2/3/13- Day 15 Super Bowl Sunday

Hello again!  

I am totally inspired by you all again.  

Thank you for your honesty today, 

thank yourself for showing up and doing this work. 

Like Lindsay said today in meditation, "No one else can do this work for you."

This is a picture of my last night, it was Devin, my husband's birthday.  I feel like my arms look more toned while on the cleanse.  :)

Here we are at The W at the Foshay Tower.  We had a really great night.

We went to dinner with his parents at Manny's.  Actually a fine restaurant to eat at while cleansing.  I like to order the chop salad and have them chop everything really small, I order it without meat, no cheese, no salad dressing and everything is done so well at Manny's, even without salad dressing, it tastes phenomenal.  I also enjoy eating their hash browns.  I ordered sunchokes too and there was plenty to eat.  I have been on and off vegetarian for the last twelve years and honestly, I tried ordering steak a few times over the last couple years and I have decided I just don't even like it anymore.  At this point when I go there I don't even tussle with the idea of ordering a steak because I don't like them anymore.  This may or may not happen for you.  I may or may not have had a few bites of Devin's hypothetical banana cream pie.  Wow!

I had a gathering of people to my itty bitty house after dinner and it was so fun.  Most of the guests were yogis and I knew a lot of us were cleansing so I had all cleanse friendly food.  I served Kombucha and La Croix sparkling water.  I had hummus and carrots, chips and salsa, wasabi peas, seaweed snacks and everyone had a blast.  Lindsay brought grapes for something sweet.  My friend JoAnna brought a surprise chocolate cake that I may or may not have had a bite of too and it was also good.  She had it written on "Happy Birthday Devin".   My intentions for the party were pure and healthy and she brought the cake out of love.   It was the first time I have had people over to our new place and it was so much fun.  

Here is a picture of the shelf above my kitchen sink.  I have a little dish (I think it is for creamer) full of Cumin, Coriander and Fennel seeds all mixed up for CCF Tea ease.  

   Remember the Yoga Meal:  

*Eat One Yoga Meal everyday!!!!!!

-Sit down and enjoy your meal.

-Take two handfuls of food to start out with.

Wait 3-5 minutes before taking seconds.

-Enjoy your food, give importance to it.  Don't talk with your mouth full and put your fork down between bites.

-Eat only when you are hungry, wait 2-6 hours before eating again.

Let's finish strong ladies!!!  Stick to your goals.

The Super Bowl party I went to was fun too.  There were a lot of gluten free options to choose from and I brought a vegan walnut pate with Flaxers.  Yay Super Bowl!

Love you all, you are such an inspirational group of women and I am proud to be your leader.  

So much love.  Let's talk tomorrow.

Best,

elizabeth camp

1/31/13 - Day 11

Here is the Buddha drinking CCF Tea. :)

Cumin, Coriander and Fennel seeds to make CCF Tea.  Another great tea to try in the afternoon is straight up ginger tea.  Either grate or chop up (I prefer chopped bc it is milder) some fresh ginger root and steep it in water and enjoy.  Both of these teas are digestive aids and both will give you a little natural pick me up.  I'm going to make some right now.  Usually I would sweeten it with honey but during the cleanse I am not indulging in honey.  I don't really care for agave nectar, but if you dig it, enjoy you tea with sweetener.  Right now I am making CCF tea with ginger in it.  

I have to say, I am doing well on the cleanse!  :)  I have kept steady with my goals and I got everything done that I set out to do on Tuesday and stayed strong through Wednesday and Thursday.  

(Goals from Monday night)

~Goals for tomorrow~

1) To be kind to myself.  

2) Stick to the cleanse

3) One yoga meal

4) Take Strike with Katie H at 10am in SLP

I met all my goals on Tuesday, I was kind to myself, I stuck to the cleanse, I had a yoga meal, and here is a picture of Katie and I after her Strike class Tuesday morning!  I love Katie, she is a great motivator and teacher!  Later that day I could hardly lift my hands above my head because I was so sore. Urgh. 

After a full day of teaching a practicing, Lindsay invited me over to her house to meet her new puppy, Lydia.

Lydia is about three months old, very sweet and smart.  She is a total puppy -- leaping and bounding to and fro, she is adorable.  I am happy to know her!  Hopefully soon she can meet Maxime and then I will post pics of Maxime and Lydia together.  

Lydia and I at Lindsay's house.

So cute!!!!!

Doesn't Lindsay look pretty with her new puppy?

Lindsay has been dog sitting, so the adorable dog in the back is Cole, he is a friends' dog and he is also super rad.  So cute!!!!

Yesterday was a busy day too.  I showed up to team weight loss at SLP and apparently there was no TWL and so I did some zone training by myself and then went to that new Barre class everyone is talking about.  It was intense.  If you get a change, try it.  It is good to mix things up.

Wednesday afternoon I went to the wedge and found this amazing muffin.  Oh my goodness, to die for!  It was so good.  The wedge is my favorite coop in town.

I have been enjoying my yoga meals each day.  I hope you are enjoying yours too.  I have been working on getting the hang of the yoga meals for over a year now and they are finally growing on me.  Either I am just a slow learner, or the process of the yoga meal takes a lot of time.  I swear, I still have a hard time staying seated while eating.  Just do your best and keep working at it and it gets better.

This was my intended yoga meal for today, my lunch.  A vegan, gluten free, sugar free dish that has lots of protein!  It all starts with the sauce.  You can put anything with the sauce.  You could even bathe in the sauce it is so good.  I usually just put it over green beens, but I felt noodley today and tofuey too.  I made up the recipe and it goes something like this.  (When I cook it is how I teach yoga, I have a basic idea and then it is all based on feeling and intuition, so I don't really measure.)

Spicy Thai Peanut Sauce

Unsweetened coconut milk 1/2c

freshly squeezed juice of a lime

teaspoon freshly grated ginger

2 cloves fresh garlic pressed

peanut butter 1/3c

siracha 1/8c or to taste  (can omit while cleansing bc of sugar or you can just fudge a little)

vegetarian fish sauce to taste

Mung Bean Vermicelli noodles 

Green beens

tofu

I have teacher training tonight so wish me luck!  I still need to get my yoga meal in today because my lunch became a blog project and it wasn't really a yoga meal.  

xoxo

elizabeth

1/29/13- Day 9

Good morning! I just got done teaching two yoga classes at SLP, props to those who were there this am, and I hope I see more of you today later on. I teach today at SLP at 3:30, it's a new class for me, and I am also teaching at Uptown at. 5:45pm.  It is so good to get into yoga as much as you can. Try to get to a class today because it helps keep you centered.

I found a great quote yesterday about judgement. Remember, when we notice ourselves judging it is a cue we are not centered. You can always recenter by coming to you breath.  The quote goes like this..... When you judge someone you are not defining them, you are defining yourself.

If you are reading along in the book most of you will be on day 9 or so. Today is about examining your shadow. Take some time and meditate on those places of resistance in your mind, and when you take your yoga class, examine places in your body where there is resistance. Remember wherever there is a mental knot there will be a corresponding physical knot and vice versa. One of the greater reasons we are cleansing in the first place is to examine and get into these knots, or places of resistance.  Just stay with your breath and let go on the exhale if you wish to let go.

I'm so proud of you all. If you are off caffeine for the cleanse great job! I wanted to teach you about CCF Tea, or Cumin, Coriander and Fennel Tea. It will make staying off caffeine easier and it helps with digestion too. Let's take a moment to remember why we are not consuming caffeine for these 21 days.  Caffeine is a mood altering drug. It changes or perceptions, or mood and our behavior. To quote Kathy Freston, "One thing caffeine does is raise the levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain, which temporarily increases the feelings of pleasure."  She goes on to say that each time you need more and more to feel that good feeling. Caffeine negatively affects your sleep and can increase anxiety and restlessness. A few more things caffeine does is exhausts the body by overstimulation the adrenal glands which increases levels of cortisol in your body, which can cause belly flab. In conclusion, caffeine burns us out, it is not good for us.

So try some beautiful Ayurvedic CCF tea.   Take three equal parts Cumin, Coriander and Fennel seeds and steep them in hot water and enjoy! You can have it anytime, but I notice I like to take it after a meal or in place of an afternoon snack. You could also sweeten it with agave during the cleanse. Yum!

1/28/13 - it's a good day

Do it now!

Beautiful snow in Minneapolis!

The Basilica of St. Mary

Ralph Rapson Hall, University of Minnesota

You all are such an inspiration to me yesterday!  I feel so proud of you all.  You all look lighter and brighter already.  Your skin looks clearer and more radiant.  Keep up the good work!!!!

Maxime had a check up today at the vet this morning.  Everything came back perfectly.  Her levels are just where we wanted to see them.  She is better!  Today is a good day!

Maxime resting.  

Yesterday I probably made my cleansing sound worse than it really was.  It has been hard with all the stress of my dog being sick and everything, and each day I try.  I have been sober now for 3 1/2 years, I have been off caffeine since before Halloween and so those things are going very well for me.  After I left our Evolve meeting yesterday, I remembered that Lindsay and I have been telling you to do your best.  I have been doing my best for me right now.  I guess I thought since the first cleanse that I did before Thanksgiving went so well that this one would be a gluten-free cake walk, and it hasn't been.  I have been trying to honor my body and I have slipped up with the gluten and the animal products and the sugar.  Each day for the most part I have been doing a good job!  I can take a deep breath and be proud of myself.

I am so proud of you because you all sound like you have done such a remarkable job, it is inspiring.  

Each day we can try our best.  I hope you all keep doing your best and sticking to your goals.  First goal to really put in place is the yoga meal.  Make time for that!  It is a beautiful thing.  Enjoy your food, celebrate even if you are alone, and if you are with others invite them to eat mindfully as well.  Be the leader that you are!  Your determination and transformation will inspire others to do the same.  

I am feeling very inspired myself right now. 

~Goals for tomorrow~

1) To be kind to myself.  

2) Stick to the cleanse

3) One yoga meal

4) Take Strike with Katie H at 10am in SLP

I must go to sleep now.  I will share the CCF tea with you tomorrow.  xoxo

elizabeth

YOGA MEAL

Hello everyone.  It was great to catch up tonight.  It sounds like the cleanse is going really well for most of you, even if it is a challenge.  Here are the basic guidelines for the yoga meal as we discussed tonight.

1.  Eat while seated.  

Sitting in the car does not count!  For me, I find that while I am in the kitchen preparing food I can eat an entire meal's worth from tasting and snacking while I'm waiting for my food to cook/bake/etc.  Taking the time to actually sit down while you eat is a way to slow down and makes it easier to pay attention to what you are doing.  

2.  Remove all distractions.

This means no watching TV, no reading or listening to music.  These are all things that can detract from the act of eating itself, and you want to give all of your attention to what you are doing.

3.  No talking while eating!

While this one seems like basic good manners, we have become very adept at hiding food in our cheeks so that we can continue a conversation or get in a word.  This rule becomes more interesting when eating with others.  If someone asks a question and you have food in your mouth, simply hold up a finger to show you need a moment to chew before answering.  This allows you time to think of what you might want to say, and also shows the other person that you value what you are doing, as the act of eating is one of the most intimate things a person can do.  Your food literally becomes you, so to honor this by not spitting food while you gab is a great rule to adhere to.  Also, in a group setting, you might find that while you have a snappy comeback or interesting tidbit to share, by the time you finish chewing it may no longer be appropriate to do so.  This will make you a better listener, which is a wonderful quality to develop.

4.  Take two handfuls of food.

This is a starting point, and of course two handfuls of lettuce is different than two handfuls of nuts.  If you are dining out and your meal comes in a large bowl/plate, you can always ask your server for an extra plate so that you can dish yourself a two-handful sized portion.  Most things have become super sized, so this is a great opportunity to watch your portion control.  Of course, if you've eaten two handfuls of food and are still hungry, you are welcome to take more.  Here's the catch...wait 3-5 minutes after finishing to determine if you really are hungry for seconds or thirds.  It takes a while for your body to register that it is full, and if you've ever eaten to the point where you were stuffed, it's probably because you were going quickly.  Also, you want to leave your stomach partially empty.  Only eat until 2/3 - 3/4 full, as this is the point of satiety.   

5.  Put your utensil down between each bite.

Eating is not a race.  Often times we chew with the next bite of food already on the fork just waiting to be devoured.  Eating with chopsticks can be a fun way to slow things down, and they're easy to put down between bites.  

6.  Wait until your food is fully digested before taking the next meal.

This depends a lot on what you've eaten and your metabolism, but generally it takes between 2-6 hours for your food to digest.  Allowing your digestive system proper rest is vital to creating health and wellness.  After a dynamic yoga practice, you allow your body and mind rest in savasana, and eating food should be no different.  It is very taxing to have your system running 24/7, so be sure to give yourself rest between meals.  

I hope the takeaway here is that HOW we eat is more important than WHAT we eat.  Even after the cleanse, these are wonderful principles to apply to your daily life.  The homework for this week is to have one yoga meal a day.  If you are eating with others, it is a good idea to tell them what you are doing (to avoid any awkwardness), and it is a wonderful thing to share.  Just like the cleanse, you might find that one of these guidelines is more challenging than the others.  Instead of throwing the baby out with the bathwater, try focusing on one or two guidelines as you get started, and you can work up to all six when you're ready!  

1/24/13: still cold

Hello.

My dog snuck into my bed last night and commandeered all of the bedding.  What an adorable mess.

Found these at the Wedge today.  They ARE strangely addictive.  This might be a good snack idea.

 Today after I taught two early morning yoga classes (props to those of you you who were in there BTW) I was craving something delicious for lunch.  I still need very grounding foods, I think because it is so cold, dry and windy outside.  I decided to make Red Curry with Swiss Chard and carrots.  Here is the delicious swiss chard I found at the Wedge this am.  It is beautiful enough to be a bouquet.  Maxime helped me cook this meal.

I sautéed the Chard in this coconut oil.  I love cooking with coconut oil because, A. It's delicious, and B. there are so many health benefits of coconut. 

http://www.organicfacts.net/organic-oils/organic-coconut-oil/health-benefits-of-coconut-oil.html

I was going to put Tofu in my curry dish, but I listened to my body and decided I didn't really want Tofu today.  I am posting a picture however in case you were wondering about Tofu.

For the curry I used this unsweetened coconut milk, it is organic and well priced.  I use this brand all the time.  I like that it is unsweetened, organic and cheaper than Thai Kitchen and other brands.  I also used red curry paste, it is vegan.  

I bought some Thai Basil.  Thai basil is very healing.

Health Benefits of Basil Leaves

Thai Basil is used for the common cold, influenza (“the flu”), diabetes, asthma, bronchitis, earache, headache, stomach upset, heart disease, fever, viral hepatitis, malaria,  and tuberculosis. It is also used for mercury poisoning, to promote longevity, as a mosquito repellent, and to counteract snake and scorpion bites. - Basil Chandler-

  I grated some fresh ginger, which is also very healing.  10 Health Benefits of Ginger  Check out this link, it comes from the Food Matters website and if you haven't yet seen the film, do, it is worth watching.

Added the ginger.

Added some fresh garlic.

Maxime helped me make the noodles for the dish.  I picked these up at an Asian market in South Minneapolis.  Lindsay and I have gone there together before, it is fun, and they have a wide selection.

 Added the noodles.
I decided it needed a little kick, so I added this rice wine 
vinegar that I got at the Asian market with Lindsay.

Here is lunch.  It was pretty good.  Again, I needed something more grounding today and I find that coconut and curry are make me feel more soothed.  Remember we have seven major chakras in our body and the act of eating can be grounding, but eating food that is red in color amplifies the grounding qualities.  Red curry and red swiss chard, yum!  First Chakra, table for two.

 My mother got me a subscription to this thing called "The Daily Word."  I have been behind in reading it, but I opened it up today and the message helped me, in fact after I am done blogging, I am going to go meditate.  What I gleaned from this, is "In God's breath (in latin breath translates into God's breath/spirit) we find peace.  Peace is always available to us at all times.  Even when we are going crazy cleansing, we can come to our breath and find peace.  

Much Love,

elizabeth

1/23/13- Day 3: wow it's cold outside

Happy Cleansing!

Below is a picture of my shopping cart from Costco yesterday.  I filled it with yummy whole foods to stock my fridge.  I wouldn't be able to shop there if it was just my husband and I, but I have a Great Dane and she eats a lot, so we go to Costco.  It makes grocery shopping easier and cheaper.

Since it has been so cold out I wanted to make something really comforting for dinner tonight.  I found a recipe on Pinterest, Hungarian Mushroom Soup.  I thought I would try it and tell you about it.  You can see that I bought a bunch of mushrooms at Costco with this recipe in mind.

I used two sweet onions, and a lot a lot of mushrooms.  

The recipe was vegan, but not gluten free, so I made some slight adjustments.  Instead of soy sauce (which contains gluten), I used low sodium Tamari.  I also purchased some all purpose gluten free and just swapped it in place of regular flour.  It turned out just fine.  There is also a picture of this vegan bouillon, I like this Rapunzel brand because it is tasty.  You need to watch out for bouillon because a lot of times it is not vegan and sometimes it can contain MSG, which we all want to avoid.  I used almond milk tonight because I thought it would have better flavor than soy, and it was good.

The soup looked like this before I added in the almond milk.

It was so good just like this I almost thought about leaving it, but since I have never made this recipe before I tried to follow it closely.  In the end I added twice the amount of fresh squeezed lemon juice, and added another tablespoon of tamari to give it a little extra zing.  I also used fresh dill instead of dried and probably used a little more than they said to use, but I cook to taste and it tastes better the way I made it.  

I was making dinner tonight for my husband and I and so when he got home from work, we had some appetizers.  I didn't make it fancy, but I wanted to show you these delicious gluten free crackers, "Flackers."  I like the savory kind, they are so good.  I also picked up this vegan walnut paté from the North East Coop by my house, and it is good.  I think the Wedge makes a better one, but this one is still good.  

Here is the finished product.  My husband and I both thought it was delicious and we want to put it in the "make it again" category.  It was a delicious and comforting, hearty soup for a cold winter day in Minnesota.  Here is the link if you would like to make it yourself.  

Hungarian Mushroom Soup

I like to make soups to have on hand because when I come home I am usually ravenous and then I can just warm up whatever it is I've made and I have something healthy and delicious.  I also like to make a variety of things, I'm not sure if I'll have time tomorrow because I have a pretty busy day, but I would like to share with you a vegan butternut squash polenta that I have made before and it is again, very comforting and delicious.  

Good luck with your cleansing, I know it is hard, and it is cold outside so that makes it harder, but keep up the good work!  

“This is my invariable advice to people: Learn how to cook- try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless, and above all have fun!” 

― Julia Child, My Life in France

Goodnight for now,

Love, elizabeth