Headache-- ouch!!

I was doing just fine with the cleanse until dinner time tonight when a huge headache hit. Since I stopped drinking coffee two weeks ago, the headache must be from no sugar for two days. Ouch! I brewed tea with pomegranate seeds and lots of agave syrup, hoping it would help so I could concentrate on choosing a holiday card, but it didn't really work. I'm counting on the Motrin I just took to kick in soon! On the bright side both family dinners have gone well-- red lentils and rice last night, thai-style tofu with rice noodles tonight.

couldn't help it

-i was making pumpkin bread last night (b/c i borrowed so many chairs from friends for tgiving, gotta return them w/ a treat & tofu loaf won't do) & the edges kind of fell off & i had a big taste but stopped after 3 big bites. progress!
-this is about my 4th or 5th day w/ green tea in the morning as opposed to heavy duty pg tips black tea w/ milk & i didn't have a headache, in fact felt pretty good & energetic despite midnight bedtime last night.
-amazing how much hummus one can consume.
-and the best crackers are Mary's Gone Crackers. that may be true for maryH too, but really, they are amazing.

I am dying for some sugar, people...

...just dying.  And I think if I smell coffee, I very well may burst into tears.  That said, I am aware that this proves how ADDICTED I am to these things.  Tonight, I'm baking sweet potatoes and covering them with pomegranate seeds and raw coconut.  (Saw the recipe in a healthy magazine.)  And I'm going to roast some brussel sprouts 'til they're brown and carmelized (i.e., sweet!).  I stopped by Real Foods on Stanyan today and found some macaroons made with quinoa flour and sweetened with natural juice.  They're not great but they just may keep me from dashing to Noah's for a Heavenly chocolate chip cookie.  Leslie

day two

woke up to find that i had gained a pound. hmmmm. not quite what i wanted to see, but i guess it's inevitable with all the nuts i had (tamari almonds, peanut butter larabar, peanut butter on an apple)-but as the last time i did a cleanse, it reminds me that food is made to provide energy and nourishment-not for comfort, or because there is a spare five minutes, or because berry crumbles/cobblers are all over the place and they are my weakness.... so off to whole foods again tomorrow to stock up on all the "go raw foods" which nourish me (and give me tons of pleasure), but not without that little voice reminding me of gwenyth paltrow saying how much weight she gained when she did a raw food diet, so in moderation i will proceed......
guilan

Happy Cleanse to me!!

Hi Girls!

Stacey here, and its my 41st bday today! I went to bed with a terrible caffeine sugar withdraw headache last night but very proud of myself I ate all the right things and drank green tea like crazy and I am looking forward to feeling less sluggish. Today I will be taking a long walk on a beautiful trail here, in Santa Rosa, getting a mani/pedi, I need desperately and a visit from my sister, her girls and my mom! We will enjoy my daughter's 6th grade volleyball game and dinner at a local Vegan restaurant..not sure if we will find gluten free items..but I'm hopeful! No cake, No wine, No problem!! I'm looking forward to another great year!!

Great Cleanse- and Family-Friendly Recipe

I love this curried lentils in tomato sauce recipe.
The kids love it and it's fast & cleanse-compliant. Tonight I added cauliflower, which worked great.  Here's a photo:

Now the question is, do I have a slight headache from sugar withdrawal, PMS or the extra-spicy tomato sauce I used tonight? Leslie

Day One, Day Done

Feeling okay. As did Leslie, I ate far more calories than a pre-Cleanse day. A couple of humorous mishaps, but I'm too tired to chronicle them . . . . -Mary

How can one possibly lose weight on this cleanse...

...when I'm snacking on corn chips and quacamole at 10 a.m. on the first day?  (This is to replace my normal mid-morning snack of a cheese stick or cinnamon raisin bread slathered with Greek yogurt.)  This morning, my 6:30 a.m. dog walk was around the block, rather than to Peet's and back.  Although I can (and will) get herbal tea at Peet's in the coming weeks, I didn't want to taunt myself with the smell of freshly ground coffee beans on the very first day.  At home I had peppermint tea steeped with pomegranite seeds, which was pretty good, actually.  For breakfast, I had GF oatmeal with frozen blueberries and flax meal.  It was yummy, but it didn't stave off my mid-morning hunger -- hence the guac and chips.  My husband, also doing the cleanse, diligently took with him to work the homemade salad dressing I made for him to use with his salad-bar lunch.  Leslie    

slacker cleanse

hi, i represent the lazy end of the cleanse spectrum b/c i'm keeping my morning green tea, breakfast yogurt & i'm not checking labels for sugar or gluten. i eat pretty clean anyway (i don't eat meat, bread, pasta or cheese) except for the big fat exception of sugar. ok, sugar baked into flour.
it's the pumpkin bread that's messing me up right now and although i love cacao nibs (esp w/ a fat spoonful of almond butter), it's not always a great substitute.
from past experience i know that the urge to seek a good scone subsides after a few days.
will let you all know how that goes,
XO-y

Feast Before the Fast

I'm thankful that I’m not alone in using the Cleanse as a license to feast before the fast. Thanksgiving was followed by a fabulous Friday dinner with friends who have perfected the art of gourmet comfort food. The weekend brought unplanned meals down the coast at Hula’s Grill and Tiki Room and the Cowboy Diner. Need I say more?

En route home tonight, made a quick stop at Whole Foods to tide me over until the “big shop” (Leslie, $237, but who’s counting?). After a practice dinner of three-bean salad, I have rifled through the newly shelved groceries and conducted round one of my snack taste test. Results:

Goraw 100% organic Ginger Snaps: Great

Goraw 100% organic Chocolate Super Cookies (negligible or no caffeine): Good

International Harvest’s Mulberry Walnut Raw Granola: Okay

Rhythm Crispy Kale Chips-Zesty Nacho: Good

The glass of chardonnay that’s washing down the snacks: Fabulous

An hour and 37 minutes to go. Good luck to us all! -Mary

TJ's gluten-free bread

I had thought that the sprouted bread that I have been buying at Trader Jo's was gluten-free but it actually has wheat gluten in it. No wonder it tastes so good! I bought a loaf of their truly "Gluten-Free Bread" the other day (which easily weighs about 5 pounds) and tried it tonight for the first time. I toasted it and it was surprisingly yummy. Give it a try :o)

I also took Leslie's suggestion to visit Beautifull in Laurel Village for some good take-out today. They have a lot of good-looking options and the couple of things I got were really good (Mediterranean Quinoa salad and Wild rice salad). This worked well as a healthier option while my kids enjoyed their bagel sandwiches from Noah's down the street.

- Jen

Millennium

If you want to treat yourself to a really nice meal during this cleanse period, check out Millennium on Geary between Jones and Taylor. We went there last night and it was absolutely delicious! From what I could tell, it was all stuff that's allowed on this cleanse diet :o)

- Jen

I'm Out $400+ And I Haven't Even Hit Trader Joe's Yet

Yesterday, I shopped at Whole Foods and Rainbow Grocery in preparation for the cleanse.  I'm now out $437 and I still need to go to Trader Joe's.  Granted, I had to stock up on many condiments (gluten-free soy sauce, etc.) that I wouldn't have to buy every time were I to eat this way permanently.  Also, I purchased several brands of certain things -- soy cheese, for example -- to determine which appealed most.  I also went crazy on the cleanse-compliant snack foods because that is where I fear I could slip up -- I want to have a lot available to me so I don't.

Breads were the hardest products to find.  If they were gluten-free, they often had eggs or sugar.  Similarly, yogurts were tough -- coconut-milk yogurts sound great but they contain sugar.  Sugar is, in fact, the element of this cleanse that I am most worried about.  I now realize how dependent I am not only on my sugar fixes (from mid-afternoon "Heavenly chocolate-chip cookies" from Noah's -- and they ARE heavenly -- to my nighttime peanut butter-chocolate chip concoctions) but also on products that contain sugar, including products (like salad dressing!) that aren't even sweet!  This is going to be my greatest challenge.  I just don't know if Medjool dates are going to cut it.

I am grateful, however, that we live in San Francisco where excellent organic produce is the norm and places like Rainbow Grocery have so many options for vegan and gluten-free eaters.  Leslie

Storing up for "winter"

I, too, had been trying to decide if I should ease into the cleanse by starting to eat better or to just wait until Monday and rip the band-aid off all at once. When it came down to it, I went with the "wait until Monday" plan and have been like a squirrel storing up for winter time, eating more gluten products that I ever had before. I'm pretty sure this is not what the Quantum Wellness plan had in mind for pre-cleanse behavior but I couldn't help myself. But, on the positive side, I feel so utterly gross right now that I can't wait to cleanse away in a few days!!
I really appreciate all of the shopping list ideas and recipes, you guys. If you really do end up cooking some of those things, Leslie, can I come over to your house for dinner? ;o)

- Jen

T Minus 5 Days And Counting

Mary, thanks for the recipe links.  Today I found "Miso Mayo" at Cal-Mart (near the prepared deli section).  It's no sugar/gluten and it's vegan -- looks like a great sauce for veggies and things and maybe could even serve as a salad dressing base.  I got the red pepper version. 

I also pulled some great looking recipes from a magazine (with a much more inviting title than Living Without!):  Whole Living.  There's one for baked sweet potato with coconut and pomegranate seeds that sounds like dessert!  (The magazine also recommends brewing tea with pomegranate seeds at the bottom -- genius!)   I bought another magazine, called something like Natural Solutions (though I can't remember the exact title), which I haven't read yet but bought because I was attracted by the "10 Best Gluten-Free Foods" headline on the cover.  Once I've got all the basics shopped for this weekend, I"ll then turn to actual cooking prep.  (And I'm not making any promises that I will cook.)  In the meantime, I'm torn between wanting to slowly wean myself from the Big Five and wanting to totally gorge on them while I can!  Leslie

Green Bean Casserole

Here is a recipe from my friend Caitlin Weeks. -Mary

http://ctwfitness.blogspot.com/2010/11/low-carb-dairy-free-gluten-free-green.html?spref=fb

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

Last night I had a test run of a pre-Cleanse farewell dinner. With old friends at Local Mission Eatery, I savored pumpkin soup with bacon and cream, roasted cauliflower with Gouda, a chocolaty pinot, Four Barrel coffee, and an aged Gouda cheese plate. My real pre-Cleanse meal will likely consist of Thanksgiving leftovers Sunday night, so this incredible indulgence is one I will savor for the coming month.

While at dinner, my friend G. mentioned that his wife is thinking of joining us on the Cleanse. He then suggested a husbands’ support group. I wasn’t sure if he intended this as support for the wives’ efforts (backrubs, herbal tea deliveries, ice packs for migraines), or support for the men who will live with the women who will simultaneously give up caffeine, wine and chocolate while refusing to cook red meat for three weeks. I’m all for support of every kind, so I think it’s a grand idea if the non-Cleansing hubbies head out for an occasional manly slab of red meat on French bread washed down with double lattes—as long as they pick up a Blue Barn salad for me on the way home.

In the case of my family, I suspect the Cleanse will we welcomed by my husband. He grew up in Berkeley in the ‘60s and ‘70s, and his mother whipped up wheat grass smoothies for breakfast long before they were chic. In fact, I think as a college student he was surprised to learn that breakfast was not usually a liquid. Soybean Crowd Pleaser Casserole was his childhood comfort food, much as The Glop was mine.

My husband vividly remembers the day his mother removed the sugar bowl from the kitchen counter and replaced it with a jar of honey. As a result, images of Boy Scout bake sales make him cringe; his white-flour-and-sugar-free cookies were always left on the Scout’s folding table, forlorn, rock hard, unsold. His family bought their honey at a market called Whole Foods--a musty outpost of bulk foods, not the massive, holiday catering, online-order-enabled, how-to-video-enhanced, gift-card-selling mega chain we all now know and love.

So the Cleanse? No big deal for my husband. (BTW, my mother-in-law is today a fabulous cook, who produces delectable roasts and has been known to give my kids cake before dinner. And in case you’re looking for recipes to put in your post-Cleanse file, here’s one for the surprisingly delicious Glop, a one-pot meal created by my gourmet-chef-of-a-mother to serve on board our little sailboat. The Glop: ground beef, cheddar cheese, rotini noodles, tomato sauce, onions, salt, pepper. Cook. Combine. Freeze. Reheat. Ladle into bowls. Apologies, I realize this is not the kind of recipe I’m supposed to post here. )

Of course, Mr. Soy Bean Crowd Pleaser is the same husband who yesterday fed our middle school-aged son a donut, Skittles, and a slice of pizza—all before 11am. Thus, while I certainly don’t expect my children to embrace my new menu, I do hope they’ll try a few dishes and perhaps learn to make do with less sugar and white flour. Secretly, I suspect at least one gluten-sensitivity in the household—so we’ll see if I can slip some rice bread into a few lunches. My one attempt to serve gluten-free pasta in the past was met with disgust. “Soggy garbage,” was the verdict, I believe. But teaching by doing hasn’t really been my motto when it comes to food. I hate eggs, but am proud that I am raising two egg lovers and one who will at least gobble up spinach quiche. “Do as I say, not as I do” may be the antithesis of contemporary parenting advice, but there are times that it’s the best I can muster. For a few upcoming weeks, however, I am going to very publicly enjoy my vegetable stews, kale chips, and oatmeal with flaxseed oil and almond milk—and hope that a healthy behavior or two trickles down the nuclear food chain.

And for the kids, the occasional sweet doesn’t have to disappear as it did for my husband. There is apparently a thriving industry of gluten-free, alternatively-sweetened baking mixes lining the shelves--chocolate cakes, oatmeal cookies, pumpkin bread, brownies, etc. Walk down the baking aisle in Safeway and then do the same in Whole Foods and you’d think you’d time traveled between two countries, two eras, two cuisines. At our house, we recently ran a highly scientific, double blind baking taste test, and my test subjects unanimously praised the first batch of Pamela’s gluten-free chocolate chip cookies.

Who took the white flour out of all the baking mixes, anyway? And when did They do it? And—I’m digressing here—is this the same They who cut off the tops of all the jeans while I wasn’t looking? Not so long ago, I lost a lot of weight by sticking to a strict diet (plenty of protein, even more caffeine) for a period of months. When I finally went shopping for pants that didn’t have a stretchy waist, I discovered that pants no longer had any waist at all. They stopped at the hips, where someone had sewn belt loops and snuck in snaps. But belt loops didn’t hide the fact that these jeans were, in essence, topless. It’s as if the designers said, “Hey, let’s make jeans that end right where that little (or not so little) shelf of Mommy muffin top flesh starts—that’ll look cool!” Was this an economic decision—less fabric, same price, higher profit margin? Did the missing fabric go to those less fortunate? And really, isn’t there a happy medium between jeans that end at the pubic bone and the up-to-the-bra-line “mom jeans” immortalized by Tina Fey on SNL?

Apologies again for the tangent (in an attempt to prepare myself for what's to come, I’m functioning on only two cups of caffeine today), and back to the real topic of this blog. Below is a link to two web pages that list Vegan restaurants in SF. Quite a few offer takeout. Favorites like Dosa are on the list, as are Green’s and Samovar Tea Lounge. In addition, if you don’t already frequent Blue Barn and Plant—know that these spots let you design your own salads and take them to go. And to counterbalance the above-mentioned recipe for The Glop, I include a link to my favorite soup of all time--Ina Garten’s Butternut Squash and Apple Soup. It just happens to fit the parameters of the Cleanse—if you swap out the butter!

-Mary

http://www.friendsofanimals.org/programs/vegetarianism/restaurant-guides/san-francisco-vegan-restaurant-guide.html

http://www.happycow.net/north_america/usa/california/san_francisco/

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/butternut-squash-and-apple-soup-recipe/index.html

Leslie's Shopping Lists

For the past few weeks, I've been tossing cleanse-compliant food ideas into a file and today I used the file to create shopping lists for Trader Joe's, Rainbow Grocery and Whole Foods.  I plan to hit all three stores next weekend -- after the Thanksgiving rush.  Here's what I've got.  Note:  This is my personal list -- it's not exhaustive.  For example, I didn't include tofu because I don't especially like it.  I didn't include popcorn or agave because I have them already.  Also, these are not shopping lists for particular recipes but just for staples.  I expect to do a lot of shopping during the cleanse as well, particularly if I get inspired to actually cook.

TRADER JOE'S:
corn tortillas
Cashew Cookie Lara Bars
corn chips
guacamole
quinoa
nuts
soy, rice and nut milks
veggie stock
rice and other grains
Earth Balance (butter substitute)
salsa
mustard
dried fruits
frozen spinach

RAINBOW GROCERY:
gluten free oatmeal
GF soy sauce
Tinkyada brown rice pasta (fusili)
Udi's breads
Pamela's flour mixes
vegan cheese (no rennet or casein)
vegan yogurt (no sugar)
GF cereal (no sugar)
Morningstar sausages (or similar)
GF pita bread
olives
rice cakes
pasta sauce (no sugar)
flax seed oil
flax meal
canned soups
canned beans
egg substitute (for baking)
coconut milk

WHOLE FOODS:
lentil chips
miso paste
red pepper hummus
nut butters (no sugar -- including peanut butter)
teas
veggies (including sweet potatos)
fruits (including lemon)
veggie sushi
maple syrup
dried beans
coconut water

Easing into the "cleanse"

After our meeting yesterday, I'm finally starting to wrap my brain around what I'll need to do to stay on course, as they say, during those 3 weeks. There are three main challenges I anticipate already (aside from the inevitable cravings I'll have for my usual dark chocolate snack at 11am every day):
1) Shopping and eating according to the Quantum Wellness plan while shopping for and feeding three others who will NOT be on the plan.
2) Chris and I have plans for a nice dinner out (planned long before I agreed to join the 40-year-old vegans) and I'm wondering what on earth I'll be able to order off the menu. I'll have to be one of those crazy people who asks about all of the ingredients they use, etc...
3) There's a fun potluck I don't want to miss that's right in the middle of our cleanse. Do I just eat ahead of time? Do I bring a dish that meets the requirements of the cleanse and eat only that??
I think that this will be a good exercise in learning how to incorporate a healthier lifestyle into my usual routine. Should be interesting!!

- Jen

Operation Cleanse Is Almost Underway!

Today we had a little planning meeting, complete with coffee, cookies and scones -- the perfect way to prepare for a cleanse!

We're all excited, we're all nervous, we're all glad we're doing this together.  We shared product ideas, we tasted spirulina-infused, cleanse-compliant bars.  We plan to use this blog -- a lot.  We plan to go out to dinner together at a vegan restaurant half-way through the cleanse.  In the meantime, we're soliciting suggestions from Gluten-free friends.  We're buying magazines with such awful titles as "Living Without."  We're drafting up our Rainbow Grocery/Whole Foods/Trader Joe's shopping lists.  (I predict the weekend after Thanksgiving will be the absolute perfect time to leisurely peruse those aisles.)  And my much-anticipated copy of Quantum Wellness finally arrived in the mail today.  I tore into it right away and I am finding it highly readable and totally compelling.  I'll be sharing some of my favorite quotes along the way.  I'm ready to do this, girls.  Leslie

Cold Turkey

As you can tell from Leslie's first post, she has the fortitude and focus to stay the course on this hairshirt-of-a-diet (named with you in mind, Scott). I'm counting on you, Leslie, to keep me on track during the dark moments of caffeine withdrawal and lentil overload. And since you roped me into . . . I mean convinced me to join you, I know your positive attitude will get me through!

I'm a bit concerned as my first step in this process has been to order the book. Low and behold, I ordered the wrong book--the one that extends the 21-day program into a permanent lifestyle. Frightening.

I have been trying to prepare myself--reading recipes online, strolling the gluten-free aisle in Whole Foods, sampling rice crackers and eyeing the latest hummus flavors. I bought two cans of cooked lentils and promptly shelved them next to the chips for our chocolate fountain.

After surveying the grocery store options, here's how I'm thinking the various challenges will stack up:

• Gluten free, sugar free baked goods--check. (Though I'll miss sampling my daughter's weekly baked goodies, I'll be done in time to fill my holiday-themed cookie tins with an array of homemade treats.)
• An alphabet of bean choices--check. (Seeking great new Latin and Indian take-out options. Anyone?).
• Stir fry, every way--check. (I now have an excuse to add the nuts back to my veggies.)
• Organic, agave sweetened, wheat-germ enriched, berry-colored cola--whoa! And we arrive at the apparent stumbling block in my temporary new regime.

How on earth do I give up caffeine? My morning Ritual Coffee latte? My afternoon Blue Bottle? The many Diet Cokes in between? I'm assuming that extra-strength Excedrin will replace the morning coffee, but I'm a little worried that my withdrawal symptoms will make the evening news. And w/o caffeine-enhanced brain cells, will I ever win another game in my women's Scrabble group? (Nerds unite, I know.)

So I decided to research caffeine withdrawal online and arm myself with some good ideas. And I certainly came across a variety of expert opinions. One medical website explains to those experiencing caffeine withdrawal headaches, "the most commonly recommended treatment for the caffeine headache is to consume some caffeine." Another website counsels, "The best way to avoid caffeine withdrawal entirely is not to get hooked on it in the first place." Then the crushing blow from yet another source, "Just be aware that some pain relievers, such as Excedrin, contain caffeine. . . ."

And then I found this: "Attempting to taper a caffeine habit is about as successful as an alcoholic sticking to just one drink. . . .We've all seen the looks the baristas give one another over those split shots. Besides, when it comes to decaf, what's the point?"* Clearly, I'd stumbled on a wise soul.

He continues: "You're going to have to go off coffee cold turkey. And I want to break this to you up front; it's not going to be pretty. . . . You're going to have a nasty headache that can last from one to seven days. You'll be irritable, nervous, restless, sleepy, depressed, and you'll have trouble concentrating. You'll be nauseous maybe even to the point of blowing chunks. And the worse your habit, the worse your symptoms."

And I was worried about my Scrabble game. I begin to wonder if our kids' school's beloved Circle of Friends committee--which offers meals, play dates, and carpool help to families at times of crises--would consider caffeine withdrawal a valid medical condition?

My new online caffeine-free mentor then suggests that kicking the caffeine habit be timed to coincide with one of the following:

1) Stomach flu
2) Hangover
3) Childbirth
4) Visit from the in-laws

I pondered these suggestions, and came up with the following:

1) Gross.
2) Tricky on a booze-free diet.
3) Get real.
4) OMG. They'll be here smack in the middle of the Cleanse. Thus,

Option 5) Acupuncture.

Alternative eating requires an alternative treatment.

That settled, I find myself quite excited by this somewhat out-of-character undertaking. And if I fit in my favorite cocktail dress by Christmas, all the better. So thank you, Leslie! You are an inspiration. I want to say that clearly now, because I may soon be saying something else . . . .

-Mary

*vhttp://www.wisegeek.com/how-can-i-deal-with-caffeine-withdrawal-headaches.htm

What In The World Am I Thinking

I'm at the tail end of a multi-week bout with Labyrinthitis, a catch-all phrase referring to a virus attacking the inner ear.  For weeks, I was bedridden with vertigo and nausea.  During that time, I watched a lot of t.v. and I happened to catch the author of Quantum Wellness -- The 21-Day Cleanse on Whatever With Alexis and Jennifer.  (For the record, I like Jennifer a lot better than Alexis.)  The author, Kathy Freston, spoke extremely convincingly about the health benefits of her vegan, no-sugar/gluten/caffeine/alcohol cleanse.  Health and wellness sounded pretty good to me right about then, my body having been thrashed from several weeks of motion sickness, not getting out of bed, drinking mostly broth, etc.  This cleanse spoke to me -- I do believe the universe was telling me something. 

I've dissed nut jobs who've done those crazy lemon juice/cayenne pepper/maple syrup-type cleanses.  Even in college, when sorority sisters would request vegetarian or low-cal meals, I'd want to scream, "Just F'ing EAT!"  But the Amazon reviews of the Quantum Wellness book were pretty persuasive.  After being so sick, I was desperate to feel that good too.  "I'll have what she's having.  I'll take a side of that glowing skin too, please."  And while this cleanse is not about weight loss for me, I am still trying to get rid of that last bit of baby weight -- never mind that my baby is in second grade.

So I purchased Quantum Wellness and I'm waiting for it to arrive.  In the meantime, I did what any hip mom would do -- I posted a link to the book on Facebook.  I got a couple of non-commital comments and, much to my chagrin, no "likes."  I worried people thought I was a nut job too.  However, over the next few days, several friends privately e-mailed and others cornered me at school pick-up: "Hey, I'm kinda interested in that cleanse thing you posted..."  Before I knew it, I had several friends on board and they had friends interested too.  We're starting November 29 -- after Thanksgiving -- and we'll be done before Xmas.  (Unfortunately for me, it does fall squarely within Hanukkah but I am thinking it'll be pretty easy to make vegan latkes.) 

I was reluctant to tell my husband but when I did, his response, much to my surprise, was, "Maybe I'll do it with you."  I believe we've got a couple of husbands on board now.  I wanted to name this blog, "The Real Housewives of San Francisco" (even though many of us do work!) but, in addition to the men, we've recruited friends from as far away as New York.

After the book had been ordered and the friends signed on, I tried a curried lentil dish from an old issue of Everyday Food.  It was delicious -- even the kids asked for seconds.  My husband asked, "Is this vegan?"  When I thought about it, I realized that the entire meal fit squarely within all the parameters of the Quantum Wellness Cleanse.  That gave me hope that I won't be cranky and starving the whole time.

A word about that...  It turns out that each of us has different fears, different foods we're practically desperate not to give up.  One friend asked, "Can we have an exception for morning coffee?"  Another said, "A life without Diet Coke and wine hardly seems worth living."  For me, I could give up alcohol for years without missing a beat.  It's the coffee, sugar and cheese I think I can't live without.  What I am going to do without my 9 p.m. scoop of chunky peanut butter covered in chocolate chips?  Yeah, I need this cleanse.

The very first friend who joined in mentioned that we should do a corresponding blog, something that I had thought of too but was afraid to suggest, worried people would think it was either too geeky or too much work on top of the cleanse.  But here we go.  Wish us 40-Year-Old Vegans some luck!  Leslie