What I ate in a day. Anti-inflammatory, antioxidant rich Liver & Kidney Flush Challenge

Good Morning Beauties,
I started a little challenge that I am excited to share with you in a few days. Its a 30 day morning liver and kidney flush. So first thing in the morning I made a power juice shot.

ORGANIC BEETS

CELERY, TURMERIC, CUCUMBER, BEETS, CILANTRO, ASPARAGUS, LEMON

YUMMY LIVER CLEANSE JUICE :)

TURMERIC JUICE

TURMERIC IS A GREAT ANTI-INFLAMMATORY FOR DOGS

GALANGAL

TURMERIC

TURMERIC & CARROTS

Today's teas were simple yet delicious and healing.
Orange peel tea made with the left over organic orange peels. Orange peel in Chinese medicine has been used for centuries to improve digestion, bloating, heartburn, GERD, HIGH CHOLESTEROL; also used as an anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and an immune system boosting herb. The essential oils contained in the peels is great for insomnia, depression, nervous tension and anxiety.

ORANGE PEEL STEEPING IN MY PAN

Later on I had some turmeric tea. Great for joint inflammation and a skin beautifier. Indian women have been traditionally using turmeric as a brightening face mask. I tried mixing turmeric and L ascorbic acid and resveratrol to make a turmeric Vitamin C treatment and I have to say that my hands turned yellow from handling it but my face did NOT. hehe :D

HEATING UP FRESH TURMERIC BLENDED WITH WATER AND ALMOND MILK

 A FEW HOURS LATER - BREAKFAST

 I mix cacao powder with coconut milk, mesquite powder and stevia and pour this over the frozen bananas. I had maybe 5-7 baby bananas.

Frozen Chocolate Bananas with Grated Coconut 

Some hours later I did a short but intense Interval Yoga Sequence. I had to run out of the house right after that. If I can, I make sure to eat within a few minutes of working out. Otherwise I feel it the next day.

Lunch
I went to one of the healthiest places in LA, Erehwon and picked up a salad.

GARLIC SPROUTS, PEA SHOOTS, GUACAMOLE SALAD

I put some green salsa on top, I think it was salsa verde and OH GOD! The heat got me! The top sprouts are garlic sprouts and they were more than delicious, underneath there are a bunch of pea greens and radish greens, mushrooms, lentils, guacamole, hemp seeds and chipotle dressing.

Later on I managed to make two stops at Whole foods and in Thai Town.

Driving through Hollywood.

SEVA MAPLE SAP WATER

This is the first time I have seen or heard of Maple Water from the Maple Tree Sap so I got a carton at Whole foods. It tastes pretty much like subtly sweet water with a slight maple aroma to it. Seva is a Canadian company that just started exporting it from what I can gather. It's said to be really healthy full of polyphenols, peptides, plant hormones, inulin (pre-biotics), amino acids. (BTW I am drinking it as I type this)


















I had a busy day and didn't get home till 5 which is Sofie's walk time. She practically kicked me out of the house with her leash in her mouth. ;)

DINNER TIME


2 CARTONS OF BLUEBERRIES BEFORE DINNER

MACRO CAM BLUEBERRY 

ORGANIC BLUEBERRIES

LEFT OVER FROM LUNCH SWEET POTATOES AND VEGGIES

ORGANIC ASPARAGUS AND CHERRY TOMATOES

ROASTED KABOCHA SQUASH WITH MUSTARD, SCALLIONS AND MINT.

I have also been loving raw brussel sprouts with dip. (no photo of the brussel sprouts- that's proof of how much I LOVE them :P )

This dip was a beautiful orange color. Made with tofu, coconut, aleppo peppers, carrots, turmeric, barberries.

Barberries are a new favorite superfood, super-herbal ingredient of mine. Very healing. Great for high cholesterol, epilepsy, high blood pressure; used as a liver cleanser, antibacterial, anti-hystamine (for allergies) and the list goes on and on. They are sweet and sour in flavor. Known as Zereshak in Persian cuisine. Persians use them to decorate and add sour flavor to rice dishes. It's also used in some Indian chutneys. Funny thing a lot of the indian chutneys remind me of my dip recipes haha :D

DRIED BARBERRIES 

For my Bulgarian readers I think the name in bulgarian is berberis (Berberis vulgaris)

 and it's been researched in Bulgaria as an effective treatment for rheumatism and inflammatory diseases. 

I think that was a lot of nourishing food for one day :D 

LOVE AND BLESSINGS 

What I eat in a day High Carb Vegan

Blog number 3 (I think) on What I eat in a day :)

Most of my food made it in the photos :)

Good morning Beautiful Yogis. The day here was bright and sunny. Sofie loves 15 minutes of sunbathing in the morning. She gets her vit D :) One other thing Sofie LOVES is kumquats (always cut and deseeded). I can't take a kumquat photo without her getting her little self ready to jack me out of my kumquat :)

My day started with Some Reishi "Coffee" Reishi Coffee Recipe Video HERE
BTW I have been getting a lot of questions in regards to knee pain. This recipe nourishes the kidneys which govern the knees in Chinese Medicine. Generally kidneys and knee pain is almost always related. So definitely check it out and if you can source the herbs indulge in its grounding, nourishing, earthy goodness.
I added cardamom and ginger to make it easy on the digestion. Rehmannia can be a bit heavy as its prepared traditionally in a reduction of wine and black bean juice. This is a deeply rebuilding herb that supports vitality and fertility, it can regulate the menstrual cycle and reduce inflammation.

Rehmannia, Reishi mushroom, astragalus, cardamom, ginger brew

After I left it simmering for a while I was ready to enjoy a few mugs.

Reishi coffee with hazelnut stevia and Dream Blends Hazelnut Cashew milk

The first brew is always bitter and intense and I have to add vegan milk to it. The subsequent brews are milder and I have them with no add ins.
I was working while drinking my reishi so an hour or two later I made some GREEN COFFEE as I was quitting black coffee.

Kumquats, Persimmons and Green Coffee with non dairy milk

Notice Sofie in the background. You couldn't script this if you tried to haha

FOR MY TAKE ON GREEN COFFEE, HOW TO QUIT COFFEE, HOW TO PREPARE IT AND THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF GREEN COFFEE YOU CAN CLICK here

Later on I had some baby bananas.

I am not sure why I prefer them over regular bananas but the taste is pretty close. The baby bananas seem to have a lower water content and taste more like banana bread, banana dessert or something. Also they are less hybridized.

On some days I have 5 of them (we split with Sofie of course) on others 15. Depends what quantity makes me feel satiated for the moment.

A big baby banana - size reference (Yes!! She thinks she is getting sum lol) 

I worked on a L Handstand & Legs Routine for 20 minutes. This workout was very intense and a ton of fun for the advanced yogis. I am hoping to shoot it this week and upload it as soon as I can. Then I made some of the celery lime drink from my chaturanga challenge class, the link to the class is here. A few of you asked for the ingredients so I remembered to photograph them.  If you want to join the chaturanga challenge this is the link to the video. There is nothing more important for arm balances than mastering chaturanga dandasana perfectly.

Cilantro or parsley, celery, jalapeno, lemon, garlic(optional) and some savory and other dried spices.  Blend with water!

A few hours later I had some of this stevia sweetened sparkling water.

SPREE with vitamin B12

Followed by some more Kumquats

Kumquats

This is how much she loves kumquats! She is all business around them.

Oh but she wants them!

She actually knows to never grab anything from the table, trash or grocery bags! Phew! 

Dinner time. As usual I had raw and steamed/roasted veggies and dip. Salad and dressing.

I made the best salad dressing ever! This was an incredible combination of flavors. I combined tangerines, kumquats, wasabi, chipotle, sesame seeds, tofu, flax seed, ginger, pomegranate seeds and a few more ingredients to make something that tastes out of this world. Recipe here

Some veggies and dip

Pumkin tofu dip

As a rule adding mashed pumpkin, peanut butter, carrots, tofu and sesame seed to dips makes them amazing. This dip was made with pumpkin, tofu, chipotle, cinnamon and a few other ingredients.

Sauteed (no oil) carrots for dipping. Glazed in orange, pomegranate molases base.

Glazed carrots (orange juice, pomegranate molases glaze)

Tofu tomato carrot dip with sumac and raw brussel sprouts

I ended up eating around 1500 calories and around 15% of the calories from fat. Why I don't eat more calories? I have changed how I train in the past 4 years quite a bit. I think I mentioned in my BIO that I used to teach up to 20 classes a week. Most of which were power yoga classes lasting an hour and a half. So I know quite a bit about being very physically active. I am a person that needs balance in certain areas of my life. Yes, certain areas only. Knowledge is off limits. There! I allow myself to be on the extreme side. Overall I follow what I consider for me a middle path. So if I eat 3000 calories as promoted by many health gurus then I will have to exercise more which is not optimal for me. I prefer to exercise enough to be fit, strong, flexible and balanced and that's not that much exercise. :) 

Why I dont believe in low sugar, low carb diets - that's a future post. I have eaten the same way pretty much since the age of 15. Meaning mostly fruits and veggies with some other additions such as beans, grains, nuts and seeds. Superfoods to me are a fad. Herbs however are Natures Superfoods! As far as dry powdered superfoods most of them are not bad for you but extremely overprised and of average health promoting efficacy compared to the local varieties of FRESH veggies and fruit in your area. Herbs however are a truly powerful medicine. I turn to Nature when I need to heal. I love herbs more than I love yoga. Sorry Yoga you are still my second biggest love :P Yoga is a way to connect with the human soul. Herbs are a way to connect with the soul of Mother Nature. They are the expression of her genius. 

Time to walk the little monkey! 

What I eat after a heavy yoga day

This is an example of my food intake the day after a heavy yoga session. I felt the effects of the deep stretching deep in my hips and my caloric intake went straight up due to the intensity of the practice.

Morning: Reishi Espresso that definitely needs a touch of almond milk to soften the grounding bitterness.

 

Later on I had some cardamom tea- roasted chicory, dandelion, cardamom (I leave the green husk because I love chewing on it), stevia, almond milk. 

This is one of the best coffees I've ever had and it has the most mellow, light effect - green Organic Ethiopian, Lima Kaffa

green

half roasted

cooling off

Freshly Roasted Organic Ethiopian Lima Coffee

First meal around noon Dragon Well Green tea and A LOT of fresh dates. 

I brew the tea for 10-20 seconds 3 to 4 times.

 

A few hours later a fresh farmers market Date meal again.  I really prefer the less common varieties of dates. I don't ever buy the famous and treasured Medjool dates. I find them a bit boring, sweet and basically no character at all. The Halawi (Halawy) are great -they taste like caramel. The Khadrawy Dates taste like brown sugar and even have a bit ot that sugary texture. Both varieties were amazing and I will be back for more.

Dinner: lettuce, cabbage,carrots with 2 dips.

Dip 1: Tofu, coconut milk, curry, carrots, red bell peppers, oyster mushrooms cooked in coconut milk and curry. Some sumac berry, savory and aleppo red pepper (turkish bright red pepper). I make sure to pack all the antioxidants I can in my dips.

 I made an oyster mushroom carrot coconut curry. Some of which went into dip. yum

Dip 2: Pumpkin, tomato paste, bell peppers, coconut,  carrots,  oregano, Korean young garlic, cilantro, sage, spices.

OK bundle up for Sofie's walk :)

I had somewhere between 2500-4000 cals mostly from the dates. YES! I did! And I felt great the next day so it was much needed after the intense yoga. (tracking the exact calorie count is quite difficult because I didn't weigh anything and these varieties of dates are less popular)
Basically intense short exercise routines are much less physically taxing than a deep yoga practice. I do deep yoga much less often than short intense practices because I feel this best suits my needs now. I am not one of the yoga teachers that practice for 3 hours a day. To me yoga is less of a physical discipline and more of a gentle understanding of life.

A flower on the walk

 

EVENING WALK