If you want to fully immerse yourself in the detox diet, create a meal plan with several easy options that you find simple and delicious. For example, if you know you will want to enjoy a daily juice, lunchtime salad, afternoon snack, and well-combined dinner, simply choose your favorite three juices, salads, snacks, and dinners and rotate them throughout the week to begin an easy transition.
Start with the morning. Are you able to juice every morning, or will it be easier for you to make a large batch of vegetable juice and freeze some for use throughout the week? Are you at a stage where a juice will be enough, or will you need a midmorning snack to carry you until lunchtime? By choosing your three favorite options for each meal, you can easily make a weekly grocery list that will simplify your trip to the market.
Next, decide what you would like to do for lunch. If you are a fairly advanced juicer and generally prefer to juice until late afternoon or dinner, you can simply enjoy another juice recipe. If you prefer a large raw salad, choose one of your three favorites and make it at home at lunchtime or in the morning to bring with you to work. All of the salads in this book are alkaline, water-containing, properly combined, and perfect for your midday meal.
For dinner, try always to start with a salad, then follow with your favorite cooked dish enhanced with sauces and sides. Make sure to choose a properly combined pairing of salad and cooked options, and follow with a delicious dessert.
Half the fun is deciding what you want your day to look like, then plugging your favorite recipes into your meal plan. The other half of the fun, of course, is savoring the food and revitalizing your body. This is how you can take charge of your dietary health within the framework of your daily commitments. You can trust every recipe in this book to be part of a health-generating meal that will delight your taste buds, satisfy your hunger, and support your highest goals. To help get you started, here’s a sample meal plan.
BREAKFAST: Formula One, Green Lemonade 101, or Señor Verde
LUNCH: Kale Salad and Cauliflower Pizza, Raw Sunflower “Tuna Salad” Wrap and Thai Basil Slaw with Creamy Sesame Dressing, or Green Papaya and Carrot Salad and Gazpacho Soup
SNACK: Raw Sweet Potato Fries with Barbecue Sauce, or Raw Goat Cheese “Sandwiches,” or Pizza Kale Chips
DINNER: Beet, Arugula, and Goat Cheese Salad followed by Steamed Sea Bass with Ginger and Scallions; Raw Thai Young Coconut Soup and Thai Collard Rolls with Thai Guacamole; or Avocado Garden Salad with Carrot Ginger Dressing, followed by a roasted vegetable platter
DESSERT: Coconut Ginger Yam Pudding, Chocolate Beet Cake, or Basic Banana Soft Serve Ice Cream
Next, consider when you may need to be flexible on any given day. Sometimes you will need to have lunch delivered to the office from a local deli or restaurant, so have a clear idea of which menu items (or combination thereof) will support your detox diet. Or you may need to spend the afternoon at Little League practice, so figure out which snacks will be easy to grab and bring with you (such as chopped vegetables and guacamole or hummus).
Travel, holidays, social outings, and special events are other times you will need to have some wiggle room within your planned meals. Using these internationally inspired recipes as a general guide for flavorful, well-combined pairings, you will become adept at shopping for groceries in whatever part of the world you happen to find yourself, and you will become equally adept at identifying detox-friendly items on restaurant menus.
Here is your chance to design a dietary lifestyle that will help you reach your goals. When you make wise food choices and elevate your eating patterns in this way, your palate will reawaken to the vibrant, fresh flavors of nature’s bounty, and your body will hum with new energy. So go ahead, dive in and get creative in the kitchen. The detox diet is all about living with passion!