Every year Loren and I do a 21-day Ultimate Vegan Cleanse. We love doing it to help us focus on our nutrition and cleanse our bodies by eating whole foods and taking natural supplements. The whole concept is designed to help truly detox from environmental toxins & cleanse your system from any unwanted food effects that build up in your system.
Since we recently finished a round of the cleanse, I figured I’d detail the steps, our experience, and some of our favorite meals!
What is the Ultimate Vegan Cleanse?
As I said, it’s a 21-day nutritional cleanse program that focuses on phasing out all animal products, processed sugar, and any processed food. My favorite part is it really provides antioxidant and immune support that is unlike any other plan I’ve followed. Plus, it’s not a diet. You’re not restricting calories, it’s all about healthy, whole foods. You actually end up eating A LOT!
While on the cleanse, you don’t do any strenuous exercise. Your body needs the energy to detox & cleanse – not recover and repair muscles. It’s such a nice break for our bodies. We end up doing yoga and taking more walks.
Instead of spending time working out daily, we’re spending time in the kitchen cooking or prepping our meals!
Who should do the program?
Anyone who is looking to reaffirm their mindset around food! During the program, you learn what to shop for and how to prepare certain foods you’re not used to cooking. I always end up enjoying foods I may not have liked before the cleanse!
There are two versions of the cleanse — one with a wide variety of meals and one that’s for people on a time crunch, so you’ll make a few of the same meals over and over again.
This year was the first time we did the ‘time crunch’ version of the cleanse. If I’m being honest, I prefer the other version because making lots of new foods is usually my favorite part, but you have to make do with what you have time for! I’ve shared some of our favorite meals below 🙂
The cleanse is 21 days, three weeks, and each week is a phase: Reclaim, Release and Restore.
Week One
Week one is focused on removing red meat and dairy from your diet. You can still eat eggs and toast the first week. You will start to incorporate supplements formulated to support and optimize your natural cleansing process. More detail on these below!
Week Two
By week two, you’re eating a fully vegan diet — this means no eggs, dairy, or meat products. You’ll be focused on eating whole foods and incorporating the unique supplements into your routine.
Week Three
Week three is focused on your digestive system. You also won’t be eating any grain this week. You’re beginning to incorporate supplements like digestive enzymes and pre and probiotics to restore good bacteria into your body!
Supplements
As I said, the cleanse includes eating healthy alongside adding supplements into your diet in order to kickstart your body’s natural cleansing process. Below are more details on each supplement!
- Soothe: Combines aloe vera and turmeric, which have been traditionally used to support digestive health and the body’s response to oxidative stress.
- Optimize: An enzyme balance and added camu-camu to help support nutrient absorption.
- Power Greens: A combination of six powerful ingredients: including kale, matcha, cucumber, celery, spinach, and chlorella.
- Mineralize: Formulated with pink Himalayan salt, which adds natural minerals needed by the body.
- Revitalize: Probiotics and prebiotics which help support beneficial flora in the digestive tract.
- Detox: Formulated with key ingredients including Chia, Flax, and Turmeric, traditionally used to help the body’s natural detoxification process and healthy liver function.
Results
2019 Cleanse 2020 Cleanse
Every time I’ve done this program, I’ve lost 10-12 pounds, but that’s not the most important part. The biggest difference is I feel my body deflate — all bloat is gone. I don’t feel puffy. My body feels as if it’s efficiently absorbing ingredients. I wake up rested after going to bed around 9:00 – 10:00 p.m. My skin also feels much healthier after the 21 days.
If I’m being honest, I’m always ready to go to a restaurant and order something quick that I don’t have to cook! I’m never craving sugar or ‘bad’ foods, but it’s nice not having to cook anything!
The cleanse is always eye-opening because it reminds me that I need to focus on adding more whole foods to my diet. I usually go back to cooking easier, quicker meals, BUT I focus on adding more whole fruits and vegetables!
Favorite Meals
Below are some of our favorite meals we made throughout the 21 days. You can also take a look at my Instagram highlights for every meal we made for the 21 days so you have a good understanding of everything we ate! Here’s the first one (i.e. more involved meals) and here’s the second one (quicker meals!)
Breakfast
Lunch
Microgreen Salad Coconut-Kabocha Squash Soup
Microgreen Salad
- 3 cups baby salad greens
- 1/4 medium carrot, shredded
- 1/2 medium cucumber, chopped
- 1/2 medium red bell peppers, sliced
- 1/4 cup sprouts
- 1/2 medium tomato, chipped
- 1/4 cup jimica
- 1 Tbsp. chopped cilantro (optional)
Combine greens, carrot, cucumber, bell pepper, sprouts, tomato, jimica, and cilantro (if desired) in a large bowl; toss gently.
Basic Vinaigrette
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp. Himalayan sal
- 1 tsp. raw honey (or pure maple syrup)
- 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
- 2 tsp. chopped fresh herbs (basil, dill, oregano, parsley) (optional)
Place oil, vinegar, salt, honey, lemon juice and herbs (if desired) in a small bowl. Mix well.
Coconut-Kabocha Squash Soup
- 1/4 cup canned coconut milk
- 1 serving Kabocha Squad with Garlic-Tahini Filling (recipe share in the program!)
Place coconut milk and prepared kabocha squash in blender; cover. Blend until smooth. Transfer to small saucepan; cook over medium-low heat for 2-3 minutes, or until heated through.
Dinner
Garlic Veggies
- 2 tsp. olive oil
- 2 close garlic, crushed
- 1/2 head broccoli
- 2 medium carrots
- 1 Tbsp. water
- 1/2 medium zucchini
- 1/4 medium red bell pepper
- 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
- 1 1/2 tsp. Bragg Liquid Aminos (optional)
Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic, cook, stirring frequently, for 30 seconds. Add carrot and broccoli; cooker, stirring frequently, for 1 minute. Add water. Cover, cook for 1 minute. Remove cover. Add zucchini and bell pepper; cook, stirring frequently, for 2 to 3 minutes or until tender-crip. Remove from heat. Add lemon juice and Bragg Liquid Aminos (if desired); mix well.
Baked Sweet Potato
- 1 medium sweet potato
- 1 tsp. olive oil
- 1/4 tsp. Himalayan Sea Salt
- Herbal Seasoning blend (or spices of your choice, to taste)
Preheat over to 450°. Scrub sweet potato; pierce several times with a fork. Place on center rack. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or untile fork-tender. Remove from over. Cut a 1 1/2- inch cross in the center of potato. Season with oil, salt and seasoning-blend (if desired).
If you’re interested in trying out the program, I’d love to help set you up for success! You can shoot me an email at sayhey@brittanylegette.com. The program includes supplements, all meals, one-on-one coaching with me, and an option to add our Superfood Shake!
