Detox Update

Happy Easter weekend to those that celebrate! Hope the bunny brings you a treat and your lenten sacrifices are relieved. 

3 days left in my 'official' detox...if you missed the initial post, here's the synopsis:

I decided to do a detox to encourage myself to clean up my diet. This was going to be fast and furious. I already knew how to eat well, but I just needed to remind myself how it feels. This is what I did:

Days 1-3:
No alcohol
No soda
No fried snacks


Days 3-6
Only whole grain carbohydrates (whole wheat, cornmeal, quinoa, brown rice, etc)
Drink 8 glasses of water per day (64 oz+)


Days 6-9
Limit dairy to 1 serving per day
8-10 servings of fruits and veggies (I do this most days. I want to be sure I'm doing it everyday)


Days 9-12
Reduce sweets to fruit-based treats (smoothies, mock ice cream, etc) and dark chocolate (antioxidants!)


Days 12-14
Increase protein to at least 1 g/kg body weight

The major question is how has it been going?!?!

First, I am happy with this choice.  Some days it was tough. On Tuesday, I would have killed for a beer. But you know what I did? I went for a run. And I felt better. Which is exactly what I needed to remind myself about.

Other notes:
Avoiding fried foods was easy. They don't make me feel good anyway.

Limiting my treats to fruit and chocolate was harder than I thought. However, I did make myself a little loophole that seemed to work out well. Instead of cookies or cake, I would have a whole grain biscuit (like english muffin) and some jam. It was  more filling than chocolate and more nutritious than cookies.

Avoiding soda and pushing water...it was ok. I did it. I didn't always like it. I'm better for it.

Pushing protein: Well, this hasn't happened...yet. I got a little derailed. I've felt really tired/sore all week. I was worried that it might be dietary (like a deficiency caused by this new diet or something), but it turns out I was coming down with a virus. Finally, on Thursday, I went home at noon. I woke up with a fever, and it just got worse over the morning hours. Friday wasn't any better. An odd side effect was that my fever would swell, and then my stomach and intestines would become nausiated. I couldn't even think about fiberiffic foods.

For dinner on Thursday, I requested one thing 'noodles' - the starchy white things I'd been avoiding all week. We didn't have whole wheat noodles. We barely had white noodles. What we had was a box of macaroni and cheese. I requested macaroni and cheese with peas and corn. Who am I? I had about a cup of it. I didn't puke. The fiance tried to get me to put tuna in it for some protein, but even the thought of tuna made my stomach turn. Otherwise, I'd subsisted on toast, popcorn, oranges, tea, and tang. Yes, it's a kick in a glass.

 Today I feel a lot better, so it's back to 8-10 servings of veggies, sugars from fruits and chocolates, whole grains, and more protein. I actually have been enjoying it so much and feeling so good, I will extend this detox through  May 1. I have a half marathon on April 30, and I don't want to drink before then anyway, so it seems like a really good option.

Oh, I said I'd weigh myself. I lost 2 lbs from Sat-Wed. I'm sure it was water weight. I'm actually not convinced it wasn't a difference in the calibration of the scales. I'll weigh myself again either this weekend or next week and then once again after the detox is over. Remember, the goal isn't to lose weight, but to just feel better and clean up my diet.

How do you monitor your health?