Welcome to the 22-Day Jumpstart Cleanse and Mindful Eating Journey
- Introduction
- Goal
- Structure of the Program
- Program Principles
- Getting Ready for Day 1
- Other Resources and Optional Meal Plans
- Intro
Through our yoga practice, we learn how to connect our mind and body to focus on ourselves. Yoga helps us re-energize, de-stress, and find our center in a world that seems to be constantly challenging our balance. What if we could extend this practice to become more mindful about one the most fundamental daily habits that has the power to change our lives?
The way we eat can either be an empty experience of filling up or it can form a sacred connection between ourselves and the universe. We believe that the lessons we learn in our yoga practice -- mindfulness, connecting to the present moment, inner peace and joy -- can transform our experience of eating.
2) Goal
The goal of this program is to go beyond where most diets fall short by helping you deepen your awareness and curiosity about food that can turn into a life-long journey and practice. Over 22--days, we will introduce simple, easy to follow practices towards incorporating mindfulness into our diet. We will learn about the benefits of eating more unprocessed plant foods and mindfulness techniques to make healthy eating a natural extension of our yoga practice.
3) Program Structure
Daily Practices
The 22-Days are structured around daily practices. Each day you will receive an email with a short lesson or intention for the day. They are designed to be interactive and can be personalized to a practice that best suits your goals. We ask that you commit to trying the practice for each day and keeping up as best you can, as they will build on each other and this will enable you to make the most of the live sessions.
Going Deeper
In addition to the daily practice, we’ll offer tips, suggestions, resources and recipe links for you to consider trying as well, but they are not requirements for completing the program.
FAQ:
Q: Is this a full 22-day “cleanse?”
A: A “cleanse” can be a quick way to reboot or reset our bodies, minds, and appetites but are usually not meant to follow long-term. Our quick-start program will offer plenty of opportunities to reset your diet, but it is unlike other “cleanse” programs that tell you exactly what to do or not to do. Instead, we will empower you to make your own decision about what to eat for the next 22-days and beyond. We believe in offering suggestions and new perspectives rather than forcing you to follow rules that may or may not work for you.
Many of our lessons and daily practices will suggest trying out new foods or groups of foods and will include recipes and guidance on how to find and prepare them. If you are looking to follow more specific plans that tell you exactly what to eat on each day, such as a meal plan, we’ve included a few recommended and complimentary meal plans and links that you can choose to use at the end of this packet.
Q: Do I need to follow a specific diet?
A: This program is based on a whole food plant-based approach to eating. We use the term “plant based” because it is not restrictive, rather it means a diet that includes and has a foundation based on plants.
Q: What is a whole food plant based diet?
“A whole-food, plant-based diet is centered on whole, unrefined, or minimally refined plants. It’s a diet based on fruits, vegetables, tubers, whole grains, and legumes; and it excludes or minimizes meat (including chicken and fish), dairy products, and eggs, as well as highly refined foods like bleached flour, refined sugar, and oil.”
Q: Why whole food plant based?
A: No matter which diet or nutrition philosophy, there is one uncontroversial and universal truth that everyone can agree on: unrefined plants are among the healthiest foods we can eat. Large scale and long-term scientific studies on diet suggest that eating a diet rich in a variety of whole plant based foods can prevent and in some cases reverse many chronic diseases. In fact, it is the only diet clinically proven to reverse or heart disease, which is the number one cause of death globally. There are so many reasons for choosing to eat more whole unprocessed plant foods that we’ll continue to explore them throughout this program. Here is a short video with clips from a new documentary that reveals the science behind a whole food plant based diet.
Mon
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Tues
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Wed
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Thurs
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Fri
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Sat
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Sun
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Welcome
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Kickoff
Introduction to WFPB | ||||||
Week 1:
Introduction to Mindful Eating
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Making Time to Practice
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Connecting to Source*
*The Love Powered Diet
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Focusing on Whole Plants
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How to Read Food Labels 1
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How to Read Food Labels 2
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Breaking the Fast
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Mind-Gut Connection
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Week 2:
Balancing the Elements and the Whole
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Water, Sugar and Fruit
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Protein
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Whole Grains
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Dark Leafy Greens
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Cruciferous Vegetables
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Eating a rainbow
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Pre- and Probiotics
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Week 3:
Lifelong Practices
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Everyday Superfoods / The Hack
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Setting Yourself Up for Success
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Buddha Bowls
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Eating for Our Environment
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Eating for our family
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Bringing it All Together
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Deepening Your Practice
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4) Program Principles
This program will:
- Show what's possible when you bring an abundance of whole plant foods into your life
- Give you actionable lessons, tools, and tips on how to do that.
- Offer different levels and options to start making simple changes or go deeper.
- Reveal how mindful eating, like yoga, is about so much more than just the physical food
- Support you through our bi-weekly check-ins, private Facebook group, and more.
- Help you get the support of your family, friends, co-workers, etc.
We ask that you:
- Start by committing to undertake one or more of the daily practices over the next 22-days.
- Find your own reasons to do this.
- Be curious! Try out new foods. Discover new recipes. Find what works for you.
- Share your experience. Ask questions, share your struggles and successes if you are comfortable. We are here to support each other!
5) Preparing for Day 1
A Simple Mindful eating practice
- Find a vegetable or fruit that you would like to eat.
If you don’t have any fresh produce at home, you may need to go shopping at a market, grocer, farm market or stand. Look for fresh seasonal produce and select a whole plant food that looks appetizing to you. If you’re at a grocery, notice that whole plant foods do not have lists of ingredients or many labels. We recommend selecting organic, when possible, for reasons we will discuss during the program, but it’s not required for day 1.
Some suggestions:
- A piece of fruit: watermelon, pineapple, grapes, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and cherries in peak season meaning they are at the peak of both their availability and flavor.
- A crisp vegetable that can be enjoyed raw: romaine lettuce, bok choy, fresh spinach, kale, collards, and
- If you choose a whole piece of fruit or a larger vegetable, you may want to cut it into pieces. If it has a pit or a seed, consider separating it prior to starting or select a seedless variety.
- If you choose berries, you’ll want to get enough to enjoy for a few minutes, around half a cup to a cup worth of fruit.
- Find a comfortable, peaceful, place and time where you can sit and eat with focus and attention.
- Pause for a minute or two to appreciate this piece of food and think about how it had to be grown and cultivated. Notice the natural beauty of the food, the colors, textures and smells. Digestion starts with our eyes!
- Begin to eat the food with intention, take small bites (if it’s a larger piece) and chew slowly a few times before swallowing each bite/piece.
- As you're eating the food visualize all those living nutrients nourishing you at a cellular level
- Try tuning up your senses by eating a few bites with your eyes closed.
- Reflect on your experience. How did this practice make you feel?
5. Additional Resources
Private Facebook Support Group
Insert link here
SpE’s Blog
Meal Plans and Recipes
Lighter World - https://www.lighter.world/welcome
My favorite resource is a website called Lighter World – They offer free customizable meal plans and recipes based on your own preferences – they are entirely plant based and complement our program nicely. We are not affiliated or partnered with Lighter in any way, but we are fans of this amazing free service and recommend using it if you’re looking for additional guidance.
21-Day PCRM Kick Start - http://www.pcrm.org/kickstartHome/mealplan/week-1
The Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) has a terrific 3-week meal plan with tons of options that correspond to a whole food plant based diet. In addition to daily meal suggestions and recipes, they have shopping lists for the whole week. It’s also free.
Mindfully Clear Book - https://www.amazon.com/Mindfully-Clear-Days-Body-Mind/dp/151530714X/
Another 22-Day program with meal plans and recipes that we recommend is Mindfully Clear: 22-Days to a Clear Mind and Body. This book was written by SpE’s partner, Ayami and is a wonderful companion to this program. It is available from Amazon here.
Excellent resource for healthy and delicious whole food plant based recipes. Engine 2 has a partnership with Whole Foods, so many of their ready-made products can also be found in Whole Food stores.
Forks Over Knives Recipes - https://www.forksoverknives.com/recipes/#gs.BajlGk8
Organized by the type of food, select “I’m in the mood for…” and find a great collection of freewhole food plant based recipes.
Nutrition Facts
A website that distils the latest peer-reviewed scientific evidence about nutrition and diet into short videos, and is searchable by topic:
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