The idea may at first sound unsanitary, but there is a thorough cleaning and testing process used to ensure the soaps are safe to use. And the project itself promotes health and cleanliness as many of the recipients earn less than $1 per day yet soap costs $0.25 per. In this country, financial advisors suggest we should not spend more than 25% of our income on housing costs. Could you imagine having to spend 25% of your income on SOAP??!! You probably wouldn’t right? Me neither.

The project itself is a fantastic example of waste not, want not.

So I’ve traded in my morning oatmeal for a Power Smoothie. Oatmeal is an excellent choice, but it seems to increase my appetite and keep me hungrier throughout the day. Perhaps the Smoothie is more satisfying because I’m stuffing it full of fruits, veggies and protein so my body is nourished on all levels…

This recipe is loose and can be easily modified. I will say that while the Power Smoothie isn’t unpalatable, I certainly don’t blend it will my tastebuds in mind. Instead I try to stuff as much good stuff in there as I can so for the rest of the day I can feel good knowing I’ve gotten at least 50% of my vegetables for the day.

After posting this, I realized I had left out and very important piece: the ingredients! So here goes:

1 cup of almond milk

1 banana

2 tbsps rice protein powder

1 tbsp ground flaxseed

3-4 cups of fresh kale

2 carrots

1/2 cucumber

2 celery stalks

1-2 splashes of o.j.

1 scoop of green veggie powder

Again, this a loose recipe that often gets modified depending on what veggies I have in the fridge. Somedays it’s just kale and other times I sub out the kale for romaine lettuce. Either way it’s a nutritious and delicious (depending on how you define that) way to start your day. Enjoy!

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A quick google search pulled a variety of Vegan Felted Soaps but there was one, consistent problem with every listing I found: they all use wool. A vegan soap wrapped in wool is an oxymoron as most vegans do not use wool products.  The shearing and mulesing of sheep wool can be extremely inhumane and this is the reason why as vegans, we don’t partake in wool.

So I’m on the hunt to produce a truly vegan felted soap. I think the idea is fantastic, I just need to find a vegan alternative that will compliment my vegan soaps.

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But I have to say, I feel great! I haven’t been extremely hungry because anytime there’s a rumble in my jungle I warm up some soup. The absence of fruit was little challenging but I powered through with a fairly uninspiring lunch that was actually quite delicious simply because it was vegetables done differently – grilled! It’s amazing how deeply you can savour the little things when you’re depriving yourself from all the large, lovely things.

Lunch Before (garlic, onions, radishes and carrots)

Lunch After – Burnt but I don’t even care at this point

I ate my slightly burnt lunch with a hearty bowl of soup and drank about 10 glasses of water today and 3 cups of coffee – I think the excess fluids help keep the belly nice and full.

For dinner I had a plain old salad with salt and pepper and resisted the temptation to drink wine with my friends and eat fresh, deep fried chips. For this I deserve a medal – it was hard but I foraged on. And my resolve was rewarded when I returned home and made myself a delicious baked potato with some Earth Balance  and salt and pepper. It was hands down, the most delicious, delectable, creamy potato that ever came out of the microwave. Not sure if it’s the 2 days without simple carbs, but that ish tasted great!

Day 2 is now a memory. I should say that I weighed myself on the evening of Day 1 and had not lost anything. (I’m a night weigher because that’s when I’ll be the heaviest and I’d rather use my heaviest weight as a benchmark rather than the early morning weight which is always lighter no matter what you gorged on the night before). I’ll weigh myself tonight and see if the scale has moved at all. I don’t care what’s happening, but if my weight starts with a ’13′ on the evening of Day 7 I’ll be tickled mauve.

I’ve made it vegan simply by subbing the beef for low-fat tofu and veggie strips and subbed the beef and chicken stock with vegan vegetable stock. Easy peasy.

* Before we get into it, I realize this is not a sustainable diet. For me this is a nice quick way to jumpstart to eating better. Use it however you see fit *

When some people think Vegan they picture a slim, skinny waif. That’s not me by any stretch, nor do I desire it to be. But my vegan diet can make it difficult to watch my weight and be healthy because there is a higher reliance on carbs than on protein. (Or alcohol in some instances, but I digress…)

Since Christmas I’ve been steadily packing on the pounds by eating late at night, not watching the fat content in my meals and drinking a little too often (booze and wine are full of calories!) and now I’m 15 pounds ahead of my fighting weight and quite pissed about it!!

Enter the Sacred Heart Soup Diet: 7 days of eating soup and veggies and at the end of the week a handsome reduction on the scale. Yes, a large portion of the weight loss is water. And yes, if you go back to eating chips and vegan donuts on regular basis it will come flooding back. Duh! But I know my vanity will get the kick in the butt it needs when I get on the scale in a week and my weight starts with a 13 again!

Fast forward, it’s 1:38pm on Day 1 and let me tell you, I notice a difference already. The difference is in the fullness of my belly, to be more accurate it’s not full! And this is a foreign feeling for me. I’m wolfing down this delicious soup and grazing on fruit to my heart’s content, but I can already feel the absence of carbs. Gone is that heavy comforting feeling of pasta with melted Earth Balance, rock salt and spicy sauce. Gone is the gluttony sensation of drinking green curry right from the bowl…oh curry how I miss you already!

Other than feeling un-heavy (I’m far from feeling light yet), I do feel pretty good. Maybe even a little more alert. With that said I’m not planning on running this week but may do some yoga instead, gotta keep the blood flowing right?

May the schwartz be with me while I prepare my daughter’s dinner (and eat not a single morsel of it) and I’ll update again tomorrow.

Happy Souping!

Let me start by saying, this diet IS a fad and IS NOT a healthy way to lose a large amount of weight. The menu plan doesn’t have a variety of foods and isn’t designed to be used for extended periods of time. BUT fresh fruits and vegetables are about so I personally see no harm in using this diet as a quick start to getting back on track with a sustainable, healthy and balanced eating plan.

The soup listed below can be eaten as often as you like. They say the more soup you eat the more weight you lose. I doubt it. Instead I see it as a healthy, low-calorie way for you to fill your belly and prevent you from gorging other foods that have a higher fat and calorie count. If starting this diet on a Monday you can make the soup on a Sunday and make another batch on Wednesday. You can cook a big batch and warm it as you need it or you can heat it in a slow cooker and leave it on low during the day.

The key to sticking to this plan is Preparation! Cut your veggies and fruits in advance and bring a tupper ware full of soup before you head out of the house. The odds of you being tempted are very high so set yourself up to win and stay prepared.

Vegan Sacred Heart Soup Recipe

This recipe is adjustable with some flavor variations such as herbs and spices but consists of:

• 2 large tins of canned tomato (stewed, diced or whole plum)
• Vegan Vegetable bullion to taste (a few small envelopes or teaspoons ought to do)
• Bunch of celery chopped
• Green onions for flavor
• Green beans
• 1 bell pepper (green, red, orange or yellow)
• 2 lbs. of carrots
• Generous handful of chopped mushrooms
• Variety of any other low-carb vegetables
• 1/2 to 1/4 head of chopped cabbage
• Simmer until vegetables are soft but not squishy
• Add spices or herbs to the soup to your liking

Beverages (unlimited)

You can drink as much of the following beverages as you like:

Water (8-10 glasses per day)

Coffee, Tea

Unsweetened Juice

*no cream or sugar in your coffee or tea*

Day 1

Eat as much soup and fruit as you like.  Any fruit is allowed except bananas.

Day 2

Eat vegetables and soup on day two. Eat as much soup as you want, drink plenty of water and eat lots of cooked and raw vegetables. Cook baked potato for your dinner with a little bit amount of butter.

Day 3

Enjoy soup and lots of fruit and vegetables on day three. Skip the potato but fill yourself with lots of soup and try to drink eight to 10 glasses of water.

Day 4

Eat at least three bananas on day four and drink as much low-fat soy/almond/rice milk as you can (*Calcium is the key here, so any calcium fortified non-dairy milk will be fine). Also, eat the soup.

Day 5

Have some tofu/veggie meat on day 5. Eat from ten to fifteen ounces of non-veggie meat. If using tofu, get some low-fat tofu – it’s usually fairly high in fat. Eat tomatoes and don’t forget the soup !

Day 6

Today eat low-fat, non-veggie meat again with no limit and as well have a bowl of soup. Also eat as much cooked and raw vegetables as you want.

Day 7

Eat steamed brown rice on day seven and have some vegetables and soup as well. At the end of Day 7, you’re all done. You might have lost more than ten pounds. Repeat a regular, healthy diet for at least a few weeks before trying The Vegan Sacred Heart Soup Diet again

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