It’s Not Detox, It’s V-Tox!

Do you ever have one of those days where you look down at your plate and realize you’ve eaten the exact same thing every day for the past week?
Though some routine is good (your dedication to breaking a sweat every day, for example), too much of the same thing can be … well, routine. Doing the exact same workout in the exact same way will eventually cause you to plateau, lead to overuse injuries and become boring. The same philosophy applies to food — it’s good to shake things up once in a while! Borrow a friend’s favorite recipe book, experiment with a new ingredient (50 Shades of Jicama, anyone?) or sign up for a “challenge” of some sort (I’m biased but our Fit Bottomed Challenges are pretty rad).
While shopping at Sprouts this week, I saw a flyer for the Amazing Grass V-Tox Challenge, a five-day jumpstart for a plant-based diet. I’ve used Amazing Grass protein powders in the past and consider it to be a fine product. The challenge itself, designed for plant-based newbies (but also relevant to veg-heads looking to break out of a rut), sounded like just the thing for me to break my routine. I got my hands on some Amazing Grass packets and signed up online for my free daily V-Tox Challenge e-mails.

In addition to introducing participants to the plant-based way of eating, the V-Tox Challenge provides education on the tenets of a healthy lifestyle through its e-mail newsletter featuring interesting articles, such as the benefits of eating alkaline foods to maintain a healthy pH level in the blood, or how to swap out meat products for plant-based alternatives (without sacrificing taste). The newsletter also provides a new workout each day and profiles of plant-based athletes dispelling the stereotype of the “weak vegan” (this day’s athlete, for example, was vegan mountaineer Chris Bangs).
Though the information in the challenge was created and delivered by Amazing Grass, the products were not required in order to participate. In fact, there was no product pushing at all. Instead, the information focused on how to implement a plant-based lifestyle in a way that would last: choosing quality foods, making great recipes and understanding the best vegan fuel for each body.
Five days of the challenge was easy, breezy — and delicious. Here’s what I ate for a day on the V-Tox Challenge.

Pre-Workout Snack

I had an early-morning Pilates class, and I woke up with a fierce fight between my need for breakfast with my desire to hit the snooze button.
For mornings like these, I keep a stash of “Go Food” on hand at all times. I’m obsessed with The Purple Carrot’s recipe for No Bake Chocolate Chip Coconut Energy Bites lately, and always keep a batch in the fridge. This week, as part of the V-Tox challenge, I chose to add Amazing Grass Chocolate Green Superfood to the recipe. To keep the consistency of the energy bites correct with the addition of the dry powder, I had to increase the wet ingredients just a touch — but the final result tasted SO good! Protein powders and nutrition mixes are easy to sneak into recipes like these — they’re also a quick and easy addition to baked goods, oatmeal and more. Try it!

Breakfast

Smoothies and juices are my go-to post-workout drink, but I typically throw in whatever’s in the fridge and freezer without much thought to what I’m consuming. Based on the advice I got in the V-Tox newsletter, I consciously chose ingredients like strawberries, raspberries, cherries, pomegranate, flaxseed and chia seeds. When I make a smoothie, I like to add protein powders for that extra nutritional boost, and the Amazing Grass vanilla chai flavor was delicious in this mix.

Lunch

My lunch actually started out as a snack: Initially, I grabbed a handful of sugar snap peas and a tiny dollop of hummus. But after my first bite, I returned to the fridge and grabbed the entire bag of crisp, juicy sugar snap peas to nosh on while working at my computer. Apparently, I’ve turned into Pea-holic Kristen. I hate/love/hate when that happens.

Snack

After my pea binge, I was satiated for quite some time (fiber and protein will do that do a gal, yes?). I finished my work for the day and decided to make a trip to the grocery store to pick up the ingredients for the V-Tox recipe of the day. When I opened my fridge to see what I needed to add to my shopping list, I saw a giant box of delicious blackberries. I couldn’t resist (how could anyone?), so I grabbed a handful to nosh on on the walk over to the grocery store.

Dinner

The V-Tox recipe of the day called for participants to make vegan Red Lentil Soup, which featured protein-rich lentils with butternut squash, coconut milk and curry powder. It was SO good and easy to prepare! Even though I have been vegetarian for years, I love challenges designed for those new to the plant-based diet because I get introduced to new recipes. Sometimes, I fall into a rut in the kitchen, making the same salads over and over again. Sometimes, it takes going back to a beginner’s mindset to fall in love with plant-based cooking all over again.
That was a great week of good eats. I think I’ll sign up for another healthy eating challenge soon! Which one do you recommend? —Susan