Thrive stands for Transformative Healthy Regenerative Inspired Vegan Eating.  The diet is designed to recalibrate and detoxify the body by providing high quality nutrients.  This blog entry details the menu provided for Day 2, in my 3-Day Thrive Light Package from Edgy Veggy, and most of the writing was done in real time (while I was actually eating the food).  To know more about the hows and whys, frequently asked questions, and the results of my detoxification, I highly recommend you read Part 1: The Reluctant Vegan.  To read about the menu for Day 1, click here.

Day 2 (January 22, Tuesday):

5:45-6:00 am

I don’t feel very well because of this nasty cold since last week and it’s really bothering me. I was bedridden for about a day when I came home from Boracay—though it was probably the combination of physical exhaustion (I went cliff diving and jumped off 50ft 3 times. Not even counting the lower dive boards), sleep deprivation (been having trouble lately, I don’t know why) and this damn mucus production that just won’t stop. I woke up several times in the night because the coughing got so bad I almost threw up. Today, I wanted to stick to Edgy Veggy’s provided food, but somehow I couldn’t finish the small mushroom burger patty I had set aside for my early morning nibbles. Instead, I went for two small slices of melon that was on our breakfast table and drank a glass of water. I asked Denise (of Edgy Veggy) and she said it’s okay to take my regular vitamins and meds with this detox.

On the bright side, I measured my waistline this morning.  It’s 25 1/2, a full inch off my measurement from yesterday. Well, it could be nothing major at this point, because I did pig out in Boracay, eating beef shanks (bulalo) everyday, 7 days straight, and my normal waistline is 25.  But it’s still something.  Amazing what a day’s lack of rice can do.

Breakfast (8:35 am) – Muesli

I finished the burger patty and the remaining smoothie from last night. As I chewed on the burger, I am reminded how much I miss rice again because I forgot to leave sauce for this. The green smoothie definitely tastes better when it’s uber cold.  I’m drinking hot water (not even warm), though, because it relieves my throat.

My breakfast for Day 2 has just arrived—and it’s muesli. I like muesli but I have a bit of trouble with raisins. I usually even pick them out from oatmeal cookies. And this has a lot of raisins. I thought about picking them out for a minute, but that feels like cheating. So I’m forging on. I feel really full right now.

A lot of friends have been curious about the food pictures I’ve been posting on Twitter and Instagram. And I got asked if I had to go number 2 all day after every meal. I wasn’t really, up until dinner time. And it was so comical when that came about because I was literally on my last spoonful of the spiced pumpkin soup when I felt I had run to the bathroom right away.

Lunch (11:45am-12:45pm) – Monggo sa Gata and Spring Rolls

I loved the Monggo sa Gata (Mung Beans in Coconut Milk)! I’m not a fan of green, leafy veggies, but I usually do well with beans. I think it’s because beans are kind of meaty in texture. Again, I can’t help thinking this would be fantastic with white rice. There were even bits of tofu, which I think added to the “meaty” feel of it. To be honest, I picked through some of the leaves (I think they were pechay). But I decided to tackle the spring rolls first because I just knew it was going to be the hardest for me. It has my nemesis—bean sprouts. It was taking me almost 15 minutes to eat one spring roll, while all my colleagues said they smelled and looked great. And they’re probably right because the veggies inside the rolls tasted fresh and had that crunch to them. It’s not the sloppy, sad-looking sort of lumpia that’s sometimes served in restaurants. But since the bean sprouts were so fresh, the taste was quite strong for a bean sprout hater. Everybody else was saying I was crazy for hating on spring rolls and that it should’ve been the easiest to eat next to salads, but I really have difficulty eating fresh lumpia without any meat (and with bean sprouts to boot). I like goi cuon, those Vietnamese spring rolls, but maybe because they don’t have sprouts and they have shrimp.

I drank a LOT of water.

Note:

The fresh spring rolls have bean sprouts, carrot, lettuce, mint, crumbled tofu, glass noodles with ginger hoisin sauce.  Monggo sa Gata has mung beans, malunggay (moringa), pechay (Chinese cabbage), coconut milk and tofu bits.

My dreaded bean sprouts are actually rich in fiber, vitamin C, protein, potassium and low in fat.   Mung beans are rich in protein and soluble dietary fibers, plus they have low glycemic index, all in all making them good for people battling high cholesterol and diabetes.

Snacks (3:00 pm): Samosas with cilantro dressing and Super Smoothie

The samosas with cilantro dressing were so GOOD!  And it smelled amazing.  I had to stop myself from wolfing them down because I had to take photos first. And they smelled soooo great after heating them (I think I should’ve used the toaster, but there was only a microwave at the AVA.ph office. Still good, though). I’m pretty sad there was only 4 pieces. They disappeared in 5 minutes (so much for pacing myself). I didn’t know samosas counted as vegan as I always assumed they’re fried and wrapped with a puff pastry, but I Googled around and found that they can also be baked. Hell, I’m not complaining! This is my favorite Thrive food so far.

I’ll save the smoothie for later.

Note: If you missed the details of Day 1, that also included the Super Smoothie.  In fact, it’s included every day of the Thrive detox.  The Super Smoothie contains 10 “super foods” in it that are low in oxalate to help you power through the day.  These are Chlorella, Spirulina, Acai, Goji Berry, Chia Seeds, Bee pollen, Rooibos, Raw Cacao, Maca and Lecithin.  Edgy Veggy calls Chlorella the closest thing to the ‘perfect food’, being an alkaline protein source.  It contains a lot of chlorophyll and nucleic acids (RNA and DNA) as well as plenty of vitamins, minerals and enzymes.  It also contains the elusive vitamin B12. It has 19 amino acids (including the 20 essential ones). Chlorella is highly detoxifying and can remove pollutants from the body, making it an especially important part of this diet program.

Dinner (7:00 pm) – Stuffed Zucchini and Andalucian Gazpacho

Hands down this is my favorite meal from the diet, not counting the samosas (they’re snacks)! When I read that I’d be eating zucchini, I was a little intimidated. But I was delighted when I opened the container lid and I could smell tomatoes and garlic in the stuffing. My mouth was watering as soon as they were out the microwave. They smell even better once heated! And the sauce? Heaven! I’m not a fan of sweet sauce, but this was just perfect with the tomatoes in the zucchini. It tasted like it had honey and lemon. Thinking about it again makes me want more, but I was actually very full as soon as I finished my dinner. It was also my first time to taste Gazpacho and it was awesome. I think I was smacking my lips as I was eating it, alternating with the zucchinis. They go really well together. I was in very high spirits when I finished my dinner. Amazing what fantastic food can make you feel.

I was telling my friend about it, and he was skeptical that I felt full eating just vegetables. I don’t know why either; I just am. Surprisingly, I didn’t really starve with this diet, and I didn’t really feel hunger pangs that made me feel sorry for myself. The snacks helped a lot throughout the day.

Note: Zucchini is low in calories and has 10% RDA of dietary fiber.  It’s good for lowering cholesterol, lowering blood pressure and has been used in diet for prostrate health, cancer prevention, heart attack and stroke prevention.

Gazpacho is a refreshing cold soup of tomato, cucumber and spices, well-packed with vitamins and minerals.  I heated it, though, and it still tasted great.

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