Editor Joy

Today marks day one of a five-day whole-food fast. Basically, my husband and I, along with a group of friends, are eliminating processed foods from our diet for five days. I'm taking most of my rules from this blog (100 Days of Real Food), but I am changing a few things.

My basic rules are:

1. No whites (flour, sugar, rice, potatoes, cornstarch, etc.)
2. No packaged foods. If it's packaged, the ingredients (that I can pronounce) have to be no more than five listed. ("Spices" is a big red flag--it's a code word for hundreds or thousands of chemicals that the food company doesn't have to list.)
3. Minimal dairy
4. When in doubt, err on the side of vegetarian or gluten free.

Why I'm doing this:

1. I believe in the power of fasting (Isaiah 58); therefore, I believe I will receive insight and healing through this process.
2. This is a great way to cleanse my body and practice discipline.
3. I've been dealing with some hormone imbalance issues lately (post-partum and age-related best I can figure), so I'm really curious to see how this affects my moods. I watched this video about how gluten affects your moods and hormone balances, and, while I'm still going to eat some gluten (whole wheat), my intake is going to be considerably less than normal.

Here's my meal plan with links (to come) to recipes. Please understand, I am not an expert, nor have I researched this in depth. If you feel my meals do not coincide with a true whole-foods diet, I welcome your insight in the comments. I'm always willing to learn something new.

Monday:

Breakfast: Whole-wheat banana pancakes with organic maple syrup.

Snack: Strawberries with Greek yogurt dip (raw honey and cinnamon added)

Lunch: Raw "tuna salad," whole-wheat Trisket-type crackers, apples

Snack: Coconut Pineapple pops (Mmm, these are yummy! Really good to kick a sugar craving)

Dinner: Veggie fajitas on whole-wheat tortillas with greek yogurt, salsa, and carrot avocado salad

Tuesday:

Breakfast: Raw oatmeal—oatmeal, honey, milk, raisins, walnuts

Snack: Popcorn and apples

Lunch: Avocado egg salad (Winner winner chicken dinner! This was delish!) with crackers, grapes

Snack: Yogurt drizzled with honey and frozen berries and granola (this made my house smell oh-so yummy!)

Dinner: Grilled salmon with lemon; zucchini with feta, walnuts and dill