7 Day Detox

Well folks, I feel like a fatty…

It’s that time of year where everyone is gorging on the holiday feasts, and of course I have been no exception. I may have gone overboard this year though. I celebrated 4 full on Thanksgivings over the past three weeks, and my body hurts. Which is why I’ve decided to go through a week long detox in an attempt to cleanse my body of all the sugar and fats I’ve consumed over the past three weeks.

It all started about three weeks ago at a feast with family and friends at our buddies Chris and Amanda’s house. Chris was eager to fry a turkey for the first time and Amanda and I were excited to get in the holiday spirit and practice all of our other recipes. So we invited a couple friends and family over for our pre-Thanksgiving feast. Everything was delicious! I left the party with leftovers for the week- which of course I ate for lunch everyday until they were gone.

The next holiday feast was held at my office. Each year, the week before Thanksgiving, we have an office potluck lunch. This is an excellent tradition that we started about 4 years ago, and I would highly recommend it to everyone. We have about 30 people in my office and it’s so fun to taste everyone’s take on holiday dishes. (and again, of course I had to taste everything) For my office potluck this year I made a turkey pot pie, and a lobster pot pie with a cheddar bay biscuit crust to pay homage to my clients at Red Lobster.

My third feast of Thanksgiving was another potluck which I hosted at my house with a couple of girlfriends. You would think that a bunch of ladies getting together might be a little more health conscious with our dinner preparation- but no. We had plenty of turkey and all the fixins’ on hand again, the mashed potatoes were creamy and packed full of butter and cream, I had about 3 servings of green bean casserole and stuffing, then followed that with sweet pumpkin bread. Dessert which was provided by my my choc-o-holic pal Lindsey was a decedent, rich chocolate torte that was so velvety rich it tasted like you were eating strait melted chocolate chips. With all of the red wine we had circling the table, it made the gorging all the more merry.

Then of course there was my official Thanksgiving celebration with my family on the 25th. My fourth (and by far the best)Thanksgiving dinner. My dad and my brother Shon really outdid themselves with the fried turkey this year. The gravy was perfect, I wanted to swim in it with my mashed potatoes. The same stock was used to make the stuffing and we even added a little to the green bean casserole which just brought everything together harmoniously. Then if course Thanksgiving wouldn’t be complete with out the cold turkey and cranberry sandwiches on Friday.

I ate, I drank, and then I ate again.

After four Thanksgiving celebration feasts and mounds of leftovers later- I’m not feeling so hot. Which is why yesterday I decided to go through this week long detox. I’m not doing that crazy maple syrup cayenne pepper drink concoction but I am cutting out all meat, dairy, and gluten for seven days. I’m going for a mostly all raw food diet (I say mostly because I know myself better than to think I’ll be able to make it a whole week without even roasting a vegetable). I’m going to have to check in with my friend Heather at Yum Universe to see what kind of recipes they can provide to keep me on track.

I hope to do this for exactly seven days because at the end of this tortuous week I have a big foodie prize awaiting me- my dinner with Chef’s for Farmers on December 5th. This is going to be really tough but I know it will be worth it in the long run. If anyone has any raw food recipes to share please do! I’m thinking about trying this raw veggie bacon recipe made out of eggplant. Something tells me I’m going to be dissappointed though- who am I kidding, there’s just no replacement for the real thing. I’ll be sure to keep y’all posted on my findings.