The timing of this detox feels both odd and apropos considering our current political climate.

Odd because I’m absorbed in a 10-day cleanse when there is so much angst going on around us (blog post forthcoming on ways to get involved). Apropos because what better time to pay deep attention to what’s been consumed—on all levels.

With that said, I appreciate your kind encouragement via email and Facebook throughout this process. It’s nice to know I’m not alone on this food awareness journey.

Despite knowing better, my passion for sugar and processed foods (with kale chips and green juice thrown in) has never been more apparent. Growing up in Oklahoma, a salad was iceberg lettuce and a tomato or two, Thanksgiving dinner was mainly from a can or box, and Lucky Charms was my drug of choice throughout the day (why save cereal just for breakfast?).

When I went vegetarian in 1999, I struggled with knowing what to eat and have a few sheets of paper where a friend wrote down options—soy dogs, miso soup, dried fruit, baby spinach, hummus, veggie burgers—and even got me a subscription to Vegetarian Times. Yep, I was in foreign territory and continue to navigate it with the grace of someone who’s had one too many flutes of bubbly. Bisous. x


Saturday I was fairly behaved.

Breakfast was a green smoothie that I took to a writing workshop at Politics & Prose.

Lunch was herbal tea and avocado toast in The Den at Politics & Prose (my new favorite getaway).

Dinner was brown rice and veggies with Tamari sauce followed by granola and non-dairy yogurt.

At a dog-friendly bar event, I snacked on an avocado and bean tostada.

After my brown rice and veggies dinner, I was jonesing for that cupcake. After twenty minutes of discussion, I called The Cakeroom to see if they had my favorite left. I mean, why walk the five minutes in vain? Well, they were completely sold out of cupcakes, but did have a couple slices of cake left including my favorite—coconut. Again I hemmed and hawed, and settled on granola with non-dairy yogurt. And, it was truly satisfying with much less guilt!

Cheats: toast, tostada, granola. Everything else was fully legal!

Day One

Day Two

Day Three

Day Four

Day Five