Karyn's Raw Detox: Days 20-27

This post is part of a series in which I am sharing my journey of Karyn's Raw Detox program. Read my other posts below:


Free Seminar
Day 0
Days 1-2
Days 3-6
Days 7-10

Days 11-14
Days 15-19
Days 20-27
Day 28 - Final Post

Days 20-27
Remember how last week I said I felt amazing after the juice cleanse? Well, it lasted all week! I feel like I had and eye-opening experience last week and "became" a raw-foodist. I didn't get too crazy with my recipes but I felt completely satisfied with eating raw food all day. My mind was clear, my energy was sustained throughout the day, and my workouts were great. Here is what my daily raw-food menu looked like (pictures below):

• Breakfast (pre-workout) - cup of Rejuvelac
• During workout - coconut water
• Breakfast (post-workout) - Karyn's green meal smoothie or Vega One smoothie
• Morning snack - fresh vegetable juice and fruit
• Lunch - sprouts salad
• Lunch #2 (about 3 pm) - Energy Soup
• Afternoon snacks - Kamut drink and Vitamin O (hydrogen peroxide mixed with water
• Dinner - "sushi" rolls (almond pate and avocado wrapped in nori seaweed) or raw flatbread with cashew "cheese" spread 
• Dessert - raw cashew chocolate chip cookie

On this diet, I ate about every 2 hours and kept satisfied and full of energy. I was surprised by this because I felt like I wasn't eating enough (based on the looks of my food) but didn't feel hungry. I usually feel hungry all day at work when I just eat a salad for lunch and then I come home starving for dinner. But really, I just wasn't making my salads nutritious enough with sprouts and the energy soup. This diet also has much more protein than you would think a raw diet would have. There are lots of nuts, seeds, leafy greens, and rejuvelac.

Sprouts Salad

Ingedients: mixed green sprouts (from store), sprouted sunflower seeds and fenugreek seeds (sprouted at home), pine nuts, chopped red bell peppers and tomato, and Karyn's lemon dressing 

Raw Nut and Seed Flatbread

Recipe from Chef Amber Shea's Practically Raw cookbook

Raw Cashew Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe adapted from Chef Amber Shea's Practically Raw cookbook

Easter Weekend Fail

Well, I did so good all week and ate my raw food like I was supposed to and then I crashed and burned on Easter weekend. My boyfriend and drove down to Indiana to visit his parents and family for the weekend. They are the kind of family that eat the typical Midwestern "meat and potatoes" diet and think I am weird for eating plant-based. I'm used to that because most people, especially in the Midwest, think that way. And, I expect to eat less-then-healthy when I am around my boyfriend's family. I can only resist to a certain point when everyone around me is eating cupcakes.

I actually packed quite a bit of food and supplements for the weekend, including everything that I listed in my raw menu above. I bought this awesome (and very cheap) cooler tote to transport it all. So I actually did pretty good with my main meals and eating the food that I brought with me. I even had energy soup for Easter dinner. I'm glad that even though they think I'm weird, my boyfriend's family respects that I eat differently and usually won't eat their food, even at a nice holiday dinner. I usually stock up on sides (mashed potatoes and cooked veggies) during these family dinners since I won't eat meat at all. It was the dessert and chocolate candy that got me. I am so bad as resisting milk chocolate and cake/cupcakes that I absolutely can't have it in my house or I will eat it. So, I had some very not raw and not healthy treats over the weekend.

Come Monday, I literally felt like I had a hangover from food (I didn't drink any alcohol). I was tired, my workout sucked, I had a headache, my stomach hurt, and I just felt like I had absolutely no energy. I ate my raw menu but still didn't feel my best at the end of the day. Today I feel better but I am still bloated and have a slight headache. I feel like I completely ruined the cleanse just by having a few treats over the weekend! It is astonishing how bad your body can feel after eating bad food. Nothing, not even your mind, works at 100% with bad nourishment. I can't believe that people feel like this everyday without even realizing it.

So eating badly over the weekend was very eye-opening for me and perhaps convinced me even more than the cleanse itself that I need to focus much more on nourishment rather than filling foods. I also need to bring my own desserts to parties so I stand a chance against cupcakes. I think I need to be especially strict with not eating any dairy whatsoever because I have been slacking on that in the past year.

I'm going to write a final post on Thursday about my overall impression with Karyn's Raw Detox so stay tuned!

Did you splurge on any unhealthy meals or treats this weekend? It will make me feel less guilty if you say yes...

Disclaimer: Karyn's Raw provided the detox class to me for free and is giving me a discount on the supplements for writing about my experience. The text and opinions are completely my own. You can learn more about the detox class here or buy Karyn's book here.