Preparing for 21 Days of Cleansing

If you remember way back a week ago, we hosted a giveaway where two winners got a seat in //foodconfidence.com/nourish/" target="_blank">Danielle’s Nourish: 21 Days of Cleansing Program! It’s a hard core detoxing plan, where you spend four weeks (one week prep + three weeks on a specific meal plan) rebuilding your body and lifestyle. I am so happy I also got the chance to go through Danielle’s program! Changing my eating habits has been a long time coming, as I’m sure many of you can relate. That’s why I’m writing these weekly posts: to share my experience with you in hopes that it’ll inspire you to join and make the necessary changes to live a better life.

My Life Before Nourish

I have to admit the lifestyle I carried before I started prepping for the Nourish program wasn’t something to be proud of. I was truly ignorant of so many nutritional facts; in general, I knew I wasn’t the best eater, but it wasn’t until I read through Danielle’s online resources and blog posts that I realized I was a terrible eater. In fact, as I’m telling my husband Mark about what I learned, I realized our dog was the best eater in the house! (We have her on organic kibble.) That’s terrible. I mean, our dog deserves the best, but so do my husband, toddler, and I! We definitely don’t eat the greens we should, and nutrition labels basically go unnoticed when I grocery shop. That’s bad. We needed to change. I am the executive chef at home, so I felt it was my responsibility to take control of what goes into my family’s bodies, and ensure they’re getting the proper nutrition they need to live fuller and healthier lives. So, a week ago today, we started our journey for a more nourishing life.

Prepping for Nourish

If you’re curious as to how Danielle’s Nourish program works, here’s a glimpse: she immediately subscribes you to her daily inspirational/resourceful emails, invites you to her private Facebook group, and gives you access to an amazing portal of information including cookbooks, nutrition guides, journals, and tons more. One of the first things Danielle encourages everyone to do is to “detox their kitchen.” This happens by purging everything that’s not nourishing. I hesitated for a bit, and just threw away a couple sugary treats I had sitting on the kitchen counter for a while. Later in the week, after doing my family’s meal planning, I took to shopping at local health food stores. In all honesty, there was a good part of the shopping list I had to ask store clerks for help in finding! Tahini, tamari, kimchi, flax seed oil. I went earlier in the day when there wasn’t a rush, and was able to take my time perusing the aisles, reading the labels, and learning more about what I needed to look for. After we got all we needed (my one-year old was with me), I stocked the fridge. I can guarantee that our fridge had never been greener in our lives! Just as Danielle hinted in one of her emails, it gave me a gratifying feeling to see so many healthy ingredients in my fridge! There was so much food, and all of it was good. It was a guilt-free satisfying feeling. So what did I do next? Feeling energized, I went through the pantry and cabinets, and threw away anything old and non-nourishing. It felt so great seeing the newly freed up counter space, and reorganizing my pantry in the process. Danielle also mentions to think of your kitchen as a partner in this nourishing journey, and I felt more comfortable standing in my kitchen when I was done. Another part of prep week includes detoxing your body of coffee and sugar. As any coffee lover would know, that’s hard to do. Yes, I got a caffeine headache, and I had almost zero energy the first day I went without it; I had to sleep during one of my boy’s naps to be able to function the rest of the day. But I got over it, and have been caffeine-free for several days now. My energy still isn’t up, but to be honest, it’s not any different than when I was drinking tons of coffee.

My Goals For Nourish

My biggest goals for this program is to detox my system, to start feeling energized and stronger, and better understand nutrition and how I can care for my family this way. It wouldn’t be bad to lose a couple pounds in the process either! I’ll keep track of my progress every week, so I hope you will root for me and the rest of the Nourish gang for the next 21 days. It won’t be easy, but we’ve got such a positive cheerleader and guide in //foodconfidence.com/" target="_blank">Danielle, I’m sure we’ll all be wiser, healthier, and more motivated in the end!