Detoxing. Because I really am that fun.
I bet you are just dying to come over for lunch..
I think this whole flu and cold business has made me a little crazy. February has really sucked for G and I. We cancelled dates with friends and basically locked ourselves in our apartment 2 weekends in a row with nothing to entertain us but the sound of our own complaining. And I was the lucky one; G suffered far more than I.
I know I've said it enough, but our TV is still in the process of being shipped from the UK and nothing is worse than being sick and having no TV to take your mind off of the misery.
We spent one evening complaining about how bored we were before we finally broke out a deck of cards and set about trying to learn some old and obscure card game called Bezique. The instructions should include a forewarning that trying to learn it may make your brain melt. Trying to learn it while sick, may actually make your brain implode.
But I've had enough of this being sick business and have decided to take extreme measures in the form of a 21 day detox.
It hurts me just to write that. At the risk of stating the obvious, 21 days is 3 weeks.
For 3 weeks I am saying goodbye to red meat, cow's milk dairy, wheat, gluten, sugar, caffeine and alcohol and in their place I have stocked my cupboards with bread made of quinoa, brown rice pasta, tofu and all manner of things that probably won't have you running over to my house for lunch.
It's not all bad though. I mean, on what other occasion would I have turned my nose to a chewy golden baguette and opted for a dense, slightly orange coloured quinoa loaf? And I was surprised to discover that it doesn't taste all that bad. Top that with some detox-friendly pumpkin seed butter and I can feel my immune system getting stronger already.
My detox breakfast: quinoa bread with pumpkin seed butter
So yeah, I'm embracing the craziness and doing what needs to be done. I haven't had a good night's sleep in over 2 weeks, I seem to have a constantly sore throat and I just feel like I need a good reboot.
I started my detox this weekend and was feeling pretty enthusiastic about it. Except that I woke up on the next morning with a pounding headache.
Grr.
But then I remembered that it's all part of the detoxing--caffeine withdrawal and such. I guess no one ever said detoxing was fun. But the rough patch is only supposed to last a day or two so I'm banking on that.
So wish me luck. This may be a bumpy ride. But by the end of it, I should be as glowy as Gwyneth Paltrow. Or so they say.
Where's my baguette? Oh yeah, it's in my dreams.
The Optional Reading
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If you're interested, here is the detox plan that I'm following. I'm basically eating wheat and gluten free breads, vegetables, soy products, legumes, yogurt, chicken, fish, turkey, brown rice and any grains or pasta products not made with wheat. And there are some exceptions to the rules.
They say no caffeine, but green tea is allowed. They say no gluten, but spelt bread is allowed because it apparently has minimal gluten. Sugar is not allowed, but honey is ok. etc. etc.
Of course, it's probably best if you read the book and get all the info on it and all the exceptions, but since this is going to occupy the next 21 days of my life I figured it might help to spell it out a little bit. I'm not recommending you do it, I'm just saying that I am. If you have a problem with the idea of detoxing in general, I recommend this website.
Me, Detoxing
My first day was fine. Although I seem to have gone heavy on the carbs, (oops) but a girl has to ease into it. I mean, I stuck to the rules so I get points for that, right?
Breakfast: green tea, 1 slice quinoa bread with pumpkin seed butter.
I bowl sheep's milk yogurt.
Lunch: spelt pita with hummous and salad greens, mint tea
Snack: brown rice crackers, celery sticks, some more green tea.
Dinner: Brown rice noodles with sheep's milk feta, olive oil and lemon dressing, cracked black pepper and a side of roasted french green beans.
And then a rather unsatisfying late evening snack of more brown rice crackers. Maybe by day 5 they'll start to taste like a treat. Let's hope.
posted by Michèle at 9:25 AM
6 Comments:
Hi, Dear! I've always (secretly) wanted to try detoxing, so this is great - I'll see if you survive/are miserable/croak and THEN I'll give it a go! Just promise you'll tell us all the side effects so I know what to expect, okay? Seriously. Thanks for taking one for the team, and know I'll be here cheering you on!
BTW, my dear, I had a crazy question for you - since you just made this big, overseas move, would you mind filling me in on what mover/kind of mover you used? We're trying to figure out our options for moving to Hawaii and are not having much success. Thanks! My email is mphilli4 AT uoregon DOT edu.
gosh! I hope this goes smoothly for you (keeping my fingers, and toes, crossed that it does)
Oh, detoxing...A very sensible although rather tough mission! But then, very much rewarding!!
That reminds me of the Great Lent before Easter as well.
As to caffeine withdrawal I went through it a year ago when I'd reached the point of comsuming 6 and ever more cups of coffee a day. My body had had it enough and I just had to withdraw. Headache accomponied me only a few first days.
Good health and luck to you!
Gotta say, the picture of your detox spread made me smile. I love brown basmati rice with Canadian Black Label cheddar and pine nuts and butter and fried proscuitto pieces and and and!
I eat like that pretty much all the time (an obsession with greens is a good thing), only in my nutritional universe, good fat is a friend and sugar is the devil. And what do you know, it works!
Good luck and here's to a return of robust health!
Oooh...good luck! Detoxing is something I've always wanted to do, but I haven't actually gotten around to it.
Michelle, thanks for the support! I love your enthusiasm, it gives me a boost I tell you. As for the moving, email has been sent! And Hawaii? You lucky girl you!
Kat, oh my goodness I hope so too ;)
Anya, oy that must have been a painful one--the most I do is 2 cups a day and that headache was a doozy. I can't imagine how you must have suffered! Luckily mine only lasted a day, by day two I was feeling pretty good.
Kars, oh you are a good woman! So far its all going well and I don't feel deprived at all. Although, I sometimes do want my coffee again but that passes fairly quickly.
Anna, I've been wanting to do it forever too and this was the first plan that actually seemed to make me want to actually commit. So, we'll see how it goes ;)
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