If you’re a busy working person, it is easy to sabotage yourself at meal time because we are inclined to eat what is quick and easy, and most of the time, these are the highest-calorie options. Also, the last thing a busy professional wants to do at the end of a long work day is to cook a meal and clean dishes.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines safe weight loss as being 1 to 2 pounds per week. Dieting alone can help people lose an average of nearly 1 pound per week if they cut 500 calories from their daily diets per day. Drinking about 20 onces of soda puts you at around 230 calories, so if you cut back on your daily soda intake and switch to skim milk in your coffee, you’re practically there.
The 7-day detox plan below is filled with easy, healthy, whole-food recipes. I did a Dr. OZ 3-day detox a few years ago, and the food was much more basic than this and quite frankly, not as tasty, but it worked. After three days, I felt great. The best part was that I was not just drinking lemon water and cayenne pepper or some sort of weird juice concoction. I am a big supporter of eating real foods especially, whole foods. If you are going to exercise regularly while you do this, which I highly recommend, you will want the calories and something other than juice in your stomach.
Ditch calorie cutting and resorting to juice-only detoxes for good. Woodson Merrell, MD and Mary Beth Augustine, MS, RDN, authors of The Detox Prescription, have a plan to detox in just seven days by eating whole foods. Whole foods offer the same benefits of detoxing (reversing diet damage, inflammation, and providing antioxidants to prevent further damage); plus, they provide you with a healthy diet you can maintain for a longer amount of time than when resorting to juicing.
Follow this two-phase plan to feel vibrant, younger, and refreshed in seven days.
Days 1–3: Eat Only Soft Foods
This is the best way to get the biggest health boost. You’re aiding digestion, which allows your body to absorb food better and floods your body with nutrients (anything that improves digestion will improve absorption of nutrients).
How Much Can I Eat?
You can eat three meals and two snacks. Calories don’t matter — this plan is all about colors, so eat as much as you want at each meal.
Meals
Breakfast: Sweet Potato With Fruit and Cinnamon
Find the original recipe
Ingredients
- 4 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling potatoes after cooked
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- Add apples, berries or whatever fruit you like.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Lay the sweet potatoes out in a single layer on a roasting tray. Drizzle the oil, honey, cinnamon, salt and pepper over the potatoes. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes in oven or until tender.
- Take sweet potatoes out of the oven and transfer them to a serving platter.
Yield: 4 servings
Lunch: Cauliflower Rice With Stuffed Avocado (With Hummus, Lemon, Salt and Pepper)
Ingredients
- 3 cups cauliflower florets
- 1 lemon
- 2 avocados
- 1 cup diced tomato
- hummus
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cut then blend chunks of cauliflower with 2 tablespoons of water in a blender to make “rice.”
- Once finely blended, add juice from the lemon into blender.
- Blend until mixed well.
- Half the two avocados, scoop out a spoonful of the inside to allow for more stuffing. Stuff the avocadoes with blended mixture.
- Top with ¼ cup tomato and hummus on each boat.
Dinner: Savory Mushroom Soup
Find the original recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 cups Organic Chicken Broth
- 4 cups fresh mushrooms, halved (about 12 ounces)
- 1 small onion, chopped (about 1/4 cup)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves, crushed
- 1/4 cup light cream
Instructions
- Heat the butter in a 3-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and cook and stir for 2 minutes. Stir the broth in the saucepan and heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 10 minutes.
- Place the mushrooms and onion in a food processor. Cover and process until they’re puréed. Add to the broth mixture with the thyme and cream. Increase the heat to medium. Heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 5 minutes.
Snacks: nut butter and banana, berry sorbet
Days 4–7: Eat C-C-A Foods
What Are C-C-A Foods?
· CRUCIFEROUS (kale, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts)
· CRUCIFEROUS (kale, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts)
· CITRUS (lemon, limes and mandarin oranges)
· ALLIUM (onion and garlic)
How Do These Foods Work?
The CCA foods you’re incorporating into the detox are particularly powerful in helping further eliminate the toxins and dramatically increase the detoxification process.
How Much Can I Eat?
You can eat three meals and two snacks per day day. Like in the last few days, calories don’t matter in this phase, either.
Meals
Breakfast: Tofu Veggie Scramble
Find the original recipe
Ingredients
Scramble
- 8 ounces extra firm tofu
- Olive oil
- 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
- 1/2 red pepper, thinly sliced
- 2 cups kale, loosely chopped
Sauce
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp cumin powder
- 1/4 tsp chili powder
- 1/4 tsp turmeric (optional)
For Serving
- Salsa
- Cilantro
- Hot Sauce
Instructions
- Pat tofu dry and roll in a clean, absorbent towel with something heavy on top, such as a cast iron skillet, for 15 minutes
- While tofu is draining, prepare sauce by adding dry spices to a small bowl and adding enough water to make a pour-able sauce. Set aside.
- Prep veggies and warm a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add 1-2 Tbsp olive oil and the onion and red pepper. Season with a pinch each salt and pepper and stir. Cook until softened – about 5 minutes.
- Add kale, season with a bit more salt and pepper, and cover to steam for 2 minutes.
- In the meantime, unwrap tofu and use a fork to crumble into bite-sized pieces.
- Use a spatula to move the veggies to one side of the pan and add tofu. Sauté for 2 minutes, then add sauce, pouring it mostly over the tofu and a little over the veggies. Stir immediately, evenly distributing the sauce. Cook for another 5-7 minutes until tofu is slightly browned.
- Serve immediately with the breakfast potatoes, toast or fruit. I like to add more flavor with salsa, hot sauce and/or fresh cilantro. Serves 2.
Cruciferous: broccoli
Citrus: side grapefruit
Allium: scallions
Lunch: Lentil-Cashew Peppers
Find the original recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 1 cup raw cashew milk
- 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 1 cup curly kale leaves, roughly chopped
- 3/4 cup diced tomato
- 1/3 cup unsulphured raisins
- 1/2 cup cashews, roughly chopped
- 2 cups cooked brown lentils
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 4 bell peppers, cut in half lengthwise, cored and seeded
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350º F. In a small bowl, whisk the curry powder into the cashew milk. Set aside.
- In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for about 3 minutes or until soft and translucent.
- Add the kale, tomato and raisins and sauté lightly for 4 to 5 minutes.
- Reduce the heat to low and add the chopped cashews and cashew milk mixture to the skillet.
Stir until the kale and raisins are evenly coated and allow to cook for about 5 minutes. - Remove from the heat, combine with the cooked lentils and season with sea salt to taste.
- Stuff the pepper halves with the lentil-cashew mixture, arrange in a 13″ x 9″ oiled baking pan and bake for about 45 minutes or until the peppers are tender and the lentil mixture is heated through.
Cruciferous: green beans & red cabbage
Citrus: lemon zest
Allium: garlic
Dinner: Three-Bean Kale Sauté With Brown Rice
Find the original recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup black beans
- 1 cup red kidney beans
- 1 cup white beans
- 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp crushed red-pepper flakes
- 4 garlic cloves, smashed
- 1/2 cup low-sodium vegetable broth
- 1 lb kale, stems and leaves coarsely chopped
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 4 cups cooked brown rice, prepared according to directions
Instructions
- Cook the beans according to directions on label or use canned beans. Drain and rinse the beans, then drain again.
- In a mixing bowl, combine beans with 2 tablespoons of the oil, salt, pepper and red-pepper flakes and toss thoroughly.
- In a large sauté pan, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook until soft but not browned.
- Turn the heat up to high, add the broth and kale and stir to combine. Cover and cook for 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add the beans, stir and cook covered for an additional 3 to 4 minutes or until the liquid is evaporated.
- Remove from the heat, toss with the vinegar, top each serving with 1/2 cup brown rice and serve immediately, accompanied by a salad.
Cruciferous: kale
Citrus: lemon
Allium: onions
Snacks: oranges, red peppers, kale chips, nuts and seeds