Tuesday, January 26, 2010

The Dos & Don’ts of Detox

Well, I have one day left of my 10 day detox and I must say that I've learned some important things about being successful at detox this time through! I'm feeling pretty good—my energy is up and I've lost a little weight. My headaches resolved after the first 2 days. I really didn't miss alcohol or wheat or cheese as much as I thought I would. Even the MediClear shakes were better this time around thanks to a reformulation! So, I thought I'd share a few tips with you.

DO drink lots of water throughout the whole day! I think part of my headaches the first 2 days was dehydration. Also, drink water all through the day so you aren't too thirsty at the end of the day. I had a few evenings where I was playing catch up and then I had to get up a lot during the night!

DO sauna if you get the chance! I only got to go once mid-cleanse but it felt amazing and I did some great sweating to help clear out even more toxins (your skin is your largest organ of detox you know!).

DO plan ahead for meals and snacks! With the restrictions of a cleansing diet, you need to make sure you have plenty of food on hand for when hunger strikes. I realized that most of my snacks, with the exception of fruit, are foods I was avoiding. The first day, I made up a big batch of quinoa which I ate for the first 5 days (with black beans, as a side with olive oil and lime juice with fish, added to salads). Then I cooked a bunch of brown rice with homemade chicken stock. I bought frozen fish that I could thaw on the days I wanted fish. I bought a huge bin of organic baby spinach and 10 pounds of organic apples at Costco and raw walnuts, sunflower seeds, and cashews. I also ate dried fruit that I had dehydrated over Christmas. Just be prepared so you don't slip because you are hungry!

DON'T go to Costco when you are detoxing! I went on the first day of my detox and you are surrounded by free samples of all kinds of things you can't have! I did sample a marinated artichoke heart but had to resist everything else!

DON'T lose your dog! On day one, my husband took our hunting dog out and lost her in the woods. I was heartbroken and all I wanted to do was eat comfort foods like mac and cheese and drink wine. He searched for her over the next 4 days and thankfully found her. The lesson here is to try to avoid stressful situations that lead to emotional food cravings.

DON'T host a BBQ for people who aren't detoxing! To celebrate finding our dog, we invited our cousin and a friend who came out to help search for a BBQ. The two of them and my husband drank beer, ate chips, French bread, and steak for dinner—all of which I wanted to eat! I had cranberry raspberry juice mixed with mineral water, grilled Mahi Mahi, quinoa, and steamed Brussels sprouts with olive oil and balsamic vinegar (all of which was really amazingly good). But I'd advise saving the get togethers until after your detox is over.

I'm very glad that I did this detox—but I must admit that I'm more glad that it's over tomorrow!

1 comment:

  1. I also went on a liver cleanse, but for 3 weeks.Was it worth it? Yes. All I can say is be prepared and have your food and snackes available, Don't schedule any partys. I had very vivid dreams for 12 days, people from my childhood, not all the dreams where very happy. So you not only perge physically also mentally. I lost my craving for sugar, and not have eaten much of it. It also helped me realize, why I was grabbing for food, out of stress, or bored, Exerised helped with that. Happy Detox Loretta

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