Cleanse Day 3

 Day three is important to document because it is often a toughie. This is the day not your body, but the critters within your body realize what you have been doing the last few days. Your little yeasty beasties start to take notice of how hungry they are and how you have been depriving them of all their favorite treats. They are not happy and they are most probably letting you know. Day 3 often brings headaches, nausea, fatigue and even dizziness. These are all quite normal signs that your body is detoxing. In other words, hooray!! You’re doing a great job!!

Compare your cleanse to a bootcamp class or a 10km run. You start off great with tons of motivation. But about halfway through you start looking at the clock wondering how much longer you have to go.  Then it can get worse as your muscles ache and burn. But the closer you get to the end of class/finish line, the easier it becomes and the motivation returns. And then after your done, you reap the rewards of the beautiful transformations your body experiences. Although you are not halfway, you are getting into that uncomfortable zone. My ‘uncomfortable zone’ usually starts around day 5 actually. I am still waiting for the coffee with drawl headaches to occur. I did try to taper down the week before I started the cleanse but I won’t fool myself. Headaches are coming.

However, it is day 3 and I am feeling great. Yesterday at the café when baking sugar-filled brownies (no, not by choice), I wasn’t even tempted to lick the spoon! Motivation is definitely high and I am starting to notice a few changes in increased energy and less ravenous appetite. Often when cooking all day, the last thing I want to do when I get home is cook some more. However, I have been exploring some new recipes and excited to try them. Here’s what I had for dinner tonight!

Fresh Collard Wraps

2 Large collard leaves

½ cup sweet potato, steamed & mashed

1 tomato, chopped

½ avocado

1 Tbsp coconut oil

1 cup cooked navy beans (soak overnight before cooking)

½ onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, diced

1 tsp ground cumin

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

1 Tbsp cilantro, chopped

Handful of arugula

1.     Heat oil in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add onions and sautee until clear.

2.     Add cumin, cayenne and stir. Add navy beans and let cook, stirring occasionally.

3.     Meanwhile beans are cooking, remove the hard stems of the collard leaves until just above where the leaf begins. Steam over boiling water until pliable but not too soft, about 1 minute.

4.     Once leaves and bean mixture are ready, start filling leaves. In center of leaf, put about ¼ cup bean mixture. Top with a few spoonful’s of sweet potato, some tomatoes, avocado, arugula and cilantro.

5.     To fold: fold sides overfilling. Then fold bottom of leaf over top, tuck under filling and roll towards top while pushing everything inside.

And voila!!! Beautiful salad rolls!! Serve with bragg’s soy sauce. YUM!