14-Day Makeover Challenge: Healthy Eating

Week Two: One week down, one to go! When we left off with Kirsten last week, she was armed with newfound nutrition knowledge and on her way to the grocery store to stock up on fresh produce. Now she's at the halfway point of our 14-Day Makeover Series: What's working? What's not? Did she survive the food cleanse? Let’s see...

After meeting with Keri Glassman, founder of Nutritious Life, last week Kirsten started a three-day, whole-food cleanse from Glassman's Slim Calm Sexy Diet. It meant lots of vegetables, just a little bit of fruit, and absolutely no processed foods. How'd Kirsten fare? Day one, she fought off coffee cravings, but by day two she was surprised by how high her energy level was — sans caffeine. After day three, she was sold on Glassman's cleanse. Here's what she had to say:

"It was so much easier than I thought it was going to be. I was eating constantly, was hardly ever hungry, and my energy increased. Coming off of the cleanse, I incorporated new healthy foods in addition to sticking to some semblance of the way I’d been eating—since I liked how I felt so much."

Kirsten's been off the cleanse for five days. She's still eating very healthy, but sticking to her new routine is getting tougher. What’s the hardest part? Resisting takeout at work when co-workers pull out delivery menus. Limiting coffee to a single cup per day, minus the Splenda (she bid all artificial sweeteners adieu). And maintaining her willpower during nights out with friends when she made her one ‐ and only — slip.

Despite the abundance of temptations, there've been several refreshing discoveries. Kirsten's thrilled by what a cheap snack fresh fruit makes and is quickly becoming a smoothie addict with her new CuisineArt blender — score your own, plus more of her favorites, next Tuesday (4/10) during our Inside ideeli Makeover sale. Meanwhile, recipes from Glassman's Slim Calm Sexy Diet are now staples in Kirsten's diet (two egg whites mixed with one whole egg in the morning, cucumber with rice vinegar in the afternoon). And one of her favorite new recipes is Slim Slaw — a mix of cabbage, almonds, rice vinegar, and dijon mustard — which is easy to make, thanks to her new salad chopper.

Tune in next Wednesday to see how far Kirsten's come in two weeks with the final post of our healthy-eating challenge. Learn more about our 14-Day Makeover Series, and check out our latest challenge — hair — where one ideeli employee got a bold, new cut and color at a top NYC salon.