Well, hello! Welcome to my “Twelve Days of Detox” journal.
Before I get down to business I should quickly mention a couple of things:
Firstly, I’m not a doctor. Shocking, I know. If you have any medical conditions or have never done any kind of cleanse, please run things past your GP.
Secondly, this is just a recounting of my experience. Some may think it’s too little food, other may think too much, etc. We are all unique and what works for me might not work for you. Use my detox routine as a guideline and modify it to suit your own needs/goals.
OK! Now that that’s out of the way, here we go.
It’s fitting that I used the word routine to describe my detox. For the last five years or so I have been doing regular, seasonal detoxes. I enjoy the challenge and I always come away with better eating habits because of them. They truly have become a part of my routine like spring cleaning and vacations. I can’t recommend it enough.
This time of year is especially indulgent. I heard a statistic the other day that the average person gains three to five pounds over the holidays. It doesn’t sound like that much, but if you don’t lose it those pounds can add up. Three pounds times ten years is THIRTY extra pounds. Yikes. Sneaky sneaky. It can creep up so slowly. Now, you can see why a detox is such a timely idea after Christmas/New Years. I would estimate that extra three to five will disappear in about twelve days. 😉
Here are the rules I follow: No dairy, no caffeine, no sugar, no alcohol and no grains (grains just for the first seven days). Lots of veggies, fruit and healthy fats are the staples.
I start ev-er-y day with hot water and lemon. I sprinkle in some cayenne pepper for good measure (it helps to naturally heat your body which is said to aid in detoxification ) but it’s totally optional. Stock up on those lemons!
Next, comes a piece or two of fruit. For my day one it was a couple of clementines. Yummy!
About half an hour after your fruit it’s smoothie time. For day one I enjoyed this –> Detox Green Smoothie.
Maybe an hour or two after my breakfast I had a handful of almonds and another clementine.
This kept me going while I got the preparations underway for this amazing fat flushing detoxifying vegetable soup. Other than the chopping of the veggies, this soup is uber easy. There are the usual suspects of onions, celery, carrots but the feature vegetable is chopped sweet potato. It . makes . this . soup .
The secret ingredient that ties this soup together is smoked paprika. It goes so well with the flavours of the sweet potato.
I had a generous bowl of this for lunch followed by another handful of almonds for ‘dessert’. It’s funny how absolutely luxurious almonds become during a cleanse. 😉
Another bowl of veggie soup for dinner and I was good until my evening snack. For that I thoroughly enjoyed an enormous apple sliced into wedges and sprinkled with cinnamon. I smothered it all in almond butter and practically licked my plate. I adore this snack. It will be happening every night without fail. Love it.
Throughout the day I drank lots of water and herbal tea. I like peppermint tea and green tea with a squeeze of lemon.
So this was how day one looked:
- Hot water with lemon
- Fruit
- Green Smoothie
- Fruit/Almonds
- Detox Soup
- Almonds
- Detox Soup
- Apple with Cinnamon & Almond Butter
*I would guess -timate this to be around 1500 calories or so.
Other than a fairly bad headache (due to lack of coffee, I’m sure) for about an hour or so, I felt pretty much normal. Lots of energy. Possibly due to veggie overload. 😉
On to Day Two!
- 1 medium sweet potato peeled and cut into cubes
- 1 cup carrots sliced
- 2 stalks celery diced
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 4 small yellow cocktail tomatoes
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 can kidney beans rinsed and drained
- 4 cups vegetable broth plus 2 cups of water as needed
- 1 large kale leaf chopped
- 1/ 2 cup chopped parsley
- sea salt & fresh pepper to taste
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In a large soup pot, heat olive oil over medium
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Stir in cubed sweet potato, carrots, celery and onion, Season with sea salt & fresh pepper and stir well. Cook until softened, stirring occasionally, for 5-7 minutes
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Stir in tomatoes, garlic, and smoked paprika and cook for another minutes or so, stirring frequently
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Stir in beans and broth and simmer on medium low for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding more water (I add up to 2 cups of water) as needed
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Stir in kale and parsley, remove from heat and let sit for five minutes covered to wilt the kale
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Serve warm
You always have a way of making things I wouldn’t usually consider yummy (like a simple veggie soup), look incredibly scrumptious!!! And you end up inspiring me – which I suppose is what this blog is all about! 🙂
Wow, Karen. Thanks so much. 🙂 What a wonderful thing to say. This soup is pretty darn scrumptious I must say.
I just made this and it is fantastic. I didn’t have smoked paprika, but I did have some chipotle chili powder that I threw in instead. I know what will be for lunch all week! Thanks for sharing!
Hey Ruth! Thanks so much. I had this multiple time over the last week and am happy to report that the leftovers taste incredible too. 🙂 Chipotle chili powder sounds perfect, by the way. Anything chipotle works, in my opinion. 😉
Just made this for the girls at the office. Everyone loves it. I hope I have some left to take home for the weekend. I added a rutabaga, how that didn’t hurt the detox effects! ??????
That’s awesome, Kathy. Thanks for the nice comment. I love sharing with people at work too! 🙂 Have a fabulous weekend.
Thanks for this awesome recipe! I’m going to try it out today. I know kale is great but I only have spinach right now… will that be an alright substitute?
Any leafy green will work. Thanks Maryam!
hla se hace solo 2 dias??y por cuanto tiempo?? gracias
y si son 12 dias ,k tomamos esos dias,repetimos 1 y 2 hasta 12”???
I’m sorry, I don’t speak or write Spanish.
I don’t have fresh/dry parsely 🙁
Bummer. Should be fine without, but stocking your spice cabinet is never a bad idea. 🙂
So do you do this for 7 days?
This was a recap of my first day, but repeating for seven days is good too! Check out the rest of the posts for variety in recipes.
Looks sooo good
I actually made this (SURPRISE) but no surprise it’s really good! Filling and satisfying. Would make it it again.
Yay! Thanks Saida. SO glad you liked it. 🙂
I made this soup and it was incredible. Take this from a great cook as I have a passion for cooking.
Thank you for the recipe. It was amazing.
Wow! Thanks so much Mitra. 🙂 What a lovely comment. I’m so glad you enjoyed the soup. It’s a winner for sure. Have a great weekend!
Do you repeat this for everyday? Looks great!!
Thanks DeWanda! I have the breakdown of what I ate in each post. 🙂 But you could totally have this everyday too!