2 Month Makeunder Round Up

Here are the Makeunder and Intention topics from the last two months, easy to browse, review, and catch up on all the action.

Intentional Obessions: all things lovely and (eventually) mine

A nice hunk'a watch

A bike made of gold

White marble... anything





End of the Week Exfoliation: all things lovely and (no longer) mine

Buh-bye boots

"Scrapping" the booking

Clothes to the curb

Pitching the Coolpix



Makeunder My: Meals: the three-week vegan cleanse, intention meets determination

Eating out on the cleanse

Taking the good with the bad

Sipping Starbucks on the cleanse

Cleanse summary: part one

Cleanse summary: part two

Dressing Charlotte: new ways to dress and accessorize with the same ol' stuff

Breaking my own rules

Silk scarves without looking old

Cardigans, t-shirts, and chains - my favorite look




Off the Chain Updates: breaking news from "the life self-employed"

Addison: the newest jewelry collection

Best piece of (e)mail ever to hit our inbox

Jess LC goes global

Interview about my design process

coming clean about the cleanse- part 2

So now that I am back to being flexitarian* I have decided to continue a few of the habits I formed while on the cleanse. Here is a quick run down of my new intentions:

• Regarding meat and dairy I actually didn't mind going without dairy as much as I thought I would, so I plan to eat vegan at home and flexitarian when I am eating out. This way I can still enjoy cheese in moderation. I also plan to continue to drink soy and rice milk, I now genuinely prefer these choices over normal milk.
• Regarding alcohol I will continue to drink more red wine in place of Woodchuck Cider or super sweet Pinot Grigio.
• Regarding gluten This really won't make much of an imact on my life. I am still pro wheat.
• Regarding added sugar I have enjoyed limiting my sugar fix for Saturday afternoons. No more noshing on cookies mindlessly after dinner. Or in the afternoon. Or on the bus.
  
• Regarding caffiene I will continue to drink my daily cup o' honey vanilla white chai.

So there it is. I think overall the cleanse was a great chance to become more mindful of what I eat and I also learned to use lots of new vegan friendly ingredients like agave nectar, soy and rice milk, brown rice pasta, gluten-free waffles, and soy cheese. And perhaps best of all I am eating more veggies than I have in my entire life.

Though the cleanse may not be for everyone, a more moderate way of eating focusing on vegan or vegetarian options turned out to be a great way for me to makeunder my meals.


* Flexitarian: I am vegetarian 96.5% the time. But if I am in front of spicy hot buffalo wings at a sports bar, it would be hard to tell.

[photo from Rachel at Heart of Light]

coming clean about the cleanse- part 1

At long (three week) last, I have reached the end of the Kathy Freston's Quantum Wellness Cleanse with my friend, Kaitlyn. I have mentioned this cleanse a fair amount but now I feel it is time to come "clean" and share the ups and downs of making under my diet. To summarize, I have decided to rate my ability to keep the tenants she recommended. This blog is all about honesty... so here it goes.

• Cleanse Rule #1: No meat or dairy This was actually the easiest practice for me, as I have been flexitarian for almost a year. Giving up cheese and eggs was difficult, especially when eating out. But for the vast majority I did eat vegan* throughout the weeks (except for pizza in week two... twice). My overall ability to avoid meat/dairy: ***
• Cleanse Rule #2: No alcohol This rule was dead in the water. The first week I was limited myself to two drinks, twice a week. It loosened up from there. But overall I did drink mostly red wine and cut back the overall quantity. My overall ablity to avoid alcohol: **
• Cleanse Rule #3: No gluten Gluten, for those who aren't familiar, is a component of wheat. The first week I avoided gluten entirely. It was incredibly hard to follow this guideline when eating out. After one week without gluten, I realized don't have an allergy to gluten, and I incorporated it back into my diet. The most frustrating part of this objective overall was the fact that whole wheat products offer a fair amount of protein and fiber, unlike most gluten-free alternatives. My overall ability to avoid gluten: *
  
• Cleanse Rule #4: No added sugar This was perhaps the most beneficial rule for my personal development. Reducing sugar intake was very benefitial, considering my family history. But rather than deem sugar off limits completely, which would trigger an insatiable craving, I limited sugar to a special Saturday afternoon treat. This is a habit I plan on continuing post-Cleanse as well. My overall ability to avoid sugar: ***
• Cleanse Rule #5: No caffeine Of all the rules, this was the one I blatantly ignored from the get-go. I was not about to give up my Honey Vanilla White Chai, and considered my daily ritual benign. My overall ability to avoid caffeine: **
  

Clearly, I did not follow the recommendations to a T... or any letter in the alphabet for that matter. But I did manage to eat more veggies, less sugar, and eat healthier overall. In my next post, I will share how I intend to eat going forward in a cleanse-free world.

* Once wheat was included in my diet in weeks 2 and 3, breads consumed contained trace amounts of dairy.

loving the london fog

Late last week I had an appointment with my accountant for Jess LC at a Starbucks in Bucktown. It was mid afternoon and I was craving my usual chai tea latte, lamenting about my vegan cleanse's no "added sugar" rule.

my very first London Fog...*

To my delight Starbucks' R&D team seem to have anticipated my newly vegan mindset. They have recently launched new tea lattes with actual tea bags rather than their sugary "boxed" chai.

Since discovering this new drink they call the "London Fog" I have consumed three soy versions in the last four days. So although it may be earth and body friendly it seems to be less kind to my budget.


*Please note: this is my first photo taken while in a completely normal, public situation. I actually whipped out the camera and took a picture of the drink by myself, in the middle of the day. And yes, I did get a few stares. Perhaps I passed some kind of blogger initiation.

my salad gets a makeunder

I am not really sure if this salad I had on Tuesday night really qualifies as a "makeunder" I mean, it's not simpler than a regular salad. It actually is the vegetable portion of an amazing pasta dish my dear friend Vicki of Heavenly Metal taught me. So I guess it isn't actually a salad makeunder but a pasta dish makeunder. Perfect. Now I can keep the title.

Either way the meal was great- I don't love raw spinach salads, so this was a great way for me to get my leafy greens. Here is the ingredient list:

• 1 bag fresh spinach - this is a great dish to make if you are close to the expiration date
  
• chopped garlic (as much as you like, I used 3 cloves)
  
• 3 tbs olive oil
• capers (as many as you like, but optional)
• pesto (mine was from Trader Joes, optional but does add a nice flavor)
• pine nuts, walnuts
  

Here is the preparation:

1. Sear the pine nuts and walnuts in a pan on medium heat until brown, make sure to keep an eye on them and don't let them burn. Put them to the side for later.
2. Put olive oil in large pot with garlic and let simmer for a few minutes until warm, on medium heat. Once you see some sizzling action, throw the spinach into the pot and cover. Keep an eye on the greens as they wilt and add extra olive oil if needed. It should take 5-7 minutes and greens will look dark and squishy.
3. In a bowl add cooked spinach, some spoonfuls of pesto, capers, the seared pine nuts, walnuts, and s+p as needed. Stir and enjoy.

PS- Ever notice dinner always tastes better by candle light?

easy waffles with berries

At long last I have finally whipped out the camera and started photographing the foods I am making on this whole vegan cleanse thing. This is what my breakfast looked like this morning. After hearing I am abstaining from: meat, dairy, alcohol (more moderation), sugar, and gluten (which has now been added back in my diet), a lot of friends have asked: "so what do you eat?"

Well the answer this morning was:

• Banana gluten-free waffles from Trader Joes
• Thawed frozen berries from Trader Joes
• Agave nectar (a natural, milder, honey-like sweetener) from Trader Joes
• Toasted walnuts from Trader Joes
  

So basically this post can be boiled down to two main points: that breakfast was freaking amazing and I really, really like Trader Joes.

notes from the weekend

The most interesting part of my weekend pertained to the infamous 'vegan cleanse' Kaitlyn and I have been attempting. It eliminates drinking, and therefore discouraged me from going out Friday night. But I was able to rationalize going out Saturday and enjoyed a few drinks anyways. So much for abstaining.

After seven days living more (or less) on the vegan cleanse I did successfully do without: meat, dairy, added sugars, and gluten. Here were the positive outcomes of week 1:

• I learned about new foods - I had never tried rice milk, grilled eggplant, soy mozzarella cheese, or brown rice pasta. I liked all of these new foods and plan to eat them more often in my normal diet as well.
  
• I laid off the sugar - I am an admitted sugar freak and taking six days off of the hard stuff seemed difficult but I really didn't miss it as much as I thought. Until Saturday. Then I splurged on dark chocolate with raspberry filling and some PB Whoppers. Once a week I think might be a better pace for sweets than the 1-2 servings a day I used to have.
• I realized dairy is disposable - Up until this week I loved, loved, loved dairy. Brie was a weekly purchase and Greek yogurt with honey was a lunch staple. But going off the milky stuff turned out to be easier than I expected, and I don't think I will go back to eating it as much as I used to after the next two weeks of the cleanse.
  

On the other hand, here are the not-so-nice realities:

• Eating gluten-free is next to impossible - Limiting gluten was prescribed in the cleanse because millions of Americans are unknowingly allergic to gluten. After 1 week on the gluten-free bus I can say I did not feel any different and therefore deemed myself pro-gluten. I will continue to eat wheat the rest of the cleanse. Another annoyance with this stipulation was the fact that brown rice products like pasta and waffles had next to no protein and fiber compared to the whole wheat versions.
• Eating out on the cleanse is actually impossible - Here is my advice about eating out on a cleanse like this one: don't do it. I went out four times last week. Dinner 1 was at a Spanish tapas bar, Cafe Ba Ba Reeba, where all I could eat were olives and spicy potatoes. Dinner 2 at Justin's, a bar and grill was somewhat easier- grilled veggie burrito (without the wrap and cheese) with black beans and a side salad. Dinner 3 at Bistrot Margot I skipped the menu altogether and ate beforehand. Dinner 4 was the best because we went to Karyn's Cooked, a vegan restaurant, where I ordered the grilled veggie wrap (gluten and all).
  

So looking forward into week 2, I feel a bit wiser and much more satisfied knowing what obstacles are ahead when eating out and that I am going to eat wheat.

Look out whole wheat homemade zucchini bread.

[photo found here]

vegan for a day.

My dear friend Kaitlyn and I have been reading Quantum Wellness by Kathy Freston and are inspired to try her vegan "cleanse." So basically from Monday the 19th to February 9th we are (trying) to stay away from: meat, dairy, added sugars, gluten (in most wheat products), and alcohol. Yes. I know.

On Sunday to prepare for this little experiment I stocked up on groceries (you would guess I was preparing for siege or a severe hurricane warning) and cooked vegan recipes all day - more on those in posts to come. Needless to say I have been eating better, healthier, and loving it for a full... 48 hours. That is until I went out to eat last night at Cafe Ba Ba Reeba. The table looked something like this*:
And of all that was on the table I could only eat this*:
And this* (*photos not from actual meal):
Surprisingly, though I would definitely have preferred a vegetarian approach to the meal, I did end up pretty satisfied and felt great this morning. Tomorrow night out to dinner with the girls should be another interesting vegan adventure.