All-In 2016: #24DC Day Five/Six/Seven/Eight

I've browsed around the All-In group over the past few days and read a lot of comments from people complaining about not losing weight on the Cleanse portion.

This is my third cleanse, and given that I lost 12 pounds on my first one and just one pound on my second, I can at least feign some expertise in experiencing both emotions that typically pop up around this point in the 24DC, so here's a few things you (myself included) should keep in mind:

1. Think about where you started.  Before starting the cleanse, how much water did you drink?  How much fiber did you manage?  What were your eating habits like?  How were your energy levels?  How much of your diet featured processed foods?  The primary goal of the cleanse is to give your innards a fresh start after months or years of bad habits built up inside of it, not to shed weight.  And, although that's often a side effect, it's not the most important side effect, by a long stretch.
2. Think about everything else the cleanse gives you.  De-toxifying, restoration via probiotics, cleansing via fiber, the right amount of water.  If you're following the plan, you're giving your body a chance to start over, and Rome wasn't built in a day (I like that idiom because I like the idea that our bodies are empires).
3. The Challenge is just the start.  How much weight can one person possibly lose in 24 days?  Even 30 pounds (without sacrificing muscle) seems very aggressive.  If the Cleanse phase is rebuilding your empire, the Max phase is installing a functioning government, adding some infantry to the army, keeping your civilians happy, and re-positioning yourself as a global force.  You're going from Nero to Caesar, and Caesar's in it for the long haul, not just for a few weeks.  
4. Have faith.  There's a reason your coach tells you not to weigh in until Day 10...there's a lot of crazy stuff going on inside your body right now, and it takes time for all your systems to get simpatico and work together.  

Onwards and upwards!

The weekend was lost to my daughter's birthday, so let's just pretend I took some nice pictures of food and found some stupid pictures to add to the top of the post and we'll start with Day Eight.

Breakfast was the ol' Avocado Toast standby, using Eureka "Seeds the Day" (CLEVER) bread, which I adore because it's a) organic, b) chock full of seeds, and c) vegan. Plus it gets just the right amount of burnt in the toaster.

I got a new packet of recipes from Happy Herbivore on Friday, which means Sunday was largely spent making a billion meals (I'm exaggerating, it was seven) ahead of time, including today's lunch:

Spanish Chickpea Stew!

Software:

2/3 c dry couscous

1/2 small red onion

2 tsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 red bell pepper

14 oz can diced tomatoes

3/4 c chickpeas, drained and rinsed

6 oz fresh spinach

Code:

1. Mix 1 cup of hot water with couscous in a small bowl, set aside to absorb
2. In a large pot lined with water, saute onion and garlic until onion is translucent
3. Add spices and stir to combine (add a bit more water if things get sticky)
4. Add bell peppers and cook to soften slightly, about 1 minute.
5. Add tomatoes, cover, and simmer until peppers are very soft, about 5-10 minutes.  Add more water if things seem dry.
6. Use an immersion blender to roughly pulverize peppers and onions (or you can use a blender)
7. Add chickpeas, cover and cook for another 2-3 minutes
8. Turn off heat, uncover, and add spinach, stirring until the spinach wilts
9. Serve over fluffed couscous (top with hot sauce if you want a little bit more punch)

Serves two!

After a rousing afternoon of 120-minute-long conference calls and scrambling to finish a payment file, I was torn between "should I just reheat one of the meals I made yesterday?" and "should I make something from scratch?" with a smattering of "should I take a nap while I think things over?"

The middle one won.  One won.  English, man.

HH calls this "Maui Luau BBQ Tacos".  I don't like non-descriptive names, so I went with...

BBQ Cauliflower Tacos with Pineapple Salsa!

Software:

3 cups cauliflower florets (about 11 oz)

1/2 cup bbq sauce

6 corn tortillas (not recommended, I'll explain later)

1 cup shredded cabbage

4 oz guacamole

4 oz pineapple chunks

1/4 medium red onion, diced

1 lime

cilantro

Code:

1. Line a large pot with 1/4 c water and steam cauliflower until tender and water has cooked off
2. Mash cauliflower with a potato masher (or whatever gets you little bits of cauliflower)
3. Stir in BBQ sauce and cook on low for 5-10 minutes until sauce has reduced/thickened
4. In a small bowl, mix the pineapple, diced onion, lime juice, and cilantro.
5. Layer each tortilla with cabbage, then cauliflower, salsa, and top with guacamole.

Serves two!  In hindsight I think you'd want to go with either a flour tortilla (which is more robust than its corn counterpart), or use corn tostadas and layer everything like a cake.  The sauce seeped into the tortilla immediately and left me with a very messy (although still tasty) meal.

Today's Final:

Calories: 1657

Carbs: 273

Fat: 44

Protein: 54

Sodium: 605

Sugar: 71

Steps: 9,568 (and counting, hooray for laundry day!)