Day 7-
Today's diet:
On waking: Hot water with a slice of lemon.
Breakfast: Wheat and yeast free muesli with rice milk and banana.
Morning snack: 5 almonds, 2 cups of green tea.
Lunch: About 6 falafel balls and about 15 cubes of tofu fried with olive oil, salt, garlic and lemon.
Afternoon snack: 15 almonds.
Dinner: Roast chicken with roast parsnip, roast carrots, roast garlic, steamed cauliflower, brussel sprouts & broccoli.
After dinner snack: Lemon & Ginger tea with 1 tsp honey.
At least 2 litres of filtered water throughout the day.
Exercise: Does an hour of vacuuming count?
Sleep: About 7 hours- woke up twice for 1/2 and hour each time.
I did manage to resist all temptations at mother's group today, even the delicious looking sandwiches and cakes and the coffee that smelled fantastic. I was at a loss for what to take as a finger food/lunch item and decided to heat some falafel balls and take some fried cubes of tofu. Interestingly enough, a lot of the toddlers really liked the tofu and there wasn't much of either left at the end of the session, so that was good. AND..wow, I have now spent an entire week on the detox!!
So do I feel any different? Hmmmm...if I'm honest, not really. I feel slightly less bloated (could be imagining things though), but I don't have any more energy yet and, well how do I put this...I don't feel as though my body has been getting rid of any toxins really. I mean I haven't had any nausea, stomach aches, palpitations or anything much except the odd headache. I could guess that this is either because it still isn't working yet, or maybe my body wasn't that toxic to begin with. On the up side my chronic cough seems to have settled down a fair bit, but I am still lethargic, sluggish, sore and overweight, so I will continue with the next two weeks of the Detox hoping to fix that.
There are a number of Detox Supplements that you can take as recommended optional extras to speed things along. They fall into 4 main categories: Amino Acids, Antioxidants, Digestive Aids and Liver & Kidney Nutrients. I really like the fact that Joshi has listed all of the names of the supplements (which should be available in chemists or health food stores), what they do and work best for and which foods you can find them in naturally. I have changed my diet to include a lot of the foods mentioned, namely soy, fish, legumes, eggs, nuts & whole grains. But there are some that I find are particularly good for liver cleansing and I think I might grab some of those for the next week of the Detox. These are the ones I think I'll take:
Choline and Inositol: Good for liver cleansing, kidneys & gall bladder, formation of lecithin, metabolising fat, stress reduction and improved brain function.
Milk Thistle: Protects the liver and kidneys from toxins and pollutants.
Lecithin: Improves the liver's ability to metabolise fats and allows cholesterol to disperse in water so that it can travel around the body to where it is needed or eliminated, particularly good for those with the condition of 'fatty liver'.
All of the above sound like me, so I'll be paying another visit to the health food store to grab these and perhaps a multivitamin. Most of the others I'm happy to get from food and other natural sources.
Friday, 31 May 2013
Thursday, 30 May 2013
Day 6-
Today's diet:
On waking: Hot water with a slice of lemon.
Breakfast: Wheat and yeast free muesli with rice milk and honey.
Morning snack: A banana and 15 almonds.
Lunch: Homemade vegetable and barley soup made with carrots, onions, garlic, chicken stock (homemade), broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, baby spinach, celery, organic pearly barley and salt.
Afternoon snack: Chicken and about 1/2 a cup of last night's pilaf.
Dinner: Grilled salmon & asparagus, zucchini, sweet potato, carrots & broccoli.
After dinner snack: Lemon & Ginger tea with 1 tsp honey.
At least 2 litres of filtered water throughout the day.
Exercise: 2 hours of walking around the city.
Sleep: About 7 hours- woke up 3 times.
Had an early appointment and was out until mid-afternoon today, so I had to grab some snacks quickly, hence the banana and nuts. I did have enough time to heat some soup and chuck it in a thermos, but not enough time to chop carrot and celery sticks. I'm supposed to be eating a whole lot more raw vegies, according to Joshi 40% of my diet should be raw vegetables, he recommends cauliflower, carrots and mange tout. I can't really cope with the idea of eating raw cauliflower, carrots are fine, but I don't even know what 'mange tout' is...hmmm...
Hahahaha...just googled it... mange tout is snow peas!!! Easy! And delicious! Will buy some this week.
Had massive cravings for coffee and sweet treats today, I drove past the little french patisserie where I had enjoyed the odd chocolate-custard filled eclair in the past. Really wanted to stop and have afternoon tea but kept driving...hmph! Apparently my body is in the "Out of Sugar! Need more sugar now!!" phase of craving, but the detox is forcing the body to get its sugar (natural glucose) from low-acid sources raw vegetables and bananas, which takes much longer. As my body returns to a 'slightly alkaline' state, I will apparently no longer crave excessively salty or sweet things. It is true that resisting the cravings has been easier than I thought it would be but I still can't imagine not wanting these things after only 3 weeks. I guess if that sort of food was an occasional treat in the future, and really good quality, then that wouldn't be too bad. I'm sure it's things like McDonalds and SaraLee frozen desserts that Joshi is referring to when he says that 'in the West we are loading our livers with foods high in fats and chemicals that they are not used to and cannot process', not the occasional square of organic dark chocolate.
More temptations await tomorrow, I have mother's group from 10:30 until about 2:30. Usually we all bring a plate and the person hosting has a bunch of delicacies ready for us. So there is usually a table full of quite healthy home-made slices and cakes since most of us are quite health-conscious when it comes to what our children eat, but even things like sandwiches and homemade pizza with vegetables are out for me sadly. I'm taking a plate of cooked falafel, fried tofu and chopped raw vegetables! I might even have to take my own detox green tea...
Today's diet:
On waking: Hot water with a slice of lemon.
Breakfast: Wheat and yeast free muesli with rice milk and honey.
Morning snack: A banana and 15 almonds.
Lunch: Homemade vegetable and barley soup made with carrots, onions, garlic, chicken stock (homemade), broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, baby spinach, celery, organic pearly barley and salt.
Afternoon snack: Chicken and about 1/2 a cup of last night's pilaf.
Dinner: Grilled salmon & asparagus, zucchini, sweet potato, carrots & broccoli.
After dinner snack: Lemon & Ginger tea with 1 tsp honey.
At least 2 litres of filtered water throughout the day.
Exercise: 2 hours of walking around the city.
Sleep: About 7 hours- woke up 3 times.
Had an early appointment and was out until mid-afternoon today, so I had to grab some snacks quickly, hence the banana and nuts. I did have enough time to heat some soup and chuck it in a thermos, but not enough time to chop carrot and celery sticks. I'm supposed to be eating a whole lot more raw vegies, according to Joshi 40% of my diet should be raw vegetables, he recommends cauliflower, carrots and mange tout. I can't really cope with the idea of eating raw cauliflower, carrots are fine, but I don't even know what 'mange tout' is...hmmm...
Hahahaha...just googled it... mange tout is snow peas!!! Easy! And delicious! Will buy some this week.
Had massive cravings for coffee and sweet treats today, I drove past the little french patisserie where I had enjoyed the odd chocolate-custard filled eclair in the past. Really wanted to stop and have afternoon tea but kept driving...hmph! Apparently my body is in the "Out of Sugar! Need more sugar now!!" phase of craving, but the detox is forcing the body to get its sugar (natural glucose) from low-acid sources raw vegetables and bananas, which takes much longer. As my body returns to a 'slightly alkaline' state, I will apparently no longer crave excessively salty or sweet things. It is true that resisting the cravings has been easier than I thought it would be but I still can't imagine not wanting these things after only 3 weeks. I guess if that sort of food was an occasional treat in the future, and really good quality, then that wouldn't be too bad. I'm sure it's things like McDonalds and SaraLee frozen desserts that Joshi is referring to when he says that 'in the West we are loading our livers with foods high in fats and chemicals that they are not used to and cannot process', not the occasional square of organic dark chocolate.
More temptations await tomorrow, I have mother's group from 10:30 until about 2:30. Usually we all bring a plate and the person hosting has a bunch of delicacies ready for us. So there is usually a table full of quite healthy home-made slices and cakes since most of us are quite health-conscious when it comes to what our children eat, but even things like sandwiches and homemade pizza with vegetables are out for me sadly. I'm taking a plate of cooked falafel, fried tofu and chopped raw vegetables! I might even have to take my own detox green tea...
Wednesday, 29 May 2013
Day 5-
Today's diet:
On waking: Hot water with a slice of lemon.
Breakfast: 1 slice of gluten-free toast with 2 boiled eggs. Green tea.
Morning snack: Raw celery and carrot sticks with hommus.
Lunch: Homemade vegetable and barley soup made with carrots, onions, garlic, chicken stock (homemade), broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, baby spinach, celery, organic pearly barley and salt.
Afternoon snack: Peppermint tea, a banana, about 20 almonds.
Dinner: Tandoori chicken with brown rice pilaf (brown rice, celery, carrot, spring onion, salt, garlic, lemon zest, toasted slivered almonds and coriander leaves).
After dinner snack: Lemon & Ginger tea with 1 tsp honey.
At least 2 litres of filtered water throughout the day.
Exercise: 1 and a half hour walk up and down a garden on a very steep hill.
Another decent sleep- about 8 and a half hours, only woke up a few times through the night but feeling much more rested and less irritable.
Today almost felt like a normal day's eating, if I had swapped coffee for green tea this morning and a cake or something sweet for the banana and almonds in the afternoon, this would be about what I might eat on a normal day. Of course, the bread wouldn't be gluten-free, and all of the vegies wouldn't normally be organic, nor would the chickens be free-range. Everything seems to taste better though, the carrots are sweeter, the bananas have a better texture and the chicken is really tasty. Or maybe it's my palate adjusting as Joshi said it would. I automatically took a small bit of jelly from my daughter when she tried to push it into my mouth this morning (she likes to share food) and it was awful! So sweet and it just tasted like chemicals. And that is the natural colours and flavours with reduced sugar jelly! Eck!
So today I'm thinking about what I need to buy in the grocery shop for next week and my attention has turned to the other side of the detox, namely detoxing your environment as much as possible. So this means always taking your shoes off when you enter your home, because of the lead and other noxious chemicals that you track into your house and disperse all over the place via your shoes. The next thing to look at are the chemicals you clean with. Joshi says that if your dish washing and clothes washing detergents are both biodegradable, your body will also be able to process them more readily. Using any number of toxic cleaning products just ensures that you will be breathing in or absorbing through your skin more and more chemicals that your body can't process. All perfumed room sprays are a total no-no. You also have to consider your make-up, shampoo & conditioner, toothpaste, deodorant, perfume and face & body creams.
After a quick assessment, I figure we're actually already doing pretty well in this area. We take our shoes off at the door. My husband does the dish washing and I do the laundry as a rule, and he insists on biodegradable, earth-friendly detergent, I am not quite so strict about the washing detergent but will get some environmentally-friendly powder next shop. We use white vinegar for cleaning and I've never been one to have a cupboard full of cleaning products, but I do use bleach to clean the bathroom, which is pretty nasty, so I might try to swap it. Apparently there isn't much you can't clean with bicarb soda, so I'll look into that. We don't use room perfumes and our beauty & hygiene products are pretty basic, I use good quality make-up and a moisturiser with sunscreen. Neither of us use deodorant, we do use good quality perfume and I don't want to change that, but I could look at changing my shampoo and conditioner and possibly toothpaste to something a bit less chemical. Will check out the options at the local organic shops and the supermarket...
Today's diet:
On waking: Hot water with a slice of lemon.
Breakfast: 1 slice of gluten-free toast with 2 boiled eggs. Green tea.
Morning snack: Raw celery and carrot sticks with hommus.
Lunch: Homemade vegetable and barley soup made with carrots, onions, garlic, chicken stock (homemade), broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, baby spinach, celery, organic pearly barley and salt.
Afternoon snack: Peppermint tea, a banana, about 20 almonds.
Dinner: Tandoori chicken with brown rice pilaf (brown rice, celery, carrot, spring onion, salt, garlic, lemon zest, toasted slivered almonds and coriander leaves).
After dinner snack: Lemon & Ginger tea with 1 tsp honey.
At least 2 litres of filtered water throughout the day.
Exercise: 1 and a half hour walk up and down a garden on a very steep hill.
Another decent sleep- about 8 and a half hours, only woke up a few times through the night but feeling much more rested and less irritable.
Today almost felt like a normal day's eating, if I had swapped coffee for green tea this morning and a cake or something sweet for the banana and almonds in the afternoon, this would be about what I might eat on a normal day. Of course, the bread wouldn't be gluten-free, and all of the vegies wouldn't normally be organic, nor would the chickens be free-range. Everything seems to taste better though, the carrots are sweeter, the bananas have a better texture and the chicken is really tasty. Or maybe it's my palate adjusting as Joshi said it would. I automatically took a small bit of jelly from my daughter when she tried to push it into my mouth this morning (she likes to share food) and it was awful! So sweet and it just tasted like chemicals. And that is the natural colours and flavours with reduced sugar jelly! Eck!
So today I'm thinking about what I need to buy in the grocery shop for next week and my attention has turned to the other side of the detox, namely detoxing your environment as much as possible. So this means always taking your shoes off when you enter your home, because of the lead and other noxious chemicals that you track into your house and disperse all over the place via your shoes. The next thing to look at are the chemicals you clean with. Joshi says that if your dish washing and clothes washing detergents are both biodegradable, your body will also be able to process them more readily. Using any number of toxic cleaning products just ensures that you will be breathing in or absorbing through your skin more and more chemicals that your body can't process. All perfumed room sprays are a total no-no. You also have to consider your make-up, shampoo & conditioner, toothpaste, deodorant, perfume and face & body creams.
After a quick assessment, I figure we're actually already doing pretty well in this area. We take our shoes off at the door. My husband does the dish washing and I do the laundry as a rule, and he insists on biodegradable, earth-friendly detergent, I am not quite so strict about the washing detergent but will get some environmentally-friendly powder next shop. We use white vinegar for cleaning and I've never been one to have a cupboard full of cleaning products, but I do use bleach to clean the bathroom, which is pretty nasty, so I might try to swap it. Apparently there isn't much you can't clean with bicarb soda, so I'll look into that. We don't use room perfumes and our beauty & hygiene products are pretty basic, I use good quality make-up and a moisturiser with sunscreen. Neither of us use deodorant, we do use good quality perfume and I don't want to change that, but I could look at changing my shampoo and conditioner and possibly toothpaste to something a bit less chemical. Will check out the options at the local organic shops and the supermarket...
Tuesday, 28 May 2013
Day 4-
Today's diet:
On waking: Hot water with a slice of lemon.
Breakfast: 2 slices of gluten-free toast with a drizzle of honey. Green tea
Morning snack: Goat's yoghurt, banana and rice milk smoothie with cinnamon.
Lunch: Smoked salmon salad made with rocket, grated carrot, grated beetroot, chopped celery, green beens, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds and flaxseed oil.
Afternoon snack: Peppermint tea, mixed nuts and sunflower seeds.
Dinner: Vege & tofu stirfy made with organic tofu, carrots, beans, broccoli, cauliflower, spring onion, garlic, chilli, lemon and salt, plus a little brown rice vermacelli and some rogan josh curry paste to flavour.
After dinner snack: Lemon & Ginger tea with 1 tsp honey.
At least 2 litres of filtered water throughout the day.
Exercise: none other than running around after my toddler.
Today went really well, slept solidly for seven and a half hours last night. Unheard of, me getting an unbroken night's sleep, so either I was reeeeeaally tired (which I was) or this detox seems to be having an effect.
New things were tried today, goat's milk yoghurt (apparently goats milk is more easily broken down in the digestive system than cow's milk so is not technically considered dairy). Joshi also seems to make allowances for yoghurt in small doses because of its beneficial good bacteria and the wonders that does for your digestive tract. It's a very strange texture, more like cream than yoghurt and I'm not really into the flavour, very rich, but I think I can manage it in smoothies. Also organic hard tofu. I've had the lovely spongy tofu in Laksa before and the silken tofu in Japanese soups, but never this stuff. I actually really like it, you can just cut it up and fry it and treat it just like meat, it absorbs all the flavours.
Had to top up on fruit and veg today, so went to the organic shop in my local village. OMG, the prices! I don't know if it really does cost that much to grow and provide food and our regular supermarket prices give us a somewhat skewed idea of what it costs to produce something, but even taking the store's overheads into account, $4.65 for 250grams of organic butter seems a little excessive. Anyway, I'm going to try to get my fruit, veg and meat organic and free range from now on, but I'm going to have to make compromises when it comes to other things. You'd have to have about $400 a week to spend on groceries to shop organic for everything, I usually spend about $180 for a family of 3.
I don't feel much of an effect from the detox in general though and I was kind of expecting to by now. I might go over the relevant pages in Joshi's book again. Hopefully I'm not missing some big point here. It really would have been much easier if there was a detailed meal-plan to follow, then I could be sure I'm not over-doing quantities of things or eating anything I shouldn't...
Today's diet:
On waking: Hot water with a slice of lemon.
Breakfast: 2 slices of gluten-free toast with a drizzle of honey. Green tea
Morning snack: Goat's yoghurt, banana and rice milk smoothie with cinnamon.
Lunch: Smoked salmon salad made with rocket, grated carrot, grated beetroot, chopped celery, green beens, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds and flaxseed oil.
Afternoon snack: Peppermint tea, mixed nuts and sunflower seeds.
Dinner: Vege & tofu stirfy made with organic tofu, carrots, beans, broccoli, cauliflower, spring onion, garlic, chilli, lemon and salt, plus a little brown rice vermacelli and some rogan josh curry paste to flavour.
After dinner snack: Lemon & Ginger tea with 1 tsp honey.
At least 2 litres of filtered water throughout the day.
Exercise: none other than running around after my toddler.
Today went really well, slept solidly for seven and a half hours last night. Unheard of, me getting an unbroken night's sleep, so either I was reeeeeaally tired (which I was) or this detox seems to be having an effect.
New things were tried today, goat's milk yoghurt (apparently goats milk is more easily broken down in the digestive system than cow's milk so is not technically considered dairy). Joshi also seems to make allowances for yoghurt in small doses because of its beneficial good bacteria and the wonders that does for your digestive tract. It's a very strange texture, more like cream than yoghurt and I'm not really into the flavour, very rich, but I think I can manage it in smoothies. Also organic hard tofu. I've had the lovely spongy tofu in Laksa before and the silken tofu in Japanese soups, but never this stuff. I actually really like it, you can just cut it up and fry it and treat it just like meat, it absorbs all the flavours.
Had to top up on fruit and veg today, so went to the organic shop in my local village. OMG, the prices! I don't know if it really does cost that much to grow and provide food and our regular supermarket prices give us a somewhat skewed idea of what it costs to produce something, but even taking the store's overheads into account, $4.65 for 250grams of organic butter seems a little excessive. Anyway, I'm going to try to get my fruit, veg and meat organic and free range from now on, but I'm going to have to make compromises when it comes to other things. You'd have to have about $400 a week to spend on groceries to shop organic for everything, I usually spend about $180 for a family of 3.
I don't feel much of an effect from the detox in general though and I was kind of expecting to by now. I might go over the relevant pages in Joshi's book again. Hopefully I'm not missing some big point here. It really would have been much easier if there was a detailed meal-plan to follow, then I could be sure I'm not over-doing quantities of things or eating anything I shouldn't...
Monday, 27 May 2013
Day 3-
Today's diet:
On waking: Hot water with a slice of lemon.
Breakfast: A bowl of 'Liver Cleansing' muesli, with rice milk and a chopped banana. Green tea
Morning snacks: Raw carrot sticks with home-made hommus, peppermint tea, a banana, nuts & seeds.
Lunch: Chicken breast with leek and barley risotto and vegetables (carrot, brussel sprouts). *
Afternoon snack: Peppermint tea, dahlbaht lentil curry & naan bread **
Dinner: 2 chicken satay sticks and a chicken and vege rice paper roll.
After dinner snack: Lemon & Ginger tea with 1 tsp honey.
At least 2 litres of filtered water throughout the day.
*Total no-no- according to Joshi, eating leftovers is a bad idea as most of the food's nutritional value is gone.
** Naan bread is also a total no-no, but it was only one small slice and it looked soooo good...
So yes, I cheated, but at least it was only naan bread and not pizza and a bottle of wine. I got 5 and a half hours sleep last night because my daughter woke up at 4am and was, apparently, no longer tired. I tried for an hour to soothe her back to sleep to no avail....ahhhh....
I can tell that a lot of my eating today was to keep myself awake, must try to get to bed earlier, but feel like a fool going to bed at 9pm. Hopefully there will not be a repeat of the 4am wake-up.
Anyhoo, my brain is mush by now, so I'll make today's blog a short one, but I'll leave you with this home-made hommus recipe, much better than the stuff you but in the shops with preservatives etc in it:
Today's diet:
On waking: Hot water with a slice of lemon.
Breakfast: A bowl of 'Liver Cleansing' muesli, with rice milk and a chopped banana. Green tea
Morning snacks: Raw carrot sticks with home-made hommus, peppermint tea, a banana, nuts & seeds.
Lunch: Chicken breast with leek and barley risotto and vegetables (carrot, brussel sprouts). *
Afternoon snack: Peppermint tea, dahlbaht lentil curry & naan bread **
Dinner: 2 chicken satay sticks and a chicken and vege rice paper roll.
After dinner snack: Lemon & Ginger tea with 1 tsp honey.
At least 2 litres of filtered water throughout the day.
*Total no-no- according to Joshi, eating leftovers is a bad idea as most of the food's nutritional value is gone.
** Naan bread is also a total no-no, but it was only one small slice and it looked soooo good...
So yes, I cheated, but at least it was only naan bread and not pizza and a bottle of wine. I got 5 and a half hours sleep last night because my daughter woke up at 4am and was, apparently, no longer tired. I tried for an hour to soothe her back to sleep to no avail....ahhhh....
I can tell that a lot of my eating today was to keep myself awake, must try to get to bed earlier, but feel like a fool going to bed at 9pm. Hopefully there will not be a repeat of the 4am wake-up.
Anyhoo, my brain is mush by now, so I'll make today's blog a short one, but I'll leave you with this home-made hommus recipe, much better than the stuff you but in the shops with preservatives etc in it:
Hommus recipe- everything is a bit approx because I never measure but this should be about right:
- 1 tin of chickpeas
- 2 tablespoons of tahini
- 1/4 cup of olive oil
- 2 heaped teaspoons of minced garlic
- the juice of 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- cracked black pepper
- 1/4 cup of water
- sprinkle smoked paprika on top
chuck it all in a blender and blend on the lowest setting until smooth and creamy. If it is too thick to blend easily, add a bit more water at a time until it runs smoothly.
- 1 tin of chickpeas
- 2 tablespoons of tahini
- 1/4 cup of olive oil
- 2 heaped teaspoons of minced garlic
- the juice of 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- cracked black pepper
- 1/4 cup of water
- sprinkle smoked paprika on top
chuck it all in a blender and blend on the lowest setting until smooth and creamy. If it is too thick to blend easily, add a bit more water at a time until it runs smoothly.
Sunday, 26 May 2013
Day 2-
Today's diet:
On waking: Hot water with a slice of lemon.
Breakfast: A bowl of 'Liver Cleansing' muesli, with rice milk and a chopped banana. Green tea
Morning snack: Raw carrot sticks, raw green beans, raw broccoli. Orange and cinnamon tea.
Mid-morning: LIVER FLUSH followed by peppermint tea
Lunch: Vegetable stir-fry (orange and purple carrots, broccoli, baby spinach, baby corn, green beans, fresh garlic, fresh ginger) and 4 small falafel patties.
Afternoon snack: Peppermint tea
Dinner: Chicken breast with leek and barley risotto and vegetables (beans, carrot, brussel sprouts and bok choy).
After dinner snack: Lemon & Ginger tea with 1 tsp honey.
At least 2 litres of filtered water throughout the day.
Got a fantastic 9 hours of sleep last night, only woke up a few times. Wake up at 6am, feeling great, no need for coffee, though the smell of my husband brewing it is enough to bring on a craving. Breakfast is muesli, by a company called 'food for health'. Believe it or not this is the only muesli I could find without fruit or fruit juice, along with being free of everything else I'm not supposed to eat, wheat, yeast, sugar etc. It tastes great but becomes rather gloopy if heated, I'm guessing because of the added slippery-elm powder, which "contains a gel-like substance" according to the back of the box. It still tastes great though, especially with banana.
The Liver Flush is another matter entirely. Went for a brisk walk beforehand as recommended, then came home and prepared my cocktail. 300mls of mixed grapefruit and lemon juice, 200mls of filtered water, the juice of 2 garlic cloves and 1 small piece of ginger and 2 tablespoons of olive oil- in a blender on high until a pleasant light yellow pastel colour and frothy. Tasted bloody awful, tried to drink it fast but just couldn't. The next recommendation is 20 deep breaths followed by a 2 hour lie-down, maybe so you don't bring it back up again. I use the time to meditate and do a bit of creative visualisation, which is supposed to be part of the 'Maintenance Program' which applies to the 3 weeks following the Detox. Just making your mind quiet and then visualising the outcome you desire from your current actions. I'm picturing myself looking healthy and gorgeous in some of my favourite clothes that no longer fit me.
I try to do a yoga session on DVD but it's almost impossible as my gorgeous toddler gets bored with trying to do the 'yoghurt' poses and starts jumping on me at every opportunity. I might have to find a more upright and active form of exercise, aerobics or zumba or something, that I can do with my daughter. Yoga will have to wait until I have some time to myself.
Really enjoy lunch, very colourful and healthy and I find it hard to eat too much. My husband and I clean out the shed after lunch and then I start to feel a bit tired. So I do a bit more relaxing and I assess how I'm feeling generally. I'm getting a few headaches, not too bad though and I'm feeling a bit tired, especially after physical work, but still none of the other side-effects. I'm a little worried that for some reason the Detox isn't working on me, but I guess it's early days yet. How can it not work? These are the Top Ten Detox rules:
NO RED MEAT
NO DAIRY PRODUCE
NO FRUIT- EXCEPT BANANAS
NO WHEAT, GLUTEN OR YEAST
NO ALCOHOL
NO BISCUITS, CAKES, DOGHNUTS
NO JAMS OR SPREADS- EXCEPT HONEY
NO COFFEE OR DECAFFEINATED COFFEE OR TEA- EXCEPT HERBAL TEAS
NO SUGAR, CHOCOLATE OR SWEETS
NO ARTIFICIALLY PRODUCED FLAVOURINGS: TOMATO KETCHUP, VINEGAR, MUSTARD ETC.
Obviously it is a bit more complicated than that, but with all of these things cut from my diet I can't help but feel a positive effect.
Tomorrow I will be out all day and have to put together a meal-plan that will travel with me, bearing all of the restrictions in mind...
Today's diet:
On waking: Hot water with a slice of lemon.
Breakfast: A bowl of 'Liver Cleansing' muesli, with rice milk and a chopped banana. Green tea
Morning snack: Raw carrot sticks, raw green beans, raw broccoli. Orange and cinnamon tea.
Mid-morning: LIVER FLUSH followed by peppermint tea
Lunch: Vegetable stir-fry (orange and purple carrots, broccoli, baby spinach, baby corn, green beans, fresh garlic, fresh ginger) and 4 small falafel patties.
Afternoon snack: Peppermint tea
Dinner: Chicken breast with leek and barley risotto and vegetables (beans, carrot, brussel sprouts and bok choy).
After dinner snack: Lemon & Ginger tea with 1 tsp honey.
At least 2 litres of filtered water throughout the day.
Got a fantastic 9 hours of sleep last night, only woke up a few times. Wake up at 6am, feeling great, no need for coffee, though the smell of my husband brewing it is enough to bring on a craving. Breakfast is muesli, by a company called 'food for health'. Believe it or not this is the only muesli I could find without fruit or fruit juice, along with being free of everything else I'm not supposed to eat, wheat, yeast, sugar etc. It tastes great but becomes rather gloopy if heated, I'm guessing because of the added slippery-elm powder, which "contains a gel-like substance" according to the back of the box. It still tastes great though, especially with banana.
The Liver Flush is another matter entirely. Went for a brisk walk beforehand as recommended, then came home and prepared my cocktail. 300mls of mixed grapefruit and lemon juice, 200mls of filtered water, the juice of 2 garlic cloves and 1 small piece of ginger and 2 tablespoons of olive oil- in a blender on high until a pleasant light yellow pastel colour and frothy. Tasted bloody awful, tried to drink it fast but just couldn't. The next recommendation is 20 deep breaths followed by a 2 hour lie-down, maybe so you don't bring it back up again. I use the time to meditate and do a bit of creative visualisation, which is supposed to be part of the 'Maintenance Program' which applies to the 3 weeks following the Detox. Just making your mind quiet and then visualising the outcome you desire from your current actions. I'm picturing myself looking healthy and gorgeous in some of my favourite clothes that no longer fit me.
I try to do a yoga session on DVD but it's almost impossible as my gorgeous toddler gets bored with trying to do the 'yoghurt' poses and starts jumping on me at every opportunity. I might have to find a more upright and active form of exercise, aerobics or zumba or something, that I can do with my daughter. Yoga will have to wait until I have some time to myself.
Really enjoy lunch, very colourful and healthy and I find it hard to eat too much. My husband and I clean out the shed after lunch and then I start to feel a bit tired. So I do a bit more relaxing and I assess how I'm feeling generally. I'm getting a few headaches, not too bad though and I'm feeling a bit tired, especially after physical work, but still none of the other side-effects. I'm a little worried that for some reason the Detox isn't working on me, but I guess it's early days yet. How can it not work? These are the Top Ten Detox rules:
NO RED MEAT
NO DAIRY PRODUCE
NO FRUIT- EXCEPT BANANAS
NO WHEAT, GLUTEN OR YEAST
NO ALCOHOL
NO BISCUITS, CAKES, DOGHNUTS
NO JAMS OR SPREADS- EXCEPT HONEY
NO COFFEE OR DECAFFEINATED COFFEE OR TEA- EXCEPT HERBAL TEAS
NO SUGAR, CHOCOLATE OR SWEETS
NO ARTIFICIALLY PRODUCED FLAVOURINGS: TOMATO KETCHUP, VINEGAR, MUSTARD ETC.
Obviously it is a bit more complicated than that, but with all of these things cut from my diet I can't help but feel a positive effect.
Tomorrow I will be out all day and have to put together a meal-plan that will travel with me, bearing all of the restrictions in mind...
Saturday, 25 May 2013
Day 1
Yesterdays diet:
Breakfast: 2 pieces of wholemeal toast with peanut butter and Vegemite a large double-shot latte with 2 sugars.
Morning Tea: grazing the table at mother's group- a sandwich, Doritos carrot sticks and dip, a slice of sweet bun and 2 more lattes with 2 sugars.
Lunch: An olive ciabatta roll with chicken breast.
Dinner: Spaghetti bolognaise, covered in cheese and 2 glasses of shiraz.
Exercise: none to speak of.
Todays diet:
On rising: hot water with a slice of lemon cooled to room temperature.
Breakfast: 2 pieces of multigrain gluten-free bread, 2 poached eggs with salt and pepper.
Morning Tea: 3 organic carrots cut into sticks- 1 yellow, 1 purple and 1 orange. 2 cups of 'detox' green tea.
Lunch: a handful of popcorn, a banana and 4 falafel pieces.
Dinner: Grilled salmon and steamed veg- carrots, broccoli, asparagus, beans.
Evening 'snack': Herbal tea with a little honey.
over 2 litres of filtered water throughout the day.
Exercise: 40 minutes brisk walking.
Bit of a difference hey?
I'm supposed to do a tongue analysis, acidity test and complete a cravings chart before anything else.
My tongue looks kinda purple and there are dents along the sides. I think the purple hue is a result of last night's red wine but the dents are supposed to indicate stress and fatigue, shortness of breath, over-thinking and worrying. Most of those sound about right, typical mother-type conditions. I searched every chemist in my area for litmus paper to test my acidity levels without any luck, so that's out, and the cravings chart has a long list of food/drink/cigarettes that I may or may not crave. I only got about 4 hours of broken sleep last night so the only thing I really crave right now is a huge strong coffee with lots of sugar. Green tea has to do.
Luckily, it is 'Daddy-Daughter Day', my husband has complete care of our daughter once a week so that I can work, but unluckily I haven't got much to eat past the carrot sticks yet, so I have to go shopping. Off to a local produce market I go and I try to buy organic and free range where possible and spend an inordinate amount of time reading the labels on everything. But everything looks much fresher than it does in the supermarket. I am a little shocked at the prices, the market is far cheaper than the supermarket produce and the chicken and fish is about the same price, for fresh and free-range. I get some stuff I didn't expect to find there, namely brown rice vermacelli and lentils, but I still need to go to the supermarket. When I get there I buy things I never thought I'd buy- $7 goat's milk yoghurt, $9 museli that is wheat, yeast and fruit free and $6 pre-made falafel. I would love to buy the gluten free biscuits but they are all laden with sugar, so that's out. Surprisingly it all costs about the same as a regular shop, even though everything is much better quality, because so much of what I used to buy is completely off the list.
I actually feel a bit light-headed and very tired, but generally fine. None of the nausea, headaches or palpitations that are listed amongst the possible side-effects...so far, so good. I'll write down the list of rules tomorrow and I get to start the day with a 'Liver Flush'...hmmmmmmm
Yesterdays diet:
Breakfast: 2 pieces of wholemeal toast with peanut butter and Vegemite a large double-shot latte with 2 sugars.
Morning Tea: grazing the table at mother's group- a sandwich, Doritos carrot sticks and dip, a slice of sweet bun and 2 more lattes with 2 sugars.
Lunch: An olive ciabatta roll with chicken breast.
Dinner: Spaghetti bolognaise, covered in cheese and 2 glasses of shiraz.
Exercise: none to speak of.
Todays diet:
On rising: hot water with a slice of lemon cooled to room temperature.
Breakfast: 2 pieces of multigrain gluten-free bread, 2 poached eggs with salt and pepper.
Morning Tea: 3 organic carrots cut into sticks- 1 yellow, 1 purple and 1 orange. 2 cups of 'detox' green tea.
Lunch: a handful of popcorn, a banana and 4 falafel pieces.
Dinner: Grilled salmon and steamed veg- carrots, broccoli, asparagus, beans.
Evening 'snack': Herbal tea with a little honey.
over 2 litres of filtered water throughout the day.
Exercise: 40 minutes brisk walking.
Bit of a difference hey?
I'm supposed to do a tongue analysis, acidity test and complete a cravings chart before anything else.
My tongue looks kinda purple and there are dents along the sides. I think the purple hue is a result of last night's red wine but the dents are supposed to indicate stress and fatigue, shortness of breath, over-thinking and worrying. Most of those sound about right, typical mother-type conditions. I searched every chemist in my area for litmus paper to test my acidity levels without any luck, so that's out, and the cravings chart has a long list of food/drink/cigarettes that I may or may not crave. I only got about 4 hours of broken sleep last night so the only thing I really crave right now is a huge strong coffee with lots of sugar. Green tea has to do.
Luckily, it is 'Daddy-Daughter Day', my husband has complete care of our daughter once a week so that I can work, but unluckily I haven't got much to eat past the carrot sticks yet, so I have to go shopping. Off to a local produce market I go and I try to buy organic and free range where possible and spend an inordinate amount of time reading the labels on everything. But everything looks much fresher than it does in the supermarket. I am a little shocked at the prices, the market is far cheaper than the supermarket produce and the chicken and fish is about the same price, for fresh and free-range. I get some stuff I didn't expect to find there, namely brown rice vermacelli and lentils, but I still need to go to the supermarket. When I get there I buy things I never thought I'd buy- $7 goat's milk yoghurt, $9 museli that is wheat, yeast and fruit free and $6 pre-made falafel. I would love to buy the gluten free biscuits but they are all laden with sugar, so that's out. Surprisingly it all costs about the same as a regular shop, even though everything is much better quality, because so much of what I used to buy is completely off the list.
I actually feel a bit light-headed and very tired, but generally fine. None of the nausea, headaches or palpitations that are listed amongst the possible side-effects...so far, so good. I'll write down the list of rules tomorrow and I get to start the day with a 'Liver Flush'...hmmmmmmm
Friday, 24 May 2013
Preparation, the night before...
Well, here it goes, my first blog and my second ever detox. Why? At the age of 36, I find myself married to a great guy, the proud full-time mother of a very energetic 2 and a half year old, own my own house, just started my own business and generally very happy. BUT...and it's a big but, I find myself with a bunch of health problems I shouldn't have. I am getting more sleep than I've had in nearly two years but I have no energy and aching muscles. I retain so much fluid that I actually weigh about 4 kilos more in the afternoon than I do in the morning. For the past 3 years I have had a hideous cough (I quit smoking over 6 years ago) that I can't get rid of and I am sure it is some kind of allergy. Last but certainly not least, I am, at 173cm and 109kgs about 35kilos heavier than my recommended BMI range would have me. Something has to be done.
I have always been the type who scoffs at the health-conscious, those jogging along the beach at 5am when I was just coming home from a night out, those who counted kilojoules, drank wheatgrass juice and weighed themselves constantly, so it seems crazy and a bit humbling that I should be resorting to such an extreme measure as a complete Detox. I love my coffee, chocolate, cheese, wine, bread and red meat, and have always held on to the theory that everything in moderation is fine. However, moderation is not really my strong point and after many years of really pounding my body with a regime of rich food, alcohol and little to no exercise, I feel at least 10 years older than I am.
It was a Chinese ultrasound technician who decided my course of action really, my husband and I taught English in China for our honeymoon and had to complete extensive medical testing for our work visas. We had MRI's, bood tests and a bunch of other fun before the liver ultrasound. I was joking around and found myself interrupted by a little old Chinese lady with narrowed eyes pointing at me accusingly and saying "You fatty liver!", my husband laughed, but only until she fixed him with the same stare and said "You fatty liver too!".
So, a liver-cleansing Detox it is. I researched some of the more popular diets available and decided on Joshi's Holistic Detox. He is lauded by an almost obscene number of celebrities, which is not normally something I'd be interested in, but I feel like I am a late-adopter and all of those other people have already tried and tested this plan, at far greater expense, before me with no ill effects.
There are no supplements, pills or potions to take, just the exclusion of most allergy and acid-causing foods for 3 weeks and then gradual re-introduction of certain foods to see if you have an adverse reaction to any group of foods, say, dairy products. I can't eat any of the goodies mentioned above, along with sugar, fruit (except bananas), dairy, certain vegetables and gluten.
Joshi's premise is that a number of our health problems in Western society are caused by a build up of acid and environmental toxins in the blood and the point of this detox is to rid yourself of these before starting a healthier way of eating for life. I am almost certain that I will be unable to sustain such habits on a long-term basis, but apparently most people who have completed the Detox say their palate has changed and they are uninterested in foods they once craved and enjoyed on a daily basis. I can't imagine not enjoying coffee, chocolate or cheese, but we'll just have to see...
So, here it goes, tomorrow is Day 1- I will post my experiences tomorrow night....
I have always been the type who scoffs at the health-conscious, those jogging along the beach at 5am when I was just coming home from a night out, those who counted kilojoules, drank wheatgrass juice and weighed themselves constantly, so it seems crazy and a bit humbling that I should be resorting to such an extreme measure as a complete Detox. I love my coffee, chocolate, cheese, wine, bread and red meat, and have always held on to the theory that everything in moderation is fine. However, moderation is not really my strong point and after many years of really pounding my body with a regime of rich food, alcohol and little to no exercise, I feel at least 10 years older than I am.
It was a Chinese ultrasound technician who decided my course of action really, my husband and I taught English in China for our honeymoon and had to complete extensive medical testing for our work visas. We had MRI's, bood tests and a bunch of other fun before the liver ultrasound. I was joking around and found myself interrupted by a little old Chinese lady with narrowed eyes pointing at me accusingly and saying "You fatty liver!", my husband laughed, but only until she fixed him with the same stare and said "You fatty liver too!".
So, a liver-cleansing Detox it is. I researched some of the more popular diets available and decided on Joshi's Holistic Detox. He is lauded by an almost obscene number of celebrities, which is not normally something I'd be interested in, but I feel like I am a late-adopter and all of those other people have already tried and tested this plan, at far greater expense, before me with no ill effects.
There are no supplements, pills or potions to take, just the exclusion of most allergy and acid-causing foods for 3 weeks and then gradual re-introduction of certain foods to see if you have an adverse reaction to any group of foods, say, dairy products. I can't eat any of the goodies mentioned above, along with sugar, fruit (except bananas), dairy, certain vegetables and gluten.
Joshi's premise is that a number of our health problems in Western society are caused by a build up of acid and environmental toxins in the blood and the point of this detox is to rid yourself of these before starting a healthier way of eating for life. I am almost certain that I will be unable to sustain such habits on a long-term basis, but apparently most people who have completed the Detox say their palate has changed and they are uninterested in foods they once craved and enjoyed on a daily basis. I can't imagine not enjoying coffee, chocolate or cheese, but we'll just have to see...
So, here it goes, tomorrow is Day 1- I will post my experiences tomorrow night....
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