It's that time of year again, friends. Time to walk away from the tortilla chips, put down the Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale down, and shun all sweets for 21 days (crazy, right?). That's right, it's time for a good ol' fashioned detox.
Every year, in between January and May, I do some type of detox. It's always the same general concept (avoidance of sugar and carbs in all of their sneaky and delicious forms), but the format varies. This year, I've chosen to do the 21-Day Sugar Detox thanks to the recommendation of my friend Simone.
What I love about this plan is that it's based on the Paleo way of eating, which in a nutshell is all about returning to whole foods the way they were long ago; before food was an industry, before government subsidies, before everything we ate came in a package that we bought in a box store, and before cancer and diabetes became part of our everyday realities. Unlike other "diets" or lifestyles, paleo just seems to make sense. There are no points to add up, no calories to count, and no scales to weigh food on (that is ridiculous, by the way). It's all about enjoying meats, veggies, certain nuts, lots of good fat and some fruit, while avoiding grains, gluten, and sugar. Simple.
I plan on using these three weeks to purge some other bad habits (staying up too late, not drinking enough water, drinking too much heavy beer, playing Words with Friends too much, not reading enough, not writing enough, etc.) and get back the things I love most - sleeping, reading, writing.
And speaking of writing more, I'll be blogging each and every single one of these 21 days, and will be sharing the ups and downs of this journey with you, my dear reader. Today is day two, so let me back it up and cover day one.
Day 1
They key to being successful at any detox is being prepared, which I was. I had made meal lists and had done my grocery shopping a few days prior to day one, and I had brought food to work and stashed it in the fridge. I definitely gave myself a gold star for a solid prep effort. So, I woke up on day one and made myself a hearty veggie and egg scramble with a few strips of bacon. I left for work feeling good and ready to take on whatever the day would bring.
Well, one thing the day brought was a rather last minute outreach event that I had to attend for work, from 11:00 - 2:30. Normally I would just grab lunch on the road, but not on day one of a detox. I figured I'd snack on some almonds until I got back to the office. Well, by the time I got back to the office, assembled my salad, and chatted with a few co-workers, it was 3:30, and I was ravenous! I had let my blood sugar crash, and I paid for it the rest of the day.
While my lunch helped the feeling subside a bit, I just never fully recovered from that head-achy, depleted, grumpy feeling. I went home,grabbed a beer, did dishes, cooked dinner (delicious green coconut salmon with bell peppers and cauliflower rice, recipe courtesy of Zenbelly), and was literally in bed before 9:30. For a girl who normally hits the hay around midnight, this was nuts.
So, I learned two valuable lessons on day one:
1) I ate breakfast way too early and lunch way too late. I need to eat breakfast around 9:00 rather than 6:30. I'm not at all hungry at 6:30, plus, it puts too much space in between breakfast and lunch creating unnecessary hunger.
2) I cannot allow my blood sugar to crash like that again. If I have a busy day and need to be on the road during the lunch hours, I need to pack my lunch and bring it with me.
With those lessons learned, I moved on to day two.
Day 2
After nine hours of scrumptious sleep, I was ready to rise and shine at 6:30am. Rather than make breakfast and eat too early, I decided to throw dinner leftovers in a Tupperware and bring 'em to work. Perfection. I think this how I'm gonna roll from here on out.
A few hours later, I assembled a hearty salad with mixed greens, grilleld chicken, avocado, bell peppers, onions, cucumber, cherry tomatoes and goat cheese drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette. It had plenty of protein and fat, not to mention flavor, so it was totally satisfying.
The rest of the day rolled on fairly quickly and without incident. I snacked on some almonds around 4:30, and wasn't hungry for dinner until after 8:00. We had grass-fed beef burgers with all the fixins' and brussel sprouts sauteed in butter and garlic. This was my first time cooking and eating grass-fed ground beef, and it was just ok. I got this particular meat at Trader Joe's, and couldn't help but notice that it was from Australia! First of all, that's a l-o-n-g way for meat to travel. Secondly, one of the things I remember from my visit to Australia is that the meat was awful- like really, really bad. So, I'm gonna chalk up the iffy flavor and texture to Australia (no offense Australia, I love everything else about you!) and hope for better beef next time.
Lessons learned/observations from day two:
1) Getting plentiful sleep set the tone for the entire day. For the first time in months, maybe even years, I was early for the train today. I got to the station and had five - yes FIVE - minutes to kill. Who knew mornings could be so leisurely.
2) I've been drinking a ton of water, and while my bladder is less than thrilled, the rest of me feels hydrated and happy.
3) I should probably quit getting my meat from Australia and look for a local farm. Lesson learned.
Well, that's all I've got for now. I'm off to bed to rest my weary head. Stay tuned for day three!
Well, one thing the day brought was a rather last minute outreach event that I had to attend for work, from 11:00 - 2:30. Normally I would just grab lunch on the road, but not on day one of a detox. I figured I'd snack on some almonds until I got back to the office. Well, by the time I got back to the office, assembled my salad, and chatted with a few co-workers, it was 3:30, and I was ravenous! I had let my blood sugar crash, and I paid for it the rest of the day.
While my lunch helped the feeling subside a bit, I just never fully recovered from that head-achy, depleted, grumpy feeling. I went home,
So, I learned two valuable lessons on day one:
1) I ate breakfast way too early and lunch way too late. I need to eat breakfast around 9:00 rather than 6:30. I'm not at all hungry at 6:30, plus, it puts too much space in between breakfast and lunch creating unnecessary hunger.
2) I cannot allow my blood sugar to crash like that again. If I have a busy day and need to be on the road during the lunch hours, I need to pack my lunch and bring it with me.
With those lessons learned, I moved on to day two.
Day 2
After nine hours of scrumptious sleep, I was ready to rise and shine at 6:30am. Rather than make breakfast and eat too early, I decided to throw dinner leftovers in a Tupperware and bring 'em to work. Perfection. I think this how I'm gonna roll from here on out.
A few hours later, I assembled a hearty salad with mixed greens, grilleld chicken, avocado, bell peppers, onions, cucumber, cherry tomatoes and goat cheese drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette. It had plenty of protein and fat, not to mention flavor, so it was totally satisfying.
The rest of the day rolled on fairly quickly and without incident. I snacked on some almonds around 4:30, and wasn't hungry for dinner until after 8:00. We had grass-fed beef burgers with all the fixins' and brussel sprouts sauteed in butter and garlic. This was my first time cooking and eating grass-fed ground beef, and it was just ok. I got this particular meat at Trader Joe's, and couldn't help but notice that it was from Australia! First of all, that's a l-o-n-g way for meat to travel. Secondly, one of the things I remember from my visit to Australia is that the meat was awful- like really, really bad. So, I'm gonna chalk up the iffy flavor and texture to Australia (no offense Australia, I love everything else about you!) and hope for better beef next time.
Lessons learned/observations from day two:
1) Getting plentiful sleep set the tone for the entire day. For the first time in months, maybe even years, I was early for the train today. I got to the station and had five - yes FIVE - minutes to kill. Who knew mornings could be so leisurely.
2) I've been drinking a ton of water, and while my bladder is less than thrilled, the rest of me feels hydrated and happy.
3) I should probably quit getting my meat from Australia and look for a local farm. Lesson learned.
Well, that's all I've got for now. I'm off to bed to rest my weary head. Stay tuned for day three!
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