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Vietnamese Food Favorites

Two huge things happened this week.

One: I finally got over the flu.

Two: I have more time to blog again. Maybe daily. And maybe even comment on all of your beautiful blogs.

Anyway, I’ll explain more later. Here are my eats for the day (this first picture is from last summer’s juice days):

Breakfast was a green juice with lemon and ginger from The Health Nuts. Yes, this juice is $5.99 (a large), but that’s actually cheap when you consider the fact that The Blueprint Cleanse is about $75 per day (6 juices – one of which is simply water, lemon juice, agave, and cayenne pepper).

After breakfast I did a killer kickbox workout from Netflix (you can work out when you’re sick as long as the cold is just in your head – this made me feel better). It’s called 10 Minute Solution – Kickbox Bootcamp. The workout was good, but I didn’t like the instructor that much.

After I did this one I did a few minutes of Crunch: Super Slimdown which I really liked. I’ll definitely finish it tomorrow. It’s a combination of yoga and pilates (so far). This instructor, Ellen Barret, had a gorgeous figure.

Both of these videos are free with Netflix streaming. We have an XBox hooked up to the television so I can stream them right to the tv. We don’t even get cable anymore because Netflix is easier and cheaper. (And cheaper than a gym membership.)

Lunch was a salad ordered out from Cafe Metro: romaine base, smoked tofu, egg whites, avocado, peppers, broccoli, tomatoes, cucumber, grapes, mandarin orange, mushrooms, onions, roasted peppers, sliced beets, and sprouts. I got it chopped with dressing on the side – Chipotle Ranch. It also came with a whole wheat bun, which I had a little later.

Lunch dessert – these chocolate powerberry things from Trader Joe’s. Just a handful. Or two.

For dinner we went out to Thai Son in Chinatown, which is actually Vietnamese. I got the papaya salad – green papaya, shrimp, peanuts, and the Vietnamese dressing with fish sauce. I had some of Bobby’s beef pho as well. This is my ultimate favorite meal.

Dessert – Chinatown cherries. Two pounds for $3. Now they are gone.

My brother is coming into the city tomorrow to get lunch so that should be fun. I also scheduled a facial now that I’m over the flu.

If you had to eat one meal forever, what would it be? Mine would be papaya salad. I don’t even think this would be a hardship for me.

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Breaking the Fast

More Blueprint Cleanse Info:

I opted for Level 3: Excavation. This is the most intense level because the juices are all green; the other levels have more fruit juices. Dori did Level 1: Renovation (she likes green juice, but not the romaine that BPC adds).

6 juices per day.

  1. no.1: Green juice – romaine, celery, cucumber,green apple, spinach, kale, parsley, lemon.
  2. no.2: Green juice – romaine, celery, cucumber, green apple, spinach, kale, parsley, lemon, ginger.
  3. no.3: Green juice – romaine, celery, cucumber, green apple, spinach, kale, parsley, lemon.
  4. no.4: Spicy Lemonade – filtered water,lemon, agave nectar, cayenne.
  5. no.5: Green juice – romaine, celery, cucumber, green apple, spinach, kale, parsley, lemon.
  6. no.6: Nut milk – filtered water, raw cashews, agave nectar, vanilla bean, cinnamon.

I would definitely be able to make most of these – they are really similar to the green juices I was having over the summer.

I had a lot of trouble today. I woke up and did the 30-day shred, so I probably set myself up for being hungry all day long. By 2:30pm I had finished 4 juices – leaving just 2 for the rest of the night. I also cheated and had 2 cups of coffee with a little bit of the nut milk.

At 5:00pm, instead of going for one of the remaining juices (green or cashew milk) I went downstairs to a cafe and got a banana. I tried to chew it well so as not to overwhelm my stomach. I sipped water until I went home from work around 7:30pm. I did not want any more juice. I saved the green one and the cashew milk for later. I might have the green juice tomorrow morning.

banana1

Bobby made healthy fried rice for dinner, so I had a big bowl of that. I pretty much only ate the rice because I wanted to stick with one type of food – it’s easier for digestion if you have just carbs, or just protein, etc…

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Bobby makes the best fried rice. And after dinner I had 2 cookies made by Auntie Jo.

My stomach actually feels okay – I was so so hungry all day today no matter how much I drank or ate and I was worried that when I started eating lots of solids I would feel terrible. But it’s okay so far… I’ll let you know how it pans out. I still feel hungry and I know I’ve had enough – it was a lot of rice.

I don’t know if I would do a cleanse like this again. For one thing, it’s really expensive! It’s $195 for 3 days (but I had 25% off so it was about $146). That’s a little more than $8/juice… which is pretty standard, but I can’t justify it. Especially since it wasn’t enough and I had to eat additional stuff each day. I think if I want to do this in the future I’ll just “juice ‘til dinner” and make my own juices. I’m going to NJ tomorrow so I’ll bring back my Breville juicer this weekend.

Overall – I’m really glad I did it. My stomach is/was flat for a few days and I lost the bloating. It made me realize the importance of appreciating food and not going overboard. It made me recognize that I need to be gentle to my stomach/digestive system because it’s sensitive. But I am SO glad it’s over.

If I don’t post tomorrow… Happy New Year! What are your plans? We’re going to New Jersey tomorrow after work and we’re going to a friend’s house for a small party. I think we’re coming back into the city on Saturday (Bobby is seeing a Nets vs. Cavaliers game).