on the cleanse - both of these foods are rich in saturated fat and can help a person to feel more full.