Cleansing Detox: The final hours

I'm just a few hours away from completing my four days of my detox cleansing diet. While my goal wasn't to necessarily lose weight (although a few less pounds would always be nice!), it was more of a clean and healthy eating program and kick-off for the new year. Thank goodness I ran 16 miles the Sunday before starting the program because I found myself tired during my easy training runs (5-8 miles). Tonight I'm running the 9 miles of hills to Crossroads which might be a challenge, but the motivation behind this run will be PIZZA and WINE at Crossroads as my reward of 4 days of healthy eating! Here I come, Robert Mondavi!

In general, the detox diet was a good idea. I feel rejuvenated and this has motivated me to be more "mindful" (love that yogi word!) of my eating habits. I purchased items from Whole Foods that I hadn't heard of before this week: agave syrup, almond butter, quinoa, flax seed, etc. These were some of the ingredients for the recipes suggested in the plan. Having a smoothie in the morning is a terrific way to start the day, but "NO THANK YOU" to the suggested leafy greens that were in some of the recipes. Adding kale and swiss chard to my fruit smoothies was just plain gross.

The lunch recipes, however, were great. The almond-crusted baked chicken (served over baby spinach leaves dressed with lemon juice) was delicious and I plan to make this for the family next week. The side glass of V8 was an added treat.
All the dinners were liquid...in the form of soup. Lentil soup was served up on Monday and Tuesday, followed up with a butternut squash/apple soup on Wednesday and today. Both these recipes were quite delicious and surprisingly filling. However, I was always hungry later in the night and went to bed early finding it easier to be asleep and avoid the temptation to snack. And let's not forget about the cups and cups of pomegranate green tea (in my Jane Austen mug, of course). It was an interesting experiment for 4 days. Moving forward I'll stick with the general plan, but allow myself dairy, cheese and the necessary whole grain carbs I'll need for training, along with a few other necessarily evils (coffee, white wine) on occasion. After all, we don't want to be too obsessive about this healthy thing!
"How quick come the reasons for approving what we like" - JA.