Our Clean Eating Detox: Day 0 Observations

Because we are pursuing a healthy lifestyle and love to try new things and/or are masochists, J and I are starting a Clean Eating detox tomorrow.

Clean eating is a premise we've flirted with some in our cooking, and find exceptionally intriguing. We recently had a conversation with a friend about how little legitimate food we are actually eating. As a society - if not an global era - we are eating more processed, refined food-like products rather than actual, unadulterated fruits, vegetables, proteins and grains.

Just look at the ingredients on the back of this snack pack of animal crackers. I bought them because they were inexpensive and in a low-calorie serving, but then the ingredients were pointed out to me.

Gotta love the typo too... 

Although clean eating diets do combine elements of several "trendy" diets - low carb, gluten-free, organic - it's based on the solid principal of cooking and eating ingredients that are as close to their natural state as possible. So the summer Cookout shake binge is on hold, but the recipes we're working with for the next two weeks look pretty great.

The detox is a plan we found on Buzzfeed - the black hole into which all 20-somethings fall and lose hours on end - and is thoroughly planned out. Seriously, we're talking 53 pages of menus, FAQs, equipment (paltry) and grocery (insurmountable) lists. The cleanse lasts 14 days and is planned where several "big batch" dishes are made that will be served in several meals so they've scheduled everything perfectly - even the Saturday prep days, what to pack in your lunchbox, how to store it,  and freezer packs with "when to thaw" instructions. Each day includes breakfast, lunch, a day snack, dinner and a night snack. Only a  few of the recipes repeat - only breakfasts and snacks - so it's a ton of variety.

The variety makes for an impressive fortnight menu that's heavy on the veggies and fruits, fatty proteins like nuts and fish, and white meats, but not light on flavor. For example: Day 5 includes a cauliflower omelet, quinoa and blueberry salad with lime and mint, carrots and hummus, salmon with green beans and lentils and blueberries with almonds.

We start our clean eating adventure tomorrow, so today was spent shopping and doing prep - and it was quite an educational undertaking.

First, I'd like to say that the pre-planned grocery lists are very heavy on the first week - so you can do freezer packs and make dishes late in the week, with leftovers continuing into Week 2. With that being said, List 1 had over 60 items on it -- only a few of which we had on hand at our house, spices mostly (Week 2 has 30+). So one of our first lessons was that clean eating is...expensive! 

The plan is designed for one person, so we had to double everything (quite a math struggle - especially with some units/ingredients "quart container of basil"??) and that pushed our bills (yes, bills, more on that later) even higher. Look at the sheer amount of food we had to purchase.

For perspective - this table seats two full-sized chairs per side. We thought we'd have to use the leaf to hold all the food!

This haul included, but was not limited to: 128 oz. plain Greek yogurt, 24 oz. feta cheese, 24 oz. 70% cacao dark chocolate, 4 red bell peppers, 2 lbs. spinach ...

8 oranges, 2 oz. fresh mint, 64 oz. unsweetened plain almond milk, 20 oz. bone-in, skin-on chicken breast; 20 oz. fresh salmon, 20 oz. ground turkey, 4 bulbs of fennel, 2 seedless English cucumbers...

a bottle of Tamari (gluten-free soy sauce), 6 bunches (12 c.) of kale, 53 eggs (for both weeks, thank goodness), 28 carrots and so much more!

Certainly not the way to an efficient fridge... 

I won't throw out a number, but let's just say that this shopping trip was at least three times more expensive than our regular weekly, to bi-monthly trips - and this was just food, no toiletries, cleaning supplies, home goods included!

We did try to remind ourselves that this is every scrap of food we will be eating for a solid week (and then some) - we won't be making stops at the store on the way home after those "what do you want for dinner" conversations where we end up buying way too many things for one night, but not enough to satisfy the rest of the week's meals and we won't be going out to eat AT ALL.

J: "60 grocery items and not an Oreo in the bunch..."

But still, this is a cost-prohibitive menu for many; I know we couldn't do this year-round. I"m a bargain shopper - I will go from store to store and back looking for the best deal (we did that today to J's chagrin) and I was struggling to find products with suitable price tags. For example, at Harris Teeter I could hardly find any non-organic foods. They were all farm raised, free-range items that were at least 10% more expensive than their (absent) counterparts normally are.

And that's one of the biggest issues with food insecurity and health in the US. Fresh, unprocessed (read:good for you) food is much more expensive than junk food. While begrudgingly shopping (it went from fun to tiring quickly), we talked about how although it wouldn't be nutritious and certainly would lose it's deliciousness quickly, a loaf of bread, jar of peanut butter and some lunch meat would help a paycheck or SNAP (food stamps) go much further. And if you're in a tight spot, sometimes choosing between the dollar menu and organic produce has to be a choice about money.

Many areas are fighting this trend; farm gleaning projects bring fresh produce to food pantries, neighborhoods are starting community gardens and co-ops, and buying local CSAs provide reliable and less expensive produce, but in many places, these projects don't exist.

Which brings me to my next point. Clean eating is...potentially geographically biased. Another major issue with food disparities in the US is the undeniable presence of food deserts. Food deserts are places where "fresh produce is scarce and greasy food abounds." Think of big cities where the only sources of "groceries" are corner markets that are cramped and filled with non-perishable, processed items or rural areas where grocery stores are difficult to reach, especially without owning a car. This is a reality for many people and we were very aware of this while shopping. We actually drove an hour to Asheville where we knew we could find all of the ingredients we needed, and even then had to go to over four stores. There were many items we were skeptical about finding, and especially finding in good quality, quantity and pricing in our hometown. We stopped at our local grocer on the way home for goods we knew they'd have (at great prices) and saw some of the things we thought required a trip to Trader Joe's or Earthfare, but that isn't the reality for everyone.

Here are some of the items we didn't think we would find (or find affordable) in our town - quinoa, chia seeds, ground flaxseeds, tamari and medjool dates.

From the shopping trip alone, we can tell that this detox may also be... time consuming. There will be considerably more prep-time required as opposed to making Hamburger Helper or picking up a pizza. And while that can be another disadvantage for the working class, this detox plan does offer very detailed instructions for multi-tasking and make-ahead meals and freezer pouches.

But, so far, I can say my overwhelming feeling about clean eating is...excitement.  I do not doubt this will have challenging moments: some of these foods are not my cup of tea, and speaking of tea, J is already dreading going without coffee and only being allowed three cups of unsweetened green tea per day; and I think I may struggle with hunger. Yet, I'm still excited to try new things. I can honestly say that I've never made any of these recipes before and without the menu would never buy 30% of these items .


I think it's going to be fun, delicious, and most importantly, good for us!

Buzzfeed promises we'll feel like this when it's over..

We'll certainly share pictures of our moods - and dance moves - throughout the process! Stay tuned!