how to start a sorta-detox

My friend and her hubs are going to kick the sugar/carb addiction and I'm pretty stoked that she asked me for advice. What a compliment! She has yet to decide whether her two teens will be doing the cleanse too. I don't have kids so I can't really weigh in there. But I can say that the cleanse didn't feel like a diet, so they might not even realize it's going on! So here's my breakdown of how to kick-off a sorta-detox.

1.) may I suggest that you don't look at the scales and that you don't count calories during your time on the sorta-detox? It's hard enough to plan to eat clean. Focus on eating things that are good for you, not worrying about calories. It's a short period of time and you are retraining yourself- don't let yourself get overwhelmed.  If you are hungry, eat. Also, only plan to do it for 10 days. That way you aren't thinking, I can never have a diet coke again and then give up.

2.)  watch one of the documentaries to pump you up before you start planning. If you have netflix search for food documentaries or one of the following:

Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead is a good one if you want to see dramatic change. This one follows a guy that had a litany of health problems (from obesity to a skin disorder) and he went on a juice fast and eventually became so healthy he didn't need his medicine anymore. amazing.
Hungry for Change is the one I watched right before the cleanse and convinced Jeff to get on board too. Although it's production could have been better, (it was a little cheesy) it was very, very interesting. It explains how processed food are addicting.
Forks over Knives is inspiring me to add more meatless meals into my diet. I was already doing that but this doc. really upped the ante focusing on studies which show that plant-based diet can reduce the risks of cancer. (The "knives" in the title is referring to surgery scalpels.)

3.) Pick your "rules." You can pick anything from just kicking out artificial sweeteners to a full scale detox where you go completely vegan and/or wheat free. It just depends on what you want. For me, somewhere in the middle was good.

My rules were nothing refined (foods that have been so broken down that they only have one nutrient: white sugar, high fructose corn syrup, artificial sugar, bleached flour, etc.); no artificial preservatives (sodium nitrates, etc. That means no deli meats, and most salad dressings are off limits.), no hormones (in my meat or dairy); organic for the dirty dozen; and no preventative antibiotics. So my rules allowed natural sugar. I ate honey, maple sugar, and fruit. I was really addicted to sugar and the second day I came home and just ate a spoonful of honey straight. I had to have something! But the honey isn't as addicting because it's whole. I don't think I would have been able to go off natural sugars too although some people do and swear by it. God bless em'.

Hint, if you are trying to save $, skip the organic fruits and veggies- In my opinion the pesticides hurt us less than the hormones and antibiotics, but the good thing about organics (fruit, veggies, dairy) is that they last longer. I don't know why, but they do. I guess when you poison something a little it dies faster. If your goal is just to kick the sugar/carb addiction, obviously you can skip the organics all together.

4.) Plan your 10 days. (or 14, or 30!)  It'll be difficult to stick to the game plan if you don't know exactly what to cook when you get home from work. As you know, cooking from scratch takes longer, so you don't want to be hungry and trying to think of what to have for dinner. (Hint: plan for snacks too.)  Here's what I planned.  (The red bean curry was amazing! The pumpkin spiced oatmeal was not. Surprising, no?)  You don't have to stay on your menu if you feel like free-styling. I mixed my breakfasts around. It's just good to have a game plan mostly for grocery shopping so that you won't have to make a mid-week run.    

5.) Go grocery shopping. Plan that it will take longer than your typical run and expect it to cost a little more. Produce is more expensive than processed carbs. And that's because the way our governmental subsidy system is set up.... but that's a long (and controversial) story. But I can say, it's not going to be as much as you think because you aren't going to have waste and you hopefully won't have to be making little trips to the grocery store on the way home.

6.) Have your last supper! Go out to eat and let someone else cook for you. Enjoy it, realize you aren't giving it up forever, and then pack your lunch for tomorrow!

Your OmNoms in Black & White

If you aren't logging your daily calories, that may be perfectly fine. I have pals that are succeeding in the battle of the bulge by just making better choices and not worrying about the caloric formula. However, if you aren't losing the weight the way you want, may I make a suggestion? Log everything you put in your mouth for two weeks. No need to find out the nutritional information, just write it all down. And if you do log your food already, step back and look at what you've ate over the last two weeks. Why? you might be making the same mistake I was.

I am starting a health assessment with a Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, who just happens to be my sister. Why? I sort of had a little mini breakdown after stepping on the scale this past Wednesday- I had gained all six pounds back that I had lost since the begining of my diet. I couldn't figure out why and I weighed myself like three times. :::this can't be right. this can't be right.::: People in the gym probably thought I was a spaz. It turns out that it was due to run of the mill fluctuation and was back on track the next day. However, that didn't stop me from calling my sister in a panic. "I've been good! I don't understand. I've been running, I've been eating well, I walk my dog at least 45 minutes a day. What's going on? I don't wanna go back!"



source: http://www.promisescomic.com/shop/books/



We talked about fluctuation, the best time to weigh yourself, how often you should weigh yourself (my sister throws the scales out all together), and how just counting calories isn't the most effective or healthy way to loose weight. We also started talking about my motivation for loosing weight and how I was concerned that my hormones and the medicine I went off about three months ago might be contributing to my weight changes. We talked about the hormones and antibiotics hidden in the typical American diet, and a whole host of other health topics.

Long story short, she sends me a health history in the email today- and it includes more than your parent's health histories. It asks things like, "What foods did you eat as a child?" and "What percentage of your food is home cooked?" and "Do you crave sugar, coffee, cigarettes, or have any major addictions?" So this eval got me thinking, "What, really, is my current diet like?" I sat down with my food log of the last 20 days and a highlighter. Turns out I was eating "treats" more often than I thought. I have reduced my intake of that kind of stuff a bunch. And I think if I would have cut them out all together or drastically at first, I would have just given up. But now, after I've had time to wean myself off a bit, I see that there is still a bit too much chocolate and not enough veggies in my diet.
So my point is that even if you aren't using a strict caloric diet, I would suggest reevaluating your diet every so often-just to see if you can make some small changes to up the ante and better your game plan. Just a thought. And, of course, I'll tell you what I learn from the health coach. ;)

Have you ever hit a plateau or'ev become discouraged with slow results? What did you do to recharge your batteries? What did you change to energize your efforts and increase the payout?