21 Pounds in 21 Days (19 page)

Step 2: Shop for Success

After you've cleared your kitchen of toxic foods, the next step is to shop for healthy foods that will support the goals you've set for yourself. As a rule, the most healthy foods are those in their whole, most natural, form. The less it looks like the original ingredient it
was derived from, the more processed it is. For the purposes of this detox, we'll focus on purchasing vegetables, seasonings, herbal teas, and high-density nutritional supplements.

Create a Shopping List

Any nutritionist or dietitian will tell you that nothing is more likely to scuttle a healthy-shopping trip than going to the supermarket hungry or without a list. It's hard enough when you smell the sausage and cheese frying on the sample station when you haven't had anything to eat, but to be starving and without a list is a sure recipe for overeating and overspending—your worst nightmare and a supermarket executive's dream! So let's begin by constructing a list of the kinds of items you'll need to purchase. Vary the quantities based on how often you plan to shop and who else will be consuming them.

Vegetables

• White: garlic
  
• Brown: ginger
  
• Purple: purple cabbage, beets
  
• Red: tomato
  
• Orange: carrots, sweet potatoes, yams
  
• Yellow: summer squash or yellow squash
  
• Green: broccoli, celery, cilantro, collard greens, cucumbers, kale, parsley, Swiss chard
  

Fruits

• Lemon, lime, and orange slices (place in pitchers of water to give you flavored water)
  

Spices

• Unsalted seasonings
  
• Cayenne pepper
  
• Curry powder
  
• Cumin
  
• Cinnamon
  
• Clove
  
• Bay leaf
  
• Cardamom
  
• Basil
  
• Caraway
  
• Coriander
  
• Oregano
  
• Rosemary
  
• Thyme
  
• Dill
  
• Fennel
  
• Mint
  
• Mustard
  
• Saffron
  
• Sage
  
• Turmeric
  
• Vanilla
  

Herbal teas

• Buy and sip on your favorite herbal teas throughout the detox to help keep hunger at bay. Feel free to purchase any brand or flavor that does not contain caffeine. It
  is
  okay to drink green tea, which does contain a small amount of caffeine, because green tea contains so many antioxidants. You can also drink teas that help relieve constipation, reduce stress, and so on. Plan to drink tea all day.
  

Go Grocery Shopping

Take a trip to the grocery store in your area that has the best produce section. While you're on the diet, you'll want to consume the freshest fruits and vegetables—organically grown, if you can afford it—and as many different types of produce as possible. You'll also want to make sure you can find all the ingredients you need for whatever soups you plan to make. But be forewarned: the nicest supermarkets are also the ones that use the most advanced techniques to encourage you to eat while you're shopping and spend more money than you need to on items like the gourmet chocolate candies you find near the cash register. You'll have to exercise resolve not to follow the aroma of freshly baked bread, nibble the new brand of frozen samosas offered as samples, or eat the beautiful fruit torts and tiramisu at the gourmet dessert counter. So eat before you go, take a detailed shopping list, and shop the produce section by color, selecting foods of every hue to maximize the nutrients and antioxidants you eat.

• Shop the perimeter of the store, where the fresh foods are sold and there are fewer processed foods.
  
• Avoid the prepared soups and canned vegetables, where ingredients like butter, whole milk, trans fats, salt, sugar and artificial flavors are often used to make foods look, smell, and taste better.
  
• Read the labels of any prepared or processed foods you buy, minimizing the number of ingredients whose names you can't pronounce, look like chemicals, or you don't recognize as a food.
  

Hit the Health-Food Store

If you do not order your supplements over the Internet (www.mvdietdetox.com), you'll need to head to the health-food store to buy the following:

• Juicer
  
• Stevia (Remember: a tiny bit of stevia goes a long way.)
  
• Food enzymes (ninety capsules or tablets)
  
• Green drink (Remember: look for a brand that contains a variety of different vegetables, not just wheatgrass or spirulina.)
  
• Antioxidant berry drink (Again, pick a brand that contains a wide variety of berries and has a high ORAC [oxygen radical absorbance capacity] value.)
  
• Herbal Cleanse Formula for the colon and liver
  
• Protein drink with soy, rice, or almond milk base (if you don't want to lose weight)
  

Shop at the Mass Merchandiser,
Department Store, or Discount Store

This is the best place to buy a Crock-Pot, Tupperware storage containers, Thermos, water bottle, and other nonfood supplies.

Step 3: Set Up Your Kitchen for Success

There are the sneakers you wear when you want to look cute and the sneakers you wear when you go to the gym. They're not the same shoe. One is for pleasure, the other gets the job done. The same thing is true with your kitchen. As beautiful as your kitchen may be, I want you to turn it into a working kitchen while you're on the Diet Detox. By “working kitchen” I mean one that functions in your favor as you strive to lose weight and stay healthy. I want you to start by pulling out some forgotten wedding and housewarming gifts: your blender, juicer, and food processor. Place them out on the counter. You're going to use them every day.

Organize Your Refrigerator

Our goal here is to make doing the detox as fun, easy, and well organized as possible. On the outside of your refrigerator (or on the outside of a prominent cabinet), tape a copy of your daily Diet Detox program.

Next, wash your vegetables with lemon or lime juice or a vegetable cleaner you buy at the store. Once they are clean, lay them out on dish towels or paper towels, and use a salad spinner or pat them dry (wet veggies spoil quickly). Cut up your remaining vegetables, separating them into glass or hard plastic containers or resealable plastic bags. I recommend organizing your vegetables by color group, which makes them easy to identify and find, and helps the refrigerator look bright, colorful, and appealing. You can use these vegetables to make juice each day.

Create flavored water by slicing chunks of fruit and placing the chunks in glass pitchers full of distilled water so you can see how colorful and appealing the water looks. Drink as much of this water as often as you'd like through the day, though no less than sixty-four ounces.

Set Up Your Counters and Cabinets

Start by filling your teapot with water and placing it on the stove so that it is ready for you to drink tea all day. Tea has become an art form these days. You can buy name-brand herbal teas at the grocery store or specialty loose teas at a gourmet tea or coffee shop. It doesn't matter which flavor or type you prefer as long as it doesn't contain caffeine—the exception being green tea. I heat up a pot of water and add it to a Thermos or tea maker to keep water hot all day and have a cup of tea first thing in the morning. Then I drink tea all day long, switching flavors so I don't get bored. Although tea also contains vitamins and minerals, drinking it will also help you consume enough water.

Try attractively stacking a few decorative mugs on a counter or small tray. Keep teas of all flavors handy, as well as a basket of lemons and limes. You can replace the sugar in your sugar bowl with stevia powder or packets. If you like to flavor your tea with lemon or lime, place slices in a covered glass dish. You can even make fresh lemon or lime tea by squeezing the juice into your cup and adding hot water. You may also choose to make hot tea by the pot or a pitcher of sun or iced tea. One of my favorite teas I call Indian tea. It contains four cups of water, one stick of cinnamon, four to five cloves, one tablespoon of fennel, four whole cardamom pods, and one-fourth of a whole allspice clove. Simmer for an hour or to taste. Then add stevia and organic vanilla extract to taste. This tea not only gives you energy, it is great for your stomach.

On your stove, you want to keep a pot full of vegetables cooking (or a Crock-Pot simmering). This is what I call your “free soup.” You can eat it anytime during the day when you're feeling hungry. You can make your favorite soup minus the salt, sugar, eggs, butter,
milk, and alcohol, pumping up the seasonings to add extra flavor. I have suggested some flavorful recipes on pages 205–208. You can also sip on vegetable broth.

Now that your cabinets have more room in them, you may also want to carve out some space especially for your products that your family knows not to bother. Some of my clients set aside a specific shelf or set of shelves for their supplements. For example, they may put different flavors of protein powders on one shelf and their supplements on another. Once you go off the detox and go on your weight maintenance plan, you may decide to add shelves to store your whole grains, dried beans and peas, nuts and seeds, cooking oils, and so on.

Step 4: Set Up Your World for Success

Forget the idea of your morning vitamin sitting in the kitchen cupboard. You're going to be nourishing yourself all day long, so you need to set yourself up differently to make that routine work. Wherever you're going to be, that's where you should store your supplements. Place a small glass, dish, or plastic bag containing your supplements in the following places:

• On your nightstand.
  
• By the bathroom sink: Packets of green drink, aloe vera supplement. When you wash in the morning, make a green drink. When you clean up before bedtime, take your aloe vera.
  
• In your purse, briefcase, or computer bag: packets of green drink, stevia, and herbal teas.
  
• In your car's cup holder: Green drink in a bottle or antioxidant mix with water.
  
• On your desk at work: A dish containing supplements.
  

I always suggest that people set alarms in their house and create computer reminders to prompt them to take their nutrients throughout the day. (Remember: you want to eat every two hours or less.) I have clients who are salespeople or soccer moms and do
a lot of driving. They won't leave home without their cooler in their car so the cleansing soups, green drinks, and fresh juice they made at home stay cold all day.

Eventually, as the visual cues take hold and you become accustomed to the program, these guidelines become automatic.

Step 5: Plan Your Day

I like to encourage my clients to plan for two types of days: days they will spend at work and those they'll spend at home. They require two different types of preparation and organization.

Work Days

Because you will not have ready access to your supplies at home, days when you're working and/or traveling will require additional preparation. Fortunately, the program is very flexible, there are juice bars all over the country (except on Martha's Vineyard!), and many chefs will even cook to your specifications. Even though we live in a toxic environment, a lot more resources are available than before for those of us who want to eat healthily.

But a lot of people tell me, “I can't juice at work! It requires too much equipment. It's too messy!” Fortunately, you don't need to. You can substitute your green drink and antioxidant berry drink for juice. Just pour some directly into a small bottle of water or take it with you in a baggie, pour it into a water bottle, and shake it up at work. Some of my clients even buy portable blenders to mix their supplement drinks. If you purchase a Thermos, you can take your soup or broth with you. Many of the most successful people even keep a set of supplies at the office.

Home Days

Follow the daily schedule provided on page 174.