Cleansing Day

On my visit to India last year, after a week of gastronomic indulgence, my insides started revolting. After a night of forceful upchucking, I decided I needed to detox. My father, who is already one of the healthiest people I know, joined me in a day of wholesome eating. No meat, processed food or drinks were allowed. We stuck to fruit, vegetables, fruit juice, whole grains and natural foods. This may not seem like a hard task (Erica does it practically every day and doesn't brag about it), but keep in mind that my mother (who is one of the best cooks I know) was busy in the kitchen, whipping up her culinary masterpieces to feast her gluttonous sons and son-in-law, none of whom were in the least affected by all the overindulgence. And of course, there were the friends and relatives we would visit that day, all of whom would insist on us staying for lunch/dinner/brunch/tea or whatever meal was laid out at the time of day we were visiting and would take offence if we refused.

The important thing was, my father and I both survived that day unscathed, felt awesome at the end of it, and enjoyed our run the day after. Recently, we decided to make it a monthly event. I christened it the Cleansing Day.

Yesterday was the day. Here's my report:

Breakfast: bowl of oatmeal with 1% milk and honey and a glass of orange juice

10 am: a banana and a glass of pomegranate juice

12 pm: another banana and half a Strawberry kefir smoothie

1:30 pm: an apple and a couple of slices of dried papaya
3:00 pm: boiled veggies (carrot, peas and soya beans with salt and pepper), baby carrots, almonds and dates (5 almonds and 2 dates).

5 pm: Banana (that's 3 in a day! Can you get potassium poisoning from too much banana?)
I went for a swim after work (1250 yards).

I was ravenous after the swim and had nothing but an oat and honey granola bar on hand, hope that counts in the healthy foods category.

Dinner was leftover boiled veggies, almonds (15), dates (4) and prunes (2), sunflower seeds and more baby carrot.

I was not even tempted to cheat once (which isn't that big of a deal...my mom's not cooking this time). I would not survive on a raw fruit and veggie diet, though.

I ran 4 easy miles this morning and felt on top of the world. Healthy eating - score!

Today, it's back to oily chicken curry and rice, and cream puff for dessert.