Okay, so the past seven days I have been on a detox.

Detox…

You’ve heard that word thrown around a lot, but maybe don’t know what exactly it entails. First things first, being on a detox DOES NOT mean starving yourself.

What I like to tell people, the main thing to focus on is taking out processed foods and concentrate on whole food ingredients. READ LABELS. If it’s something you can’t pronounce, don’t eat it. On my detox I refrained from sugar, dairy, wheat/gluten, and most animal products (with the exception of a couple of meals of wild caught salmon). I also avoided tomatoes/red sauce and limited bean consumption because I wanted my gut to focus on resting. The reason I chose all the others to avoid, is because they tend to be the main cause of inflammation for most people, especially me. Many people also think they need to juice being on a detox. I’m here to tell you, JUICING IS NOT FOR EVERYONE. First of all, I’m just not a fan of taking away key fibers that are only brought in from the whole fruit or veggie themselves. Also, many people tend to add a lot of fruit in one juice. Doing that makes the sugar consumption astronomical. Without certain fibers, the sugar isn’t broken down and processed correctly in our bodies. With that said, I’m just not a huge fan of juice detoxing. Juicing does have some benefits, but not how it’s being mainstreamed. Any who….Being on a detox, the main goal is to HEAL and REPAIR your gut and flush out toxins.

When we eat whatever we want unknowingly taking in various toxins, our gut lining gets “beat up” so to speak. Our normal body processes will begin to lack certain nutrients to produce various enzymes etc. and things can begin to malfunction. Also, with the wear and tear on our digestive system that our diet can bring, our intestinal lining starts to become inflamed (bringing a whole world of problems). If you haven’t heard yet, you’re hearing it now…75-80% of our immune system is sourced from the state of our gut health…..So TAKE CARE OF IT.

So what the heck did you eat you ask?

Simple… a lot of goodness : ). I had to get creative, but I’m telling you, once I changed my mindset and stayed prepared, it wasn’t as hard as it could have been. The first two days were probably the most difficult because of getting use to not eating sugar (because that’s my weakness) and refraining from coffee (ohhh myyy was that tough). Another thing I had to get use to was not filling up on carbs. I was expecting headaches and possible dizziness the first few days so I kept drinking tons of water. That is also KEY. Make sure to drink half your body weight in ounces. Because I kept up with drinking what I needed, I didn’t have the headaches and dizziness, but I did have another unexpected side effect. I was having odd cramping/achiness in my lower abdomen and odd areas. I figured out after awhile that they were lymph nodes. Why? Because our lymphatic system’s job is to flush out toxins. They were working in over drive at the time, and I was literally feeling them do their job oddly enough. Having certain symptoms are okay because it’s your body’s way of getting rid of the crud. (Just make sure to drink enough water so you can flush it all out. If you don’t, your body will reabsorb the toxins.)

Not only must you focus on clean eating during a detox, you have to take in a little extra to help with the repairing process. The extras include: probiotics, enzymes, and things to assist in flushing out the bad. Your digestive system will want to go in shock because of the drastic change, so you want to make sure you’re assisting it in any way you can.

The added goodness that I took in on a daily:

Essentialzyme-4 are quick acting digestive enzymes that I take with my heaviest meals. They assist the gut when breaking down certain proteins in foods. I choose Young Living products for 1. I’m a devoted, passionate member and 2. They really are the friggin best. Believe me, I’ve tried many.

Life 9 is the probiotic I used. I take them every evening. Probiotics are a MUST for anyone everyday not even on a detox. We constantly need to replenish our gut flora and good bacteria in order to keep the bad bacteria at bay. When we take in toxins in our diet, our gut flora takes a beating. We have to replenish it.

Apple Cider Vinegar is great for so many things… metabolism, liver detox….everything detox. Also, if you get the Dr Bragg’s kind (raw and unfiltered) the “mother” is still within it making it a bonus in helping to replenish the gut flora as well : ). I drank this every morning and evening (30min before my biggest meals). My “detox drink” included about 12oz of hot water, 2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar, 1/4 tsp of cinnamon, a dash of cayenne pepper, 1/2 tsp of ginger, and 2 tbsp of lemon juice. I thought this would be gross, but surprisingly it wasn’t! It tasted like fall goodness and it was very comforting.

Grapefruit and Lemon Vitality Essential Oil are amazing for metabolism and assisting the body’s natural detox process. They both have incredible purifying properties needed during the week of cleansing. I took 3 drops of each in empty veggie capsules 2-3x a day. I would take this with my ACV drink 30min before meals.

Ningxia Red… I can’t say enough about this supplement juice of goodness. This packet is JAM PACKED with antioxidants and nutrients crucial for the body’s natural process of repair. I could tell the first few days my digestive system went into shock and whenever I drank a packet, it helped “regulate” me ; ). Ningxia is a great supplement to take to ensure you’re getting your daily dose of vitamins and nutrients.

I do also take on a daily Young Living’s Masters Formula multivitamins and their Multigreens. This gives the extra boost to help with energy, deficiencies, and metabolism as well.

So now onto the food…

This was my grocery list for the week from what I can remember:

• 2 cups of raw cashews
• nutritional yeast
• 2 bunches of Organic Kale
• 3 large Sweet Potatoes
• avocados and more avocados : )
• unsweetened almond milk (I get Califa Farms brand)
• NO added sugar almond butter
• almond flour
• dates
• lemon juice
• Dr Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar
• garlic
• organic apples (I got whatever was on sale)
• walnuts
• Siete Grain Free tortillas (Cassava flour)
• Wild caught salmon fillets
• 1 organic onion
• mixed lettuce
• raw organic cauliflower
• shredded organic carrots
• asparagus
• 1 can of Amy’s vegan Lentil and Veggie soup (wheat and soy free)
• organic Rooibos Chai tea packets
• dried apricots
• Treeline Cracked Pepper Nut cheese

 

My daily meals went down like this:

Monday–

ACV detox drink first thing in am 30 min before breakfast.

Every morning I had Young Living’s Vegan Slique shake mixed with unsweetened almond milk. (I am a huge breakfast eater so the thought of just getting by with a shake made me cringe to the core.) To my surprise, once I drank the shake and let it settle, I was full! So full in fact, that I was even able to eat lunch later! The shakes were super convenient too on mornings when I had to rush out for work.

My snack consisted of my homemade (life saving) protein balls. They really got me through my snack attacks. I took 1 cup of raw cashews (ground them in my food processor), 4 serving tbsp of almond butter, 6-8 dates (also mixed in processor), 1 drop of YL’s cinnamon vitality oil, about 1tbsp or so of cocoa powder, and 1 tsp of local honey. I mixed the ingredients together in a large bowl, rolled them in balls, and separated them in small Ziploc bags containing two each to grab on the go each day and stored them in the fridge. I’m telling you, the best thing I made all week. It helped when I got the munchies and craved something sweet.

Lunch the first day wasn’t eaten till later that day when I got home from work. Crazy I know, but for some reason the first day for me my stomach was like, “WHOA what the HECK is happening??” Because it was a little upset, I didn’t want anything. I did however, eat an apple and drank a packet of Ningxia red around 12:30, so maybe that helped hold me over till around 4 when I got home.

Because I ate a late lunch, I didn’t eat a heavy dinner. I made myself a big ole salad of mixed greens, kale, nutritional yeast, nut cheese crumbles, avocados, walnuts, and my favorite dressing (Primal Kitchen’s dairy free caesar dressing). I did eat another apple with the salad. I was so exhausted the first day and my stomach was very uneasy (probably also due to the fact that my monthly visitor decided to show….beautiful timing I know *eye roll*). After I got the kid’s settled, I went to sleep early and didn’t eat anything for the rest of the night.

Tuesday…

I was off this day so I slept in till about 9:30-10ish because I was feeling blehhhh. (Helped with the appetite though!)

Again, ACV detox drink first thing, grapefruit and lemon oil pills

Late breakfast/lunch: Slique shake

Snack (always about 2 hr later): 2 protein balls and an apple

Lunch: didn’t end up needing lunch because I had a late morning. I ended up eating an early dinner : ). I did drink another Ningxia Red about an hour after my snack.

30 minutes before dinner: ACV drink and oil pills

Dinner: sweet potato veggie pizza

Wednesday…

ACV drink and oil pills

Breakfast: Shake

Snack: 2 protein balls

Lunch: a large apple, Ningxia Red packet, and a few Simple Mills grain free crackers (I’m telling you I don’t know what it was, but I wasn’t that hungry!)

ACV drink and oil pills before dinner

(Early) Dinner: veggie tostadas

Snack: Because I had an early dinner I ended up getting hungry again later. Nothing a green tea and handful of walnuts couldn’t fix! I’m telling you, I don’t know how my insane appetite was at bay, but it was! Maybe it was the added oily goodness ; ).

Thursday…

You know the drill… ACV drink and oil pills

I slept in a little later again this morning because I had a day off (well never a day off when you also homeschool your kiddos *eye roll*). I was able to get by with eating 2 protein balls until “lunch time”.

Lunch: Canned wild caught salmon and grain free crackers

Snack: walnuts

ACV drink and oils

Dinner: fresh wild caught salmon fillet and kale salad with asparagus (I don’t know why this day was a salmon day, but hey maybe I needed the extra omega 3s lol.

Snack: Dried apricots and almond butter (yummmmm)

Friday…

ACV drink and oils

Breakfast: shake

snack: protein balls, Ningxia Red packet

Lunch: Amy’s lentil and veggie soup with Simple Mills grain free crackers

Snack: 1 apple

ACV drink and oils

Dinner: (okay so I cheated just a tad) I picked up sushi for the hubs because he was craving it, so I decided “hey, it’s Friyay” haha! I didn’t cheat too, too bad. I ended up getting a salmon and avocado roll. I did manage to say no to the crunchy part of the roll, so good right?? ; P

Saturday…

ACV drink and oils

Brunch (Because I was busy with the kids this morning, I ended up eating later): Sweet potato waffle with kale and avocado

Snack: Organic Rooibos and chai tea with unsweetened almond milk (I also added a tad of cocoa powder for the extra Christmasy touch ; )) Drinking this also helped with my coffee cravings.

Another snack: 1 apple

ACV drink and oils

Dinner: Veggie tostada (I was craving it again, what can I say??)

Snack: dried apricots and almond butter

Sunday…

ACV drink and oils

Breakfast: shake

Snack: 1 mango

Lunch: sweet potato waffle with kale and avocado (Again, I know! When something is good, warm, and detox friendly…why not??)

Snack: walnuts and Ningxia Red

(I actually forgot to do my ACV drink can you believe it???)

Dinner: large mixed green salad with kale, nutritional yeast, Treeline nut cheese crumbles, avocado, and sunflower seeds

Snack: raw cashews and my rooibos chai tea with almond milk and cocoa powder

My results!

So I’m happy to say I lost 4lbs this week!!! Wahoo!!! I feel really good too. That’s the whole point of a detox…to feel refreshed! I was also able to shrink my appetite which I’m so glad for because I was having a difficult time feeling full before…hence, making me gain weight. It’s weird because as I’m writing all what I ate down, it doesn’t seem like that much. I’m telling you though, I didn’t ever feel like I was starving myself! Whenever the cravings would hit me, I would either eat a protein ball or some sort of fruit. The key is to be patient when eating too, chewing adequately and more slowly. Let your food have time to settle. That was so difficult in the past for me to do. I will also emphasize again…. HYDRATE, HYDRATE, HYDRATE. This was a tough one for me. I educate people all day every day about drinking an adequate amount of water, but for some reason I have a hard time practicing what I preach. When I was consciously making an effort though, I felt and did so much better. I didn’t realize how much I could actually pee during the day too lol!

Another thing I did to help me keep track of what I ate (as well as my daily exercises) was an app called My Fitness Pal. I’m not a huge calorie counter due to the fact that I focus on whole foods and nutrients and keeping away processed whatevers, but this app did. One thing I liked about it was the fact that it kept me motivated. Why? Because it has this prediction of how much weight I could lose in 5 weeks if I kept doing what I was doing. Not sure how accurate it is, but hey….it’s one more thing that kept me motivated!

I will say now that the detox is officially over, I will be keeping up the majority of the diet up for the most part. I just won’t be such a freak about cheating here and there (as long as I don’t make an unbalanced habit of it). The reason why I’m going to keep with it for now, is 1. I’m losing weight (holla!) 2. I’m still eating without starving 3. I had a biscuit today (even though it was organic) and one piece of turkey, and my stomach has been bloated and crampy for hours now. Yep, no thank you. I’ll keep up the clean eating for now. My goal is to drop 20lbs…..a place I haven’t been in years. Let’s see shall we!! I’ll keep you posted!!

I hope what I did this week inspires you to do your own detox. I’m telling you, your body will thank you. It felt so good not to be flipping bloated for once. Not only is it good for maintaining a healthy weight and balanced appetite, but it allows our body to get a new jumpstart to functioning at it’s prime. I like to do detoxes when the seasons change or when I really feel like my body is screaming at me. The body can do this in so many ways. Get to know your body and how it communicates to you.

So let’s join hand in hand on this wellness journey! Let’s say no to love handles!!! Say it with me, “Bye bye muffin top and cruddy daily fatigue! Helloooooooo sexayyyyyy healthy me!!”

Cheers to a healthy new you!