Growing up, what were your family’s eating habits? Fruits and vegetables? Canned spaghetti and doughnuts? 

At our house, once in a while we’d have pizza, and maybe once a year for a crazy treat we could pick out a sugary cereal — Booberry was my fav. But for the most part, we were a junk food-free house.

Fast forward quite a few years, and now when I go home to visit, it’s like I’m entering Candy Land. Brownies, cookies, pies staring me in the face. 

Even though I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, I find these treats hard to resist, and I usually don’t, which is why my clothes felt a little too close for comfort after my last visit.

So, I decided to try the Fresh Start: 21-Day Cleanse created by Simple Green Smoothies co-founder Jen Hansard. This was exactly the reset my body needed. I lost weight, gained a ton of energy, and my mind felt clearer. 

As we begin a new year, I thought you might be interested in a fresh start, as well, so I invited Jen onto the LIVE Without Borders podcast to talk about how to improve your quality of life through clean eating. I also talk about what the Stoics think about eating well to improve your character, mind, body, and spirit.

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The Fresh Start: 21-Day Cleanse is a three-week, plant-based cleanse comes with a grocery list and ebook of recipes. Truth be told, a friend invited me to do this cleanse with her five years ago, and, even though I thought it sounded great, I didn’t end up doing it: ‘Three weeks? All those recipes? I eat pretty healthy anyway…’

But five years later, my tight clothes and low energy inspired me to do the cleanse. Here’s how the cleanse went and how I kept it going.

The Fresh Start: 21-Day Cleanse

For three weeks, I ate entirely vegan and abstained from coffee and alcohol. I invited friends to join me and we held each other accountable — this was key. I also used Airtable, which is an online database, to track what I ate: Breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner, drinks.

I really liked that the cleanse had an official end date. Twenty-one days felt totally doable. And I discovered my favorite new snack / meal: Cauliflower popcorn. You drizzle coconut oil over raw cauliflower then mix with nutritional yeast, salt, paprika, and garlic. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes and yum! Jen’s fav is cauliflower buffalo wings.

Result: I continued the cleanse after the three weeks because I felt great and it motivated me to do other positive things, like be more tidy and declutter my flat. I now follow this way of eating five or six days a week and am open to doing whatever I want on the other days.

Intermittent fasting

To give my body a break from food, I eat from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. If my body craves a snack after that, oh well. 

I think of it almost like a game of self control. Who will win: My higher self, or my basic self that’s calling out for something I don’t need. It’s fun to cheer for your higher self, and it’s easier to practice self control when you have the intermittent parameters in place. 

I want to note that this is about eating healthy food and exerting healthy control, and is not about extreme deprivation. If you have a history of eating disorders, please talk to a doctor before changing your diet. 

Eating plants and drinking water

I’ve been a vegetarian my entire adult life, primarily eat vegan at home, and have made an effort to drink more water this year. 

My sister and I often joke that we’re like camels because we’ll forget to drink for, like, a week and then chug 10 glasses of water. Definitely being more mindful of that now.

The first thing I do when I wake up is to go for a walk or run and then come home and drink a glass of water.

Keeping junk out of the house

The world will toss plenty of challenges our way to test our willpower, so no need to test our self control by keeping unhealthy food at home. I enjoy cooking real food when I’m hungry and not having to resist empty-calorie snacks.

Drinking simple green smoothies

I’m obsessed with green smoothies and drink one every day. Here’s what I put in mine: coconut milk, spinach, chia seeds, maple syrup, and a golden delicious apple.

Jen likes including kale. When I told her I didn’t because I ended up having to chew my smoothie, she said investing in a higher quality blender would yield better results. She recommends Vitamix or Blendtec, which are investments, but what’s more important than the health of you and your family?

If you’re looking for more smoothie inspiration, Jen has a 30-Day Green Smoothie Challenge geared toward losing weight, gaining energy, and boosting your immune system.

Mocha Coffee Smoothie

Yield: 1 smoothie (recipe from Simple Green Smoothies

INGREDIENTS

• ¾ cup brewed coffee, cooled in the fridge

• 1 frozen banana

• 1 date, pitted (or 1 tsp maple syrup)

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• ¾ cup frozen cauliflower

• 1/4 cup unsweetened oat milk (or non-dairy milk), plus more if necessary

• 1/2 tablespoon cacao powder

• 1 serving Protein Smoothie Boost, optional

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Add all ingredients into the blender.

2. Blend on high until creamy.

3. Pour into a glass and enjoy immediately.
   
   

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