An article I wrote for StyleCaster on my Organic Avenue cleanse:
I have always been one to experiment freely with food; having grown up in a food-loving family, there isn’t a delicacy in this world that I won’t try at least once. There’s nothing that comforts me like the smells of a fresh meal brewing in the kitchen, and I could spend hours reading a cookbook from cover to cover. I have always loved food, and food has always loved me.
Needless to say, the idea of an all-vegan cleanse was as appealing to me as a trip to the dentist for a root canal. Thus, it was with great skepticism that I first walked into Organic Avenue (101 Stanton Street, New York, 212-334-4593) to meet with founder Denise Mari. “The thing about eating this sort of food is that not only do you get the side benefit of the weight loss, you will also experience a higher level of emotional and mental well-being. It heals you on all levels,” said the young, lithe Mari with a peaceful smile playing on her lips.
“Of course. I can’t wait!” I responded. This is going to be a LONG week, I thought, mentally sighing.
The very next Monday, my first delivery of vegan food arrived in my office, along with an encouraging email including such tokens of wisdom as “There is only love; everything else is our resistance to it,” “You must see God inside of You before you recognize it in another,” and “All I Need is Within Me Now.” As it turns out, these emails were a welcome daily occurrence during the LOVEeasy program (the easiest level of fasts out of five options).
I won’t detail every minute of my five days as a live vegan, but I will notate all of Day One and Day Five in order to accentuate the startling difference. It was a slow, gradual transformation, but a total one. And most importantly, it’s one that I am eager to maintain and do again.
DAY ONE:
9 am: On the subway to a StyleCaster video shoot at the Matthew Williamson store in the Meatpacking District. Walk past the Starbucks on the corner of 15th and 9th. Stare longingly into the windows. Walk on by.
10 am: With no coffee and no time to run to the office where my first delivery of Organic Avenue has by now arrived, I am equal parts stressed, tired, grouchy.
11 am: Arrive at the office on a completely empty stomach. Dive into the refrigerator and snatch the vial of Energy Elixir that is waiting for me in a cute orange tote. Down it like the tequila shot I did last night.
11:05 am: Not satiated in the least, I grab drink #2 from the fridge. It’s a fresh pressed pear juice and not bad tasting. Sit through a morning meeting trying not to “chew my juice” too obviously.
11:30 am: Run out to another video shoot at Chadwick Bell’s studio. Start feeling the first signs of bloating.
2 pm: Arrive at Patricia Von Musulin’s studio for the third video shoot of the day feeling on the brink of death. Stomach is seriously bloated and gassy. Cannot breathe comfortably.
3:30 pm: Back in the office and on my third juice of the day, the Veggie Vibrance, made of beets, cucumber, celery, carrot, spinach, and parsley. Does not taste good. Drink half and give the other half to a coworker.
4 pm: Starving. Take out the first solid food I will eat for the day, a Chipotle Nappa Wrap. It’s good! Eat the entire thing quickly. Still feel sick, bloated, and nauseous.
6 pm: Stomach is rumbling. Fish out the beet salad that is item #5 for the day. I despise beets. Take one bite and miserably hand the rest over to a delighted coworker.
7 pm: Coworkers complaining about how “bitchy” I’m being. I don’t blame them.
8 pm: On the 1 train homebound, skipping all events for the night.
8:30 pm: Open refrigerator at home. Stare longingly at a stick of butter.
9 pm: Take a big bite of the Vanilla Chia, a rice pudding-esque substance with a weird texture. Eat half. Put half away.
10 pm: Take a couple of swigs of the Coconut Mylk, my last allotted food product of the day and resign myself to an early bedtime, still feeling impossibly bloated and not-at-all healthy.
DAY FIVE:
9 am: Wake up feeling about 10 lbs lighter than I have in at least a few years. Take my daily Energy Elixir shot like a pro.
9:30 am: Start sipping my Fresh Pressed Pear/Apple Juice, savoring it slowly.
10 am: Stretch and start packing for my first weekend of the summer in Montauk.
11 am: Jump into a cab and head for the Jitney, enthusiastically chatting up my cab driver along the way. (Sidenote: I NEVER talk to cab drivers.)
11:30 am: Arrive at the Jitney stop in midtown and greet my girlfriend with a big, sincere hug. Am feeling especially lovey dovey today.
12 pm: Board the Jitney. Finish off my Veggie Vibrance over the next half hour or so. Stare out the window as we leave the City, contemplating how good life is. Decide that I should call an estranged ex-boyfriend whom I have had less-than-fond feelings for to see how he’s doing. Am feeling love for everyone and everything. Seriously.
3 pm: Almost to Montauk, I break out the Pesto Zucchini Spaghetti and discover that it tastes good. Really good. Blissfully munch away.
4 pm: Arrive at the hotel and immediately throw on my tiniest bikini to go poolside. My stomach is perfectly flat. In fact, my entire body feels lean and toned. There’s an extra bounce in my step as I dive into the pool.
5 pm: Have a few bites of the Fennel Orange Salad, but strangely don’t feel especially hungry, so give the rest to friend.
6:30 pm: Sit down to dinner at an organic restaurant. Feeling nervous as this will be the first bite of “normal” food I will have had in five days (I’m breaking cleanse a tad early in spirit of the holiday).
7 pm: My salad and fresh grilled monkfish arrive. I eat the entire salad and half of the serving of fish. I decline all alcohol. It doesn’t bother me to do so. I’m on a natural high. (Again, seriously.)
9 pm: All friends are swigging champagne like it’s Memorial Day weekend (which it is). I am swigging my Coconut Mylk and….is it possible? I’m having JUST as much fun. Am I drunk off of life? Off of love?
Midnight: Crawl into bed sans alcohol, feeling great. Sleep soundly through the night.
*As an aside, in three days of beach, sun, and bars in Montauk with a group of particularly rowdy friends, I consumed a total of TWO glasses of champagne. Two. The natural high induced by the LOVEeasy was better than being drunk. True story.
