Day 7: DONE with Detox

At the end of my last post, I stated with determination that I would keep to this detox plan for the full 9 days. A mere one day later I have changed my mind and have now ended my Detox after 7 days. Throughtout this whole week I have not been feeling 100%, but yesterday I was so sick that it was really the last straw. I woke up this morning so dehydrated and sick that I could barely function. It's no wonder I was so dehydrated considering how ill I'd been the day before, but it made me start to re-evaluate what I am doing. In the end, everyday health trumps weight loss goals so I had to give up on all the veggies and fruits and give myself digestive system some well deserved rest.
That is why, on this Sunday evening, I am nibbling on plain rice and sipping ginger tea and just hoping I can keep it down.
Since I finished my Detox, I did weigh myself and my Week In Review (with Weigh In) is on it's way.

Day 6: Getting totally fed up with Detoxing!

When I started the 9-Day Detox (which I believe I may have called a 10-Day Detox in earlier posts, so I will try to find and correct) I thought it would go like this: Days 1-3 would be hell with cravings and such and then, once in the swing of things, would lose the cravings and start to feel like superwoman. Instead, I found it has gone like this: Days 1-3 were not that hard, cravings weren't too bad and I felt like I could carry on the diet for 9 days no problemo. Aside from my stomach issues, which might be a problem on any given day regardless of what I am doing, my body felt fine. Days 4 and 5, however, have been a lot harder. I am getting totally fed up with this detox business and wanted some regular food so badly yesterday I felt like an addict on Intervention before the intervention... I think I literally went through all the stages of grief in about 5 minutes thinking about chocolate. I think I did that about ten times.
I am starting to wonder if, once I am allowed things like cereal and some meat protein, the cravings for the really 'bad' things won't be as bad because I am eating a larger variety of foods.
Food was much the same as it has been the last few days, which the exception of adding some "Yam fries" to the menu at dinner. I made some tzatziki (Low fat plain yogurt (strained), cucumber, garlic, lemon juice) and used that to dip the yams in (Thank you, Arley!). Having the yams was a really nice change and because they feel more "carb-like" I did feel more satisfied after eating them as opposed to the brown rice that I am getting oh-so sick of.
I was doing some research yesterday about this whole "Fat Smash Diet" business because come Day 10, I haven't decided if I will follow that plan or venture out more on my own. There is a lot out there that says the Detox phase is unhealthy, unnecessary and the only reason you lose weight is because of the severe caloric deficiency. When I was feeling fed up, that seemed like someone had thrown me a life preserver but I think I'd feel really shite about not being able to do what I set out to. For right now, I will stick to this 9-Day Detox and just hope that all the food I am missing out on right now will taste that much better once it's over.

Day 5: Ice Cream, Garlic Bread and Popcorn

No no, I didn't eat any of these things today... but I was craving them in a big way. Adrian calls ice cream my "Achilles' Heel" because, if I had the choice, I would literally live off of ice cream. I don't understand people who say they don't like ice cream.. There are like a thousand flavours, who could not like ice cream?? a real mystery...
Anyway, now that I am a few days into this Detox I find myself craving things I don't even eat... Example: Last night, I was watching TV and a commercial for some restaurant food chain that we don't even have in Canada came on, advertising shrimp. I hate shrimp and would never get it at a restaurant and yet if I could have jumped through the TV screen and eaten the shrimp and all the accompaniments, I just might have. Funny that.
After this detox, I will be able to add back in meat (which for me will be poultry, fish and lean red meat) and some other things like cereal and nuts. I am already fantasizing about the first meal I cook with protein that isn't lentils or beans.
Speaking of cooking, all this planning and cooking is getting to be a real pain in the ass. I actually do like cooking, but when you are so limited in what you can cook and have to spend so much time prepping all these fresh veggies... it's not always a joy. I'm sure that as I get more used to it I will find lower maintenance ways to cook with all these veggies but I do miss the days of chicken and pasta. And takeout. :)

Day 5 went pretty well and, other than my stomach still being in full-time revolt, I think I am actually starting to feel a difference from all this clean eating business. I might be imagining, and wishful thinking, it but I will take any small positive and run with it. Especially when I can't have garlic bread.
Other than going to work, I really haven't left the house very much since starting the detox other than for grocery shopping, etc. Last night, we went over to a friend's house and they were just finishing up dinner. We purposely ate at home (veggie stir fry without the oil on brown rice and carrot soup) but it was still hard being around the cheese and crackers and other snacky things that were out. At one point, I felt so hungry that I took them up on their leftover salad and felt much better afterwards. I even left out the things in the salad I wasn't supposed to have like figs and almonds.

AND I finally got my exercising in today, yay me. 30 minutes on the exercise bike, so not exactly Olympic training but I felt good about getting it done. I still need to do two more days to get my three days this week, which means Friday and Saturday.

I give this day a C+... It would have been better if my stomach would calm the hell down and if I wasn't feeling so hungry and cravy (new word, go with it) but still a pass!

Day 4

Day 4 went much the same as Day 3. I haven't cheated on the detox diet, but I am still probably not eating as much as I should be. My stomach did a decent job of keeping me up last night, but I felt not too bad this morning.
I had yogurt for breakfast and then had oatmeal and fruit for lunch. I thought I was starting to feel a lot better when my stomach seemed to suddenly turn on me in a big way. I think one of the reasons might have been related to some panic/anxiety I had today. I was unexpectedly left alone to drive out to an appointment in heavy traffic that sent me into panic. Being stuck in traffic is my biggest "anxiety trigger" so I think this may have helped send my stomach into a tizzy.

I had some lentil soup and an orange later in the day.

For dinner, we had my parents for dinner and I served the carrot soup I made last night (served with a dollop of plain, non fat yogurt on top) and then spaghetti squash "noodles" with vegetable stew as the sauce. It was pretty good and my parents didn't seem to mind the "detox" meal, so that was nice.

For a late night snack, I made Pumpkin Pie Smoothies for Adrian and I. It was delicious and so nice to have a "treat"! The recipe is: Low fat vanilla yogurt, canned pumpkin, skim milk, crushed ice and pumpkin pie spice. Yum!

As far as exercise goes... still no dice. At this point, I need to get 30 minutes in every day for the next three days to make my "3 times a week" goal. Bah!

Day 3: Detox Continues

After a very rough night, I started Day 2 of the detox with some apprehension. I'm a crazy worrier so I have to actively stop myself from over thinking everything. I had such a bad morning that I couldn't make it into work. I hate calling in sick to work, it gives me huge anxiety. Unfortunately, it couldn't be avoided and so I am disappointed that one my mini challenges (to miss less work days) isn't going as well as I had hoped. Oh well.
I had oatmeal and skim milk when I got up and then didn't eat again for several hours... I am supposed to be eating every 2-3 hours, but I felt so gross that I couldn't eat anything else. I hope that the non-eating won't affect my weight loss.
Later, I had: brown rice, lentil soup, an orange, a small salad (basically just mixed greens), 2 clementines and a yogurt. Spread out over the rest of the day, obviously.
I made some carrot soup with roasted butternut squash that I haven't tried yet, but it smelled good so I look forward to trying it Day 4.
Hubby and I had planned to go for dinner with my parents Wednesday night and I started to realize how tricky it was going to be to eat out at a restaurant during this detox phase. I invited my parents to come to our house instead so that I can control the food situation. I roasted some spaghetti squash and took all the "noodles" out and am planning to serve it with a vegetable stew I made in the slow cooker. I don't know if this will seem like enough to non-detoxers though, so I might have to go out and get some bread or something else for my parents.
I watched "The Biggest Loser" again tonight and it reminded me that I need to get off my ass and start doing some exercise... One of my biggest challenges will be making myself do the work when I am feeling crappy.
So, overall not a perfect day but not horrible. I didn't feel hungry at all, but I don't know how much that was to do with an upset stomach.
Adrian, by the way, has been doing really well. His stomach is a tad upset but it doesn't seem to bother him much. He thought he'd made a good choice by eating a bunch of vegetable sushi rolls at work yesterday until I told him white rice wasn't allowed... Whoops.

When Day 2 turned to Night 2...

Well, Day 1 went pretty well but Night 1 was a whole other story. When I went to bed I wasn't feeling great and it got worse throughout the night. My stomach is definitely not coping well with all this fibre and without the "cushion" of more gentle carbs. I felt really uncomfortable all night and couldn't get to sleep AND I had to get up every few hours to pee... Guess that means I am drinking enough water!
I am hoping that if I keep up the diet, my body will adjust and my stomach will get on board. Otherwise, I will be a very tired lady!

Day 2: Detox Begins!

So although today is Day 2, it is technically Day 1 of the Detox. Today was one of those days where I had to pry myself out of bed and ignore all the semi-conscious thoughts of why I didn’t have to get up, “I’m sure they won’t notice if I just don’t go to work… I probably set my alarm wrong and it’s still the middle of the night…” Then my alarm went off for the second time and I sprang out of bed, realizing I had precious little time to get my ass in gear and get to work on time. I packed my little lunch bag and off I went, into the yucky, rainy day.

I had 1 cup of oatmeal (1 cup COOKED… I realized some time ago that 1 cup uncooked gives you a helluva lot of oatmeal…) with ½ cup of skim milk and a Clementine for breakfast at around 8. Those tiny clementines are tasty little fruits (Oh the jokes…). At around 11, I had a yogurt and another Clementine. I spent a good part of the morning doing the nodding dog (Side Note: One of my favourite things is when my Labrador actually does the nodding dog while he’s sitting up. I am thinking it’s less cute when I do it at work). No caffeine allowed, though, so I powered through on sheer will… and all the work I had to do.

For lunch (around 1 pm) I had a cup of brown rice and some of the veggie chili I made last night. The chili was pretty good but the best part was the rice: I was really worried about eating all this brown rice because normally I am really not a fan, but it was pretty tasty. I cooked it in 1/2 vegetable broth and 1/2 water, which may have helped. I also had some grapes.
I brought snacks with me because I was worried about getting hungry, but I didn't even eat all of them. I had some raw veggies in the afternoon and that was it.
When I came home I was still really tired and ended up drifting off while I was reading a book. When I woke up, it was the first time all day I had felt hungry.

We had a green salad and the Crockpot Lentil soup I made last night for dinner. The soup, which is something I've never made before, was surprisingly good. I think it was a perfect meal for such a gross, rainy day. I had a clementine after dinner.

I can still have more rice so if I feel hungry in the next hour or so, I might have a little bit. I also have another yogurt, 2 cups of herbal tea and another cup of skim milk that I am allowed. I might have some Rooibos tea with milk before bed.

So Day 1 of the Detox was a success - I made it through the day without feeling like I was starving or any major stomach upsets. My stomach is being quite vocal, probably about all the fiber, but seems to be keeping it together.
Stay tuned for Day 2!

Here we go: 10 Day Detox!

As I mentioned before, the first part of my Weight Loss plan is a 10 Day Detox. I can't take any credit for this detox, however, as I am copying it from the "Fat Smash Diet". You can probably find out quite a bit about the FSD online, but if you are interested the book is pretty small and I got it super cheap on amazon.com.
Here is a general outline, though:

For 10 days you have to eliminate food like simple carbs, all meat products, sugar and artificial sweeteners, and most fat. The book gives you a list of what you CAN eat, which includes:
- Any fruits or vegetables, except potatoes and avocados
- 2 cups of brown rice per day
- Beans, tofu and lentils
- 2 cups of low fat/skim milk per day
- 1 cup Oatmeal per day
- 6 oz. low fat yogurt (2 times per day)
- 4 egg whites
- 2 cups herbal tea
And, of course, as much plain water as you want.

I have made up a meal plan based on these and will try to stick as closely to it as possible. One of my biggest challenges is not forgetting to eat and making sure I am having something every couple of hours. I'll share what I've been eating once I get it all typed out.

Now, in the book it says to be doing 30 minutes of exercise 5 times per week. I am aiming for 3-5 times because I feel like 5 might be a bit ambitious and I don't want to feel like I'm failing right off the bat. I will try for 5, but will be happy if I get at least 3 for right now.