So, today I started my detox diet. I was going to start it right after the show closed, but that didn’t work out. Today did.
I’ve researched detox diets previously, just never felt the need to start. Part of me has been fascinated by this site. Even the remotest possibility that any of that is lurking in my colon freaks me out. While I don’t have a protruding belly, I do suffer lots of digestive problems…maybe it’s caused by old poo? However, the cost, the three month commitment and the photographing whatever my ass drops in the toilet are not appealing to me. So, I’ve shoved it to the back of my mind.
I decided to give it a shot based on how lousy I’ve felt lately. Lethargic, flabby, practically everything I eat leaves me in pain, not to mention the crap I’ve been putting in my system (McDonald’s nearly every day of the run). I decided that I should finish off the year by cleaning out my body.
I researched the options, what I should do, what I should eat, how I would feel, what to expect. I took quizzes to see how “toxic” I am and if I was ready to do it.
Yesterday was the big shopping day. We went to the co-op at the end of our street. The one we’ve been to perhaps a couple of other times that we keep meaning to go to but never do. I was armed with a mental list, my unbleached canvas shopping bags (a very thoughtful wedding gift that we don’t use often enough), and a supportive husband. We grabbed a small cart, ad I started filling it with healthy, mostly organic food. Veggies to make stir fry, fruit to snack on, extra virgin olive oil, rice protein powder, rice milk, frozen fruit for smoothies (on sale!), Quorn (which I think is okay, but debatable from the list of ingredients), brown rice to eat with my stir fry, and psyllium husk powder to bind to the toxic material and pull it out of my system (trust me, it was the most appealing of my options). We went to the checkout where the friendly cashier chatted with us as she rang and I bagged. As she handed us our tickets for bringing our own bags (a nickel a bag to cash in on future trips), we expected for her to ask if we were members. Well, apparently we looked like season pros. She just asked us for our member number. We sheepishly told her we didn’t have one. She made sure we had the information on how to get one before we left. I felt like I infiltrated the co-op system! We were one of them! Of course, I thought despite our vegan purchases that my leather motorcycle jacket would have given away that we aren’t total hippies. We are going to save our nickels to get a membership, though. We can walk there, and while some of their things are pricey, they have a lot of locally grown food that is organic, plus a lot of hard to find things. The staff is friendly, and as G pointed out, their produce is especially vibrant.
Last night I put a batch of rice in our rice cooker. This would be the rice cooker that I rolled my eyes over when G wanted to get one. We were not yet married, and I could get a discount on it where I worked. I thought it was a frivolous purchase. Can’t you make rice on the stove?? How wrong I was. It’s silly, but this darn thing makes it super easy, and makes it so I don’t mind making rice. Not a bad deal. Anyhow, I made my rice. this morning I arose and drank my psyllium husks in water. I stir fried my veggies in olive oil with some ginger. I gathered my food for the day, and headed off for work. For breakfast I had a deelish berry smoothie. I snacked on some carrot sticks, then later heated up my rice and veggies for lunch. I drank herbal tea all day. At home I had a Quorn “chicken breast” with a salad of mixed greens with grape tomatoes and some oil and vinegar. I succumbed to one treat at my work party (It was a piece of candy consisting of dark chocolate, rice noodles and peanuts). However, I was strong when we wound up out to dinner and spared myself the cocktail, bread, and appetizers I would normally have and had a spinach salad with berries and mandarin orange slices with vinaigrette dressing. I just finished drinking my second husk drink.
So, I’m about to turn in for the night. I know I really should be putting crap into my body, but part of me just wants some greasy fries. What’s weirder for me is I like fruit and veggies more. I crave fruit often, yet I eat junk. It’s pretty ridiculous. So, I shall keep with this thing for two weeks and see how I’m feeling. It could be in my head, but right now I feel a bit like the time I had too much of a heavy metal in my system (I can’t remember which one, I think copper?) and had a detox treatment for it at my alt doc and went home to let the ick leach out of me. I am a freak, but I am excited to do my dry skin brushing (as the largest organ, we must allow our skin to do it’s detoxifying thing). i am picturing brushing off all sorts of disgusting stuff before I shower. I am already amped to make my breakfast smoothie in the morning, and eat my fruits and veggies and rice during the day. Yum yum. Hopefully I get some more energy over the next couple of weeks and my tummy gets less grouchy. the only thing I’m nervous about is my skin. I was warned that as the body pushes stuff out, I will probably break out. The degree will be based on how much damage my bad diet has affected me. I could also get rashes. Yuck.
So, wish me willpower. My hope is that the good feeling of taking action on my health and well being will be enough to keep my momentum, even though it is easier to lay around and whine about it.