So my detox is officially over…or is it? Yes, I’m chewing again. In fact, my first solid food was a slowly and carefully eaten carrot stick from the hors d’oeuvres table at the Aveda Institute opening. (It was super exciting for me!)But that doesn’t mean I’m going to bust into that box of Lean Pockets still hiding in my freezer. On the contrary, I need to very carefully ease myself back into solid foods slowly so as not to freak out my body. The first day (along with starting to drink daily vegan protein shakes) it’s just one bowl of veggies with no dressing or salt. The next I can add fruit, but I need to make sure that it’s eaten seperately and keeping with the healthy digestive principles of food combining. Today, I’ve added in some flaxseed oil – Whole Foods has this awesomely delicious lemon-flavored one – and tomorrow I get to add in whole grains. Yippee! 

Eating now is so strange. I now very slowly and obsessively chew everything before I swallow it,  a vast difference from the quick inhaling of food that I would do pre-detox. When before, a meal of steamed veggied on greens for lunch seemed torturous, now it tastes just soooo good to me. And with my new lemony flaxseed oil on top? Forget it, I’m in heaven. 

And I’m having the best time researching new, healther places to go out for a meal. Lucky for me, a couple of these places in walking distance of my apartment just opened. In addition to the Greenleaf Gourmet Chop Shop that the lovely ladies of Paisley Petunia just reviewed, I’m so excited to try out The Cabbage Patch. It only opened a couple months ago and its Yelp page is already teeming with glowing reviews. Using organic food and Farmer’s Market ingredients, the menu has tons of healthy options that are inexpensive and look so delicious. I’m so excited to try a seared tofu bowl with brown rice. Or maybe I’ll get the falafel. And the yam wedges? Yes please!

Another must-go-to-like-S.T.A.T. place is M Cafe de Chaya. They just opened a new location in Beverly Hills and I’m already planning to be walking here a lot to get some grub. Their menu is filled wtih organic, macrobiotic, and vegan options that is just the diet I’m planning on sticking to post-detox. I can’t wait to try their Vegan Benedict for breakfast one weekend (hopefully their blueberry pancakes will satisfy my non-detoxed BF) and their Melrose Avenue Muffaletta sounds so delicous. Plus, they have a whole menu of sweets that are free of eggs, dairy and refined sugar. Hooray! Post-detox eating is the best!

Cabbage Patch, 214 S. Beverly Dr. (Beverly Hills)

M Cafe de Chaya, 9433 Brighton Way (Beverly Hills); also locations in Culver City and Melrose

First image is menu at Cabbage Patch, the second is of M Cafe De Chaya

To read other posts in Nicole’s 21 Day Detox Series, click here. 

Nicole

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