Experiment Report: The Cleanse

No coffee. No wine. No meat, poultry, or fish. No eggs. No dairy. No sugar. No gluten.

What's left? 

I found out what, for a week in April. I decided to try my first-ever cleanse. I'd heard friends talk about them with unexplained enthusiasm. To me it has always seemed like a crazy undertaking for people who aren't as hungry as I am.  

But, with bold intentions of using my sabbatical to try new things, and with an extra layer of winter insulation firmly glued to my midsection, I figured I had nothing to lose. Or rather, I had a few pounds to lose. Why not jump on the cleanse bandwagon? How bad could it be?

Actually, I feared it would be quite bad. I imagined the tedium of eating vegetables and drinking smoothies for an entire week. I imagined hunger. Deep, stabbing hunger. I imagined failing and having to admit to everyone that I couldn't hack it. 

I'm pleased to say that none of those things occurred. The cleanse experience completely surprised me!

Here are some details about my experience, for anybody who might be curious.

The smoothies were quite filling, packed with enough greens to make them super healthy, but enough fruit to make them sweet and tasty. I drank a smoothie every day, usually for breakfast. I know it looks awful in the picture above, but truly it tasted pretty good!

I developed a new love for quinoa. I made quinoa tabouleh (pictured above.) I made broccoli pesto and mixed it into quinoa. I used some leftover quinoa to make a breakfast cereal by stirring it into some almond milk and heating it up. Quinoa is a very tasty, filling, and versatile food. 

I wasn't hungry. In the first few days, to be sure, I felt the urge to eat. To chew and swallow a wider variety of foods. But even I had to admit that this was different than actually being hungry. I was just missing the habit of constantly snacking. (A handful of almonds or dried apricots came in handy at these moments, and were on the cleanse "acceptable" list.)  

I gave myself permission to add a few items to my menu that weren't technically on the cleanse list, but felt "cleanse consistent." Examples:  a drop of maple syrup in my quinoa breakfast cereal. A spoonful of hummus with my lunchtime quinoa. A few scoops of guacamole on gluten-free veggie chips.  I followed the spirit of the cleanse if not always the letter of it's law, and used common sense and moderation to adjust it as needed to get me through the week. 

The outcomes:

1) I felt great by the end of the week. I have trouble putting my finger on exactly what felt different, but I know I felt different. Better.

2) I lost about 6 pounds. It was a great jump start heading into summer.

3) I broke some habits that needed breaking. My pot of coffee every morning, and my glass of wine every night, were strongly ingrained habits. It was great to break the habit, and realize that I really don't need those things. I am sure I will go back to some coffee and wine, but with the knowledge that I really don't need them every day. It's possible for both to be occasional treats, rather than everyday habits.

4) I discovered some new recipes that I plan to continue as part of my post-cleanse diet. I've already made the quinoa breakfast cereal, the green smoothie, and the quinoa tabbouli several times each, post cleanse.

5) I feel a renewed sense of what's possible. I can change my habits. I can resist the glorious muffin at Cafe Borrone. I can lose a few pounds. I can eat collard greens (in a smoothie.) 

Several people have told me they can see the difference around my waistline. Maybe they're just being nice. Either way, I feel motivated to keep up the momentum and weave some of these healthier habits into my post cleanse daily routine. 

All in all, this experiment was a resounding success!

If you've been curious, and on the fence about a cleanse, I encourage you to give it a go! You might be surprised.

And, if you are interested in the particular cleanse I used, you can check out The Yogi and the Cook, the website of the yoga teacher who ran the cleanse I participated in.

Hello May

At the beginning of each month, I like to sit down for just a bit of reflection. What do I want out of this month, above and beyond my "day to day" responsibilities as a mom and wife? How does this month play into my sabbatical goals? 

As you may recall, I've designated this January through June period to be for "experiments." Well, April was right on target as I wrapped up a painting class, tried my first ever Cleanse (healthy eating), and dove into my first novel writing class.

For May, I'm planning on a laser focus on writing. 

I'm fully embracing my online novel writing class, to get every ounce of goodness I can from it. I'm taking Young Adult Novel Writing: Building Your Own World, through Stanford's Online Writer's Studio. There are 17 other people in the class, all smart and dedicated people trying to do the same super hard thing I am trying to do. It's been a very inspiring and motivating experience so far. The class goes through mid June.

I am making concrete progress on my novel. I've given myself a deadline of every Friday to have a new significant chunk of work that I can send to another writer friend. She's doing the same with me. It helps to have a deadline, and someone to "turn things in" to.

I'm poring over books about the craft of writing. I'm currently reading "90 Days to your Novel" by Sarah Domet, and "You Can Write A Novel" by James M. Smith, Jr. I'm finding great nuggets in each of these great books.

I'm helping to organize a writing group with local members of the online writing class, to see if we can continue some form of peer support and critique after the online class concludes. 

I'm joining a book club that a neighbor belongs to. My old book club of 10 years broke up last year, and I've been missing a regular focus on reading and discussing novels with a group of like minded readers. And, as a fledgling writer, it's a great chance to read and reflect on other writer's work.

I think that should keep me busy, and my eyes and fingers tired and sore from all that reading and writing!

Hope you have a great May!

Recent Reads: New favorites and finds in the Middle Grade and YA categories

In addition to reminiscing about the books that inspired me as a child (see this list), I've been thinking also about the books I've read more recently in the Middle Grade and Young Adult (MG/YA) categories. Below is a list of books I've read in recent years (as an adult) and enjoyed. When there is a series, I list the first book and note that it begins a series. (In no particular order.)

Holes, by Louis Sachar

The Princess Academy by Shannon Hale (and her tale The Goose Girl)

Poison Study (series) by Maria V. Snyder

The Hunger Games (series) by Suzanne Collins

The Hound of Rowan (series) by Henry H. Neff

The Lightning Thief (series) by Rick Riordan (and all his others)

The False Princess by Ellis O'Neil

The Alchemyst (series) by Michael Scott

Fablehaven (series) by Brandon Mull

Hero by Mike Lupica

Behind the Bookcase by Mark Steensland

Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling (of course)











As I continue to read Kid Lit books, I'll add them to this list. I hope the list was helpful to you as a reader or as a source of recommendations for a middle grade or young adult reader in your life.

Favorite books from my childhood

As part of an assignment for the novel writing course I am taking this Spring, I have been reminiscing about the great books I read as a young girl, and the huge influence they had on me as a reader, a person, and perhaps as a future writer. I thought I'd share a list of my favorites, in case they bring back good memories for you too. I hope this list may also be a resource for moms looking for great stories to recommend to their own young readers. I'll be updating this list as I remember additional great stories from those good old days.

The Oz Books. Many people are familiar only with the famous story made popular by the movies. But in fact there are many books in the Oz series, and I read them all. Most are written by L. Frank Baum, but other writers took up the series in later years. I inhaled each and every one. By today's standards, the writing is old fashioned and a bit meandering, but I love them still and recommend them unreservedly.

The Chronicles of Narnia. Again, the first has been made into a movie, and most people unfortunately stop there. The book is delightful, and begins a series of 7 books I read and re-read over the years, uncovering new layers of meaning as I got older.

Below the Root. This treasure seems to have been frequently overlooked, and I can't imagine why. It's the first of three that make up the Green Sky Trilogy and I have never forgotten the giant trees and low gravity that are the halmarks of this fascinating new world.

The Belgariad. This series, by David Eddings is an unforgettable magical adventure that launched me into the fantasy genre.

The Earthsea Cycle. There are four books in this series. I particularly loved the first two, A Wizard of Earthsea and The Tombs of Atuan.

The Girl with the Silver Eyes. I love any book about kids having special powers, and this classic is a fantastic example.

The Magic Faraway Tree. It's a fun ride: surprise lands in rotating clouds at the top of a giant, climbable tree populated by unique and memorable characters. It captured my imagination and I never forgot this story.

A Wrinkle In Time. This classic is hard to beat. I loved the science angle, and the unforgettable heroine, Meg.

Looking at this list is like looking at pictures of old friends. And, there were oh-so-many more books than these that I inhaled as a young girl, so I'll add to this list as I come across other old favorites.

Hello April!

Well, here it is April 9th, and I'm just getting around to posting my "Hello April" post (following the new goal setting format I'm experimenting with, as seen in "Hello March" and "Hello February.")

This month...

I will wrap up my painting class Flower Crazy.

I will dive headlong into my new online class, "Young Adult Novel Writing: Building Your Own World," offered through Stanford Continuing Studies.

I will build writing time into every weekday.

I will re-energize my commitment to healthy eating by trying (for the first time ever) a 7-day Cleanse, hosted by Kimberly Paul of The Yogi and the Cook.

I'm trying to keep myself pretty focused this month on writing, so I'm resisting the urge to take on lots of other projects. I think this is plenty to keep me quite busy!

Hope you are having a great Spring!

Experiment update: Planting a garden

One of my goals for March was to start planting a garden. I've been working on this, gradually, in little snatches of time here and there. A few plant purchases at a time. Yesterday, my son and I tried riding bikes to the nursery, and managed to pack quite a lot of garden impact into our two bike baskets.

I added the purple pansies to the little patch by my front door. It's still a bit messy, but I like how the little flashes of purple play off the red tulips, which finally came up.

In the back yard, my son has claimed one of our 4 small raised beds as "his", and has picked out all the plants for it. Clockwise from the top we have yellow marigolds (which he couldn't resist because "they are just so beautiful!"), we have some beans, and the zinna seedlings we transplanted from their little windowsill cups. Then some peas (growing like crazy, but outside the frame of this picture). At the middle/bottom we are going to try to grow zuchinni. Some naustrum and leftover purple pansies fill in the bottom and left side.

From the front you can see that the peas, planted earlier, are growing like crazy. The wire tomato cage I put up for them is completely inadequate... good learning for next year!

Just so you don't think everything is rosy in my garden, here is our chief adversary:

Kenna loves to dig, and loves to eat tender little plants. The two giant holes in the middle of our lawn are usually her main goal. (Deeper! Bigger!) But we fear the day she spots our little raised beds and realizes the dirt there is much loser and more fun to burrow into. Poor girl gets tethered most of the time when she goes out, so we can minimize the damage. We're keeping a close eye on you, Kenna!

 My next target is this little bed here:

It's sprawling with volunteers and leftovers from previous years. I love the color of these sweet little flowers. (What the heck are they? I don't remember ever having planted them...?) But as soon as they fade, I'm going to clear the decks and start fresh with what I hope will be a good cutting garden. I love cutting flowers from the garden and bringing them indoors. This bed gets the best sun, so I'm optimistic I can grow some pretty little somethings here.

Hope you are enjoying the bounty of spring in your garden! Thanks for stopping by.

Sabbatical Check-in: The Halfway Point

As you know if you've been following this blog, I'm taking a year off from my corporate career. Last month marked the halfway point of my year. It seemed like a good time to step back and reflect on what I've learned. It took me a while to write this post. The observations took some time to come together. But here it is, a summary of observations at this point in the journey.

I'm more relaxed. There's been an interesting and subtle shift in the past few months. It's been hard to put my finger on it, but I think there is a sense that I feel less driven to "accomplish stuff" each day. I'm still plenty busy, and still doing lots of things, but I'm more relaxed in the moments between activities, and overall. I'm not feeling the need anymore to set weekly goals and constantly measure my progress.

I'm driving slower. I have really noticed this. I feel like I'm rushing less. I'm less anxious to get to the next location, and more content to go slow and focus on the drive. Maybe the reason is practical: I bought a mini-van. It's large size and bulky dimensions don't exactly put one in the mood to zip around. Or maybe it's that I've gotten some of my routines down a bit better now. Getting the kids from here to there with the right outfit and the right snack seemed almost comically stressful and complicated at first, but I'm gradually getting the hang of it now. I'm more organized and more prepared for my days. I'm really trying to enjoy the journey, not just get stuff done. The "inbetween" time in the car is part of the journey. Maybe I'm stretching, but my slower driving seems to be indicative of these larger themes. It is resonating with me, anyway.

I'm feeling more connected to the community. Everywhere I go now, I run into other moms I know. We run in the same circles and share variations on the same basic schedule, so I guess it's no surprise. But when I was working, I never used to run into people I knew when I was running about town. Now I never go anywhere without running into at least 3 people I know well enough to stop and chat. I like that.

I'm experiencing a deeper sense of satisfaction in my role as mother. In the last couple of months it has really hit me that my most important job right now is to help my kids. Mothering has always been important to me, obviously, but I never had the luxury of as much time to focus on it as I would like. Mothering was always my most important priority, but also part of a long list of priorities competing for my time and attention. Gradually, mothering has been moving more to the forefront of my world, and I'm feeling more content spending my time that way. It's making a difference for my kids, I can tell, and that feels good.

I'm not missing work in the slightest. I didn't really think I would, but I wasn't sure. Plenty of people predicted that I'd be antsy and itching to get back to work. They thought I'd be "bored" at home. I've found my life to be anything but boring, and I'm busier than ever. Now, I must admit that I do miss the people quite a bit, as I was fortunate to have some wonderful colleagues and friends at the office. And I experience a few random moments of curiosity about how things are going. But I don't miss the back to back meetings, the feeling that I'm always being judged and evaluated, and the constant striving to be persuasive and align my colleagues to a particular course of action. The highs were high and it may be that I won't experience some of those big moments again in my new life, but I'm happy at this point to have given that up for a calmer life that is more self directed, more creative, and more connected to what really matters to me.

I remain certain that I have a contribution to make in some way. While on the one hand I'm more relaxed and moving slower, as I mentioned above, that has not translated into a slacking of my high level sense that I want to make a contribution beyond my role as mother. I'm still not sure what it is, but I'm pretty sure now that it isn't a return to the kind of corporate job I had before. And it may not take the form of a "job" at all. But I want to make my mark on the world, paid or not. I'm scared and excited at the prospect.

As I head into the 2nd half of my year off, I'm looking forward to continuing the focus on experiments, as I'd planned for the Jan through June period. But I'm also looking forward to starting to narrow in on fewer, deeper pursuits. There is growth and learning to be had from scattered sampling, for certain. But I'm looking forward to the greater satisfaction and fulfillment that deep focus and sustained effort can bring. For the moment, I think that's what's making me so interested in my novel writing project. More to come on the blog soon about how that's going and where I go from here! 

Thanks for spending time here with me today!

To read more about my sabbatical, click here, where I keep a summary of key posts about my year and running lists of what I've been doing with my time.

Project Life 2013 | Weeks 11 & 12

This week I've got two weeks in one spread. I had relatively few photos, and I wanted to try something different.

Here is the left side:

And here is the right:

As you can see, I decided to dedicate the whole middle row of 3x4s to samples from my Flower Crazy painting class.

Along the bottom row, I decided to try words instead of pictures. I wrote a short blurb about what's going on in each person's life right now. (I used one of the blank templates from Ali's travel kit.) My daughter got into it and wanted to dictate hers, so I just typed exactly what she said, which was fun. My son dictated a couple of lines of his, and I wrote my husband's for him since I knew he wouldn't want to get involved. I liked the format. I certainly wouldn't do it every week, but it feels like a nice change after many picture-dominated spreads this year.

For the few somewhat random photos I had, I decided to use a 4-up template by Cathy Zilskie, and used the three remaining 4x6 slots along the top. I added a few lines of text at the bottom to explain the photos.

And that's what I did for these two weeks. It looks totally different than my other weeks, and I love that. It's nice to change it up now and again. For a stretch where there aren't a lot of photos, this seems like a good solution that I'll probably repeat again.

Hope you are having a great Spring! Thanks for stopping by.