Oh, Veggies, if you could see my computer. I've been sitting here for over an hour (hmmm…more like 3 days) trying to write your Budget Detox. After starting eight different versions, three separate shopping lists and procrastinating on Facebook** twice (maybe more than twice...) I have come to the conclusion that this topic is much larger than one post. Therefore I have decided that I'm going to write you a bunch of posts. Yippee!!! Yay for posts!!! So, where should we start???
You want to detox. You want to do it on the cheap. Well, then let's start with the principle of Occam's Razor that generally recommends when selecting among competing hypotheses the one that makes the fewest new assumptions is correct. In other words…the simplest answer is the right answer. Let's keep it simple...
In my lil 'ole opinion, the simplest (and easiest and cheapest) detox on the market is The Clean Program by Alejandro Junger. Cara did it for a month and had great results. Julia did a version of this before her wedding and never felt better. Dr. Junger will sell you lots of things on his website if you are so inclined, but you don't need to buy any of that stuff to do his program. You can read all about his philosophy on his website and even download a copy of his elimination diet for free (right HERE). He also has a great shopping list. His model for eating is basically Smoothie, Meal, Snack, Smoothie. Here's what a typical day might look like on Clean. (The prices are based on old receipts from Trader Joe's and approximated according to serving size.)
Breakfast
Smoothie:
*1 scoop Vega Whole Food Health Optimizer- $3
*frozen organic blueberries- $1.50
*almond milk- $1
*almond butter- $1
Lunch
quinoa- $1
broccoli- $1.50
lentils- $1.50
Snack
baby carrots w/ hummus- $2
Dinner
Smoothie:
*scoop Vega Whole Food Health Optimizer-$3
*frozen organic raspberries- $1.5
*almond milk- $1
*almond butter- $1
I like this plan because it takes the work out of detoxing. Most of the ingredients can be bought frozen (e.g. the fruit and vegetables) so you can stock up at the beginning of the week and not worry about the food spoiling. Also, because it is not a strict liquid plan, it is easy to incorporate it into real life events like...having to leave the confines of your house. The dinner and lunch meals can be swapped which is nice if you like to partake in dinners with your family or have plans to go out with friends. If two smoothies a day is too much for you, take a look at this plan that I made when doing the $2.36 meal challenge. It is similar to Clean, except you only do the smoothie for breakfast. Ok, Veggies, the computer is exhausted and begging me to stop (and I still need to go buy a Halloween Costume!!!). Much more on this topic to come. Up next: Detox tools that are worth the investment.
-♥ J :)
**Have you liked the Happy Healthy Facebook page yet??? Please do. We can procrastinate there together. ;)
