'Oprah's Blog

In her book Quantum Wellness,
http://www2.oprah.com/tows/pastshows...080520_b.jhtml
best-selling author and spiritual counselor Kathy Freston
http://www2.oprah.com/foodhome/food/...athy_bio.jhtml
suggests trying a 21-day cleanse as a way to jump-start an inner makeover.
Oprah has decided to give it a try! The plan is to eliminate caffeine, sugar,
alcohol, gluten and animal products from your diet for up to 21 days.
Read along as Oprah blogs for three weeks about the highs and lows of
her experience.

Week One: Sunday

There was a passage in Kathy Freston's book that so related to me, I thought
for a moment she was talking about me.

In the passage, Kathy talks about an overweight friend who would gain and
lose. She didn't conquer the weight issue until she became a "conscious"
eater.

Conscious eater. That struck a nerve. I had recently come to the conclusion
that after spending weeks reading and rereading A New Earth and being on
line with Eckhart Tolle that bringing a higher level of awareness to my eating
was the solution I'd been avoiding. My idea of a conscious eater, however,
was not quite the same as Kathy's.

I thought it meant not allowing yourself to eat emotionally and filling the void
of anxiety with food, as I've struggled with for years. I thought it meant taking
your time, making healthy choices and chewing slowly - being conscious of
every bite and not scarfing down a meal and then thinking about the next one.

That is one level of consciousness. But what she talks about in her book is
a higher level. She speaks of "spiritual integrity." How can you say you're
trying to spiritually evolve, without even a thought about what happens to
the animals whose lives are sacrificed in the name of gluttony?

So this 21-day cleanse gives me a chance to think about it differently and see
what my attachments are to certain kinds of foods - and what I'm willing to
do to change.

Don't know if I'm going to feel better or worse, but I'm willing to try to see if
my body at least feels differently.

So this first day wasn't hard at all. For breakfast, I had steel-cut oatmeal with
fresh blueberries, strawberries, chopped walnuts and a splash of soy milk and
some agave nectar. For lunch, chunky mushroom soup with wild rice and
pecans. As a snack, a handful of roasted almonds. And for dinner, a baked
potato drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper with a salad of shredded lettuce,
cranberries, pine nuts and tiny orange slices with a vinegar and oil dressing.

Very satisfying. Day 1 also started with the meditation mantra that Kathy
suggests in her book. I'm ready!

- Oprah


Kathy Freston's Comments

Some other great foods to eat are brown rice, quinoa, steamed or sautéed
vegetables, chickpeas, yams, rice cakes or flax crackers with peanut butter
or almond butter, apples, blueberries, hot whole grain cereal with chopped
nuts and fruit with soy milk poured over it.

Click here for recipe ideas.
http://www2.oprah.com/foodhome/food/...ipes_main.jhtm

http://www2.oprah.com/foodhome/food/...g/blog_1.jhtml


'Week One: Monday

Well, I feel like I got baptized in Vegan Land today. Kathy Freston sent her
chef, Tal Ronnen
http://www2.oprah.com/foodhome/food/.../tal_bio.jhtml, to help
me and three friends at Harpo who are doing the 21-day cleanse.

Wow, wow, wow! I never imagined meatless meals could be so satisfying.
I had been focused on what I had to give up - sugar, gluten, alcohol,
meat, chicken, fish, eggs, cheese. "What's left?" I thought. Apparently a lot.
I can honestly say every meal was a surprise and a delight, beginning with
breakfast - strawberry rhubarb wheat-free crepes. - Oprah

Watch Oprah and the executive producers enjoy lunch made by chef
Tal Ronnen.

http://www2.oprah.com/foodhome/food/...g/blog_2.jhtml