Days Six and Seven: I see the Light!

Day Six:
I woke up today knowing that I only had two more days to work through, which made it way easier. I also decided to experiment with a couple of new food ideas to shake up what has become a pretty boring food routine.

First, I decided to try making some "high fiber banana pancakes." As I made them, my husband referred to my mixture as gruel. They weren't that bad, but they were awfully grainy and mighty strong in the bran flavor. If I make them again I'll use more banana than they call for (1/2 of a banana just didn't cut it) and I'll drizzle honey all over them. I just might be able to get over the texture with those little changes.

Next, I had one of my best buds over for lunch. Since we usually have a little dessert of sorts (or a lot of dessert), I decided to attempt to make some frozen yogurt. It was interesting to say the least. I found a recipe for it on the Body by Glamour recipes page that basically looked like a smoothie that is then frozen. So, I hunted around a little and found a coconut smoothie recipe that sounded delish. I just adapted it a bit:

1 cup of coconut juice (I had coconut milk, so I used that)
1/2 cup of ice
1/2 cup of coconut meat (I only had shredded coconut so I used that. Don't!)
1/2 cup of ice cream (I used fat free Greek yogurt and added a couple of packets of sweetener)
1/2 banana (I threw in strawberries instead)

Glamour's recipe said to freeze it for 5 to 10 minutes, but I didn't take into account that I had all that coconut milk and they had no liquid in their recipe. We ended up having a chilled coconut-strawberry soup (with lots of shredded coconut chunks to get stuck in our teeth... this is why I don't cook!). The flavor was good at least--and we had fun! That's what counts, right?

Breakfast: banana pancakes
Snack: guacamole and veggies
Lunch: salad
Snack: an attempt at homemade frozen yogurt, nuts
Dinner: black bean burger (without bun), assorted veggies

Day Seven:
I breezed through the last day knowing there was a light at the end of the tunnel. Though there were Peppermint Patties shoved in my face (courtesy of my daughter, who couldn't understand why I wouldn't eat one) and delicious baked goods staring at me at the coffeehouse (I just got a decaf iced sugar free caramel), I was ok with saying no. Surprisingly ok with it, actually. Hopefully this trend will continue now that I know the cleanse is over.

So what (if anything) did I learn from this little experiment?

1. I have way more willpower than I thought
2. I can survive without chocolate (and packaged foods too!)
3. Eating fresh makes me feel good

I guess the real test will be in the next couple of days. Will I use this new-found willpower to eat less chocolate? Will I fall back into my old patterns? Will I eat less packaged foods and more fresh? I guess time will tell...

Breakfast: coconut-strawberry smoothie
Lunch: salad (same as yesterday's)
Snack: guac and veggies, strawberries, cashews
Dinner: brown rice with black beans, corn and ground chicken