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!

"He that takes medicine and ignores his diet, wastes his doctor's time"- Chinese Proverb

Going Old School: Meatless Fridays

Today is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. Part of Lent is sacrifice, including abstaining from meat on Fridays. It used to be that Catholics would abstain from meat every Friday throughout the year. (Catholic pals, check this out. I didn't realize we were supposed to be keeping up Friday penance!)  Now, most American Catholics only observe the practice during Lent. 

Here's what I'm having for dinner (no pun intended).  I'll let you know how it turned out.

As usual, something we are supposed to do for our spiritual health has a collateral benefit. 

Now there are secular movements which recognizes the benefits of abstaining from meat once a week as the old school Catholics did and do. In a nutshell, "Going meatless once a week may reduce your risk of chronic preventable conditions like cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity. It can also help reduce your carbon footprint and save precious resources like fresh water and fossil fuel." source

Sugar Addict

This weekend I went home. I got to see my parents and my dog got to be spoiled... and run around untethered in the snow... and bark at deer that were so not afraid of him. When my Dad offered to take me out, I pounced. He did not need to ask my restaurant preference, knowing that I have become an Italian food snob. It's true. Whenever somebody suggests getting Italian here in my new town, I openly scoff and make a grade-A jerk of myself. "There is no real Italian food in this town." So we happily braved roads that were too icy for sensible folks and traversed into the next county. We didn't even have to wait for a table on a Saturday night because the roads were so crass. I even overheard the waitstaff planing an early close. But, God bless em', they didn't kick us out. I had a sort of shrimp primivera and even requested the whole wheat pasta. pats self on back. My true success was eating only half a wonderful parmesan graced bread stick. Drool. All and all, I did pretty well. Because I was still under my caloric goals and because I had been doing so well on my clean eating, I ordered a chocolate mouse to share with the table. Apparently was the most interested in it, and ended up eating half of it even though there were five around the table. Even still, I didn't regret it. It was wonderful and delicious.

The issue arose the next day... my sugar cravings were back full force. The next morning the box of chocolates my mom lovingly gave me for Valentines day were calling to me. When we traveled down to visit the future-hubs' dad, he had krispy kreme filled doughnuts and, as always, those dark chocolate bite size bars. It took every ounce of my will-power to avoid falling off the wagon. Seriously, it was so weird. That stuff always tempts me, but I've realized that I'm a bit of an addict. I don't mean to compare myself to people that are addicted to drugs or alcohol, I don't want to minimize the severity of those people's plight, but I mean, that white sugar makes me crazy! I can hardly control myself! But when I went on this cleanse, it really helped. I swapped in natural sugars like honey and maple syrup to get me through, and wouldn't you know it, my cravings became manageable. I didn't feel out of control. I could look at a piece of candy and say, eh, that's not really worth it and be done with it. It didn't constantly call my name.

Well it turns out that I'm not 100% crazy.

source: wikipedia

"The Journal of Psychoactive Drugs stated in a study published in 2010 that sugar releases euphoric endorphins in some people's brains in a manner very similar to that of certain drugs which are commonly abused.

"Sugar addiction" follows the same pathways in the brain that a habit-forming drug does. Fortunately, sugar cravings can be stopped within a week of withdrawing from the white crystals.

The entire scope of drug addiction has been observed in people with sugar addiction. There are cravings, an escalation of tolerance levels, and dramatic withdrawal symptoms associated with sugar addiction that parallel that of both prescription and non-prescription "street" drugs. In addition, sugar addicts often become narcotic addicts, according to the above study." http://www.naturalnews.com/037337_sugar_addiction_habits_raw_honey.html#ixzz2K2oVDOBd

Anyone else out there a bit of an addict with certain kinds of food? Think I'm nutso and overreacting?

sorta-detox, day 9: Nearly there, and Lent nearly here.

Nearly there

The sort of detox is nearly over. Tonight we are having an encore of the favorite new recipe, chicken curry over brown rice. And then tomorrow night we are all going out to eat where we will not scour the menu for something that fits within our guidelines. I'm looking forward to my Pink Lady Sushi Roll of Crab, Masago, Cucumber, Avocado, Crunch, Soy Wrap, with Creamy Spicy Sauce. Drool! However, I will not order a diet coke- a new habit I want to keep- I still crave a big fountain soda, but no more pop for yours truly.

My goal was to post more throughout these ten days, including our recipes, victories, and defeats. I will likely post the successful recipes a little later, but for now, I simply give you a very simple, blank meal planner that you can hopefully print for your own healthy eating goals.

Meal Planner
	Breakfast	Lunch	Snack	Dinner	ingredients needed	prep ahead tonight
Saturday
Sunday
M
T
W
Th
F

I've found it takes far more time than expected to eat whole, or clean, or whatever you want to call it. It's a lot harder to get more calories than you need when there is no instant gratification and when you plan your meals. I haven't felt deprived, other than when I want something specific (cookies, ice cream) or just immediately (drive throughs). We've ate like kings yet we've lost weight. But the absolute best thing is that I haven't had headaches. Usually I get a headache every other day. Sometimes more, sometimes a little less- but through these ten days I haven't had more than an, 'I'm hungry headache' that went away within five minutes of eating. I don't know if the headaches are synced with my hormonal cycle so I've made another meal plan for the next 10 days and see if I can keep this thing going. I'm really curious to see if I'll go another stint without a headache.

Lent nearly here

Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, is really early this year: February 13th, in fact. I suspect my Lenten exercise will have something to do with this little sorta-detox experiment. I usually try to pick one of the seven deadly sins/heavenly virtues to work on in a specific way. Wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony. Last year was greed, only spending what I had to so that I would give the extra to a charity. Before that was sloth, getting up as soon as the alarm went off, not putting off tasks, exercising, and other ways of practicing diligence.  Sometime before that was pride, avoiding mirrors- (I think I misunderstood pride a little back then.) It's been awhile since I've hit gluttony, and I think this year I should revisit it. The last time I worked on gluttony/temperance I simply fasted, to better understand hunger, which so many of my brethren live with, and to practice the ancient tradition which I had never really fully embraced. This year, perhaps I'll continue on this path of whole foods and change it a little to make Lent special. I've learned that when you only eat what you've prepared and only whole foods, it can shift your thinking from living to eat to eating to live. I've not once ate out of boredom or regretted eating something these past ten days. I've been truly hungry each time I've ate and each meal has nourished me, not just filled me up. I plugged in a few of my days to my fitness pal, curious about the amount of potassium I was getting instead of trying to squeeze the most out of my caloric alotment. (Turns out I was coming in under the caloric budget every day, even with snacks)
Often when I say grace, I try to quickly realize where each food comes from, what it took to get in front of me, and pray for that farmer, or thank God for the animal, etc. With this practice, that process can happen earlier are allow you more time to consider it when you are cooking, and sometimes even when you are shopping. You feel and wash each item. When you do buy something packaged, you read the ingredients. Any ideas on how I could incorporate this eating exercise into a Lenten practice would be welcomed in the comments section.

sorta-detox day one

Yesterday's dinner was the first meal on the "sorta-detox" - After a busy Sunday, the four of us went to Sam's Club to look for what we could (fruits and veggies not on the dirty dozen and some organic greens) and then to Martin's (our local grocery) for the rest. It was somewhat expensive, (especially organic cheese!) but not as bad as we expected. Looking at every label did make the shopping experience a long one, even with dividing and conquering . okay boys, you go get chicken and steak. We're going to go get seeds, cheese, and beans!

Then we got to my place and started making dinner and lunches for the next day. One of our sorta-detox cronnies had a bible study the next evening so we assembled the prep for her dinner too. Actually cooking, even a simple meal of a london broil, microwaved sweet potato, and sauteed green beans, takes a long time on a school night! I knew that already, I mean I cook more complicated menus than that for guests, but I guess it just seemed super long because I realized we'd be doing that every night for 10 days. I was pooped after we finally got my kitchen clean.

But the fruit of our labor was something that reminded me of home. I had a colorful plate that had been made with the food groups in mind and was meant to nourish us, not just fill us. It was great, and it made me appreciate my mom. Years and years she had worked full time and came home to cook me a balanced dinner. She rarely picked something up from a fast food resturant and always made sure that there was a meat, a fruit, and a veggie on my plate. That took time, that took sacrifice, and that took love. And it made me want to read this.

Alas, I forgot my prepared steak salad and delicious homemade balsamic vinaigrette in my fridge this morning! Grumble grumble. I guess I have my lunch for tomorrow on deck. So I had to track down a meal in this city an hour from my apartment. It was harder than I thought. I ended up going to a restaurant that toted itself online as being organic, but once I got in there, I didn't see any mention of organics. I tried to get something safe, I asked for the veggie veggie sandwich but on a salad. I suspect the pepper jack cheese in it was not organic, but I made the best out of what I had available and didn't veer too far off of the diet plan. It was just frustrating to have to go off the plan before 24 hours had past.

Anywhosal, below I've posted my shopping list and menu plan. (Which we've already adjusted because the grocery store ran out of broccoli- have you ever heard of such a thing?) The main idea of planning it out was to have a grocery list with minimal waste, limited amounts of sugar, and the other food groups balanced. I highlighted things like wheat, dairy, meat, and sugar to keep a visual of what each day looked like. I wanted to be sure that I didn't fall into my usual ruts of eating too many carbs, etc. I'll post some of the recipes as we go.  :)

P.S. Did you know how delicious a baked sweet potato is?! I didn't! I'd only ever tried to make them as fries and this was wayyyy better! They just came out of the microwave and we sprinkled cinnamon on them and boom. Freakin' like candy.

PROTEIN

ÿ        Eggs

ÿ        Chickpeas

ÿ        Red Kidney Beans

ÿ        Ground Turkey

ÿ        Chicken

ÿ        3 steaks

VEGGIES

ÿ        Onion

ÿ        Red Onion

ÿ        Carrots

ÿ        Peppers (Red)

ÿ        Tomatoes

ÿ        Avocado

ÿ        Green Beans

ÿ        Salad

ÿ        Garlic

ÿ        Mushrooms

FRUITS

ÿ        Apples

ÿ        Pears

ÿ        Oranges

ÿ        Lemon

DAIRY

ÿ        Feta

ÿ        Parmesan

ÿ        Cheddar

ÿ        Plain yogurt

OTHER FOOD

ÿ        Cilantro

ÿ        Flat leaf parsley

ÿ        Beef broth

ÿ        salsa

OTHER OTHER

ÿ        Disposable dressing containers

ÿ        nut milk bag

	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks or Dessert
Sunday	X	X	Salad, Sweet Potato, Broccoli, Steak
Monday	Yogurt, granola, almond, fruit parfait	Roasted Veggies Tomato Soup w mozz and a side salad with cucumbers, broccoli, red onion, chick peas	Mediterranean veggies and chicken w side of steamed broccoli	Oatmeal and raisin stuffed apples
Tuesday	Oatmeal with nuts, cranberries, and maple syrup	Salad w Grilled Chicken, black beans,  avocado	Red Kidney Bean and Curry over brown rice
Wednesday	2 Soft boiled eggs and a piece of cheese	Brown rice, chicken, black bean, avocado, salsa bowl	Warming lentil and sweet potato salad	Pumpkin granola
Thursday	Green smoothie with protein powder	Peanut butter on  apple slices, Tomato Soup	Salad, 100% Whole wheat bread (from my 5 minute a day book) Panini’s  (caramelized onion, roasted red peppers, cheese, Chicken)	Vanilla roasted pears
Friday	Pumpkin spiced oatmeal	Greek chicken salad	Bulgur Salad w Chickpeas, Roasted Red Peppers ,Spiced Cumin Dressing	Almonds and dried cranberries
Saturday	2 Soft boiled eggs and a piece of cheese	Pesto Salad Tomatoes and Mozzarella Some protein?	Quinoa and lemon chicken
Sunday	Yogurt, granola, almond, cranberry parfait	Curried apple chicken salad over salad	Roasted veggies and turkey meatballs	Peanut butter on whole wheat English muffin
Monday	1 orange 1 egg	Pear, cranberry, feta, balsamic salad w leftover Quinoa	Turkey Chili	Cherry, walnut, cocoa cookie
Tuesday	Apple Chia seeds and yogurt	Curried apple chicken salad over salad	Salad with Pears and Gorz and bals. Mushroom Bourguignon Sautéed Green beans
Wednesday!	2 Soft boiled eggs and a piece of cheese	Turkey Chili	Chicken m’room marsala  with Green beans

sorta detox, t-minus 3 days.

I gotta text from a good friend last night. A friend that I grew up thisclose with, a friend I got to stand behind at her wedding, and a friend who's daughter is the cutest thing since puppies were invented.

pal:

"Read your blog. You need to read it starts with food. I did a whole 30 challenge in October. Lost 10 pounds. Was hard but worth it. You can do this."

First off: Yay! Someone read my post! lol.
Secondly: How sweet to send me some encouragment!
Third of all: Wow. Can't wait to hear more about it. She gave me the okay to post our convo, so here's the email thread that ensued. (Is that a thing, an email thread? Whatever, you get the picture.)  It contains some of those documentaries I promised and even a recipe that sounds pretty tasty!

pal:

here's the websitehttp://whole9life.com/category/whole-30/

I read the book - and was inspired - mostly for my MS and trying to reduce a lot of inflammation - so i challenged myself and did it for 30 days
it was hard - and sometimes my stomach was pissed off b/c I was detoxing but it was so worth it
I'm doing it again right now - well sort of - until after I get over this terrible cold or whatever I have - but I don't eat dairy, sugar, grains, or even vegetable oils just everything in true form
so meat, veggies, and some fruit. You sleep better at the end of it and you feel better i also perform better at yoga when I do it.

moi':

Has it helped your inflamation any?  Is whole 30 just this inspirational newsletter or do they give you a meal plan?
Was it difficult to plan all these meals? Did the hubs do it with you?
Did you have a specific imbalance that needed to cut dairy and sugars (in grains and sugar form)? Do you eat legumes?

I watch these documentaries and have read these type of books in the past- I think they can get a little conspiracy theory, or a little extreme, but really, I do think we eat to much crap. And I'm on board for watching/reading this stuff if it gets us thinking and fired up to make a change. (That Jamie Oliver can grind on your gears because he gets overly theatrical and seems to exploit people, but hey- a wake up call, is a wake up call) I don't think it's necessary to juice everything that goes into your mouth, but I do eat WAY too much crap. And for people trying to figure out what's going on with their bodies (like Joe Cross from Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead), I think it's such a common sense approach to cut out everything, see if you feel better, and then slowly add stuff in. I know like 3 people that have discovered their gluten intolerance by doing that.

I went to the grocery store last night and bought some "health" foods: chia seeds, apples, spinach, organic milk, bulgar, real maple syrup (for sugar replacement), whole wheat english muffins and maybe a couple other things. It ran me like $50. It was just a few small bags and I was like, what's wrong with our food system that it costs way more to eat foods that have less done to them.  ... Well actually I know why because I took a course on farm policies in law school, but it's no wonder we're all overweight and sick.  I know that most of those things are cut from Paleo methods- I might do that sort of cleanse for lent. But right now I'm mostly concerned about isolated nutrients, preventative antibiotics, and added hormones... the hormones really freak me out.

What kind of yoga do you get into? With a group or at home?
 
... can I post our convo on my blog?

Miss you, hope the family is well.

 

See, told you I asked permission.

pal:

Yes, it has helped my inflammation. Between watching mostly my gluten intake (i rarely eat breads etc) I haven't had an epsisode in a long, long while. In fact, I can say that I have a nasty cold right now and my legs haven't went numb - usually I'll go numb while I"m sick so something is going right. I know its partially conspiracy theory too - but I honestly believe wheat is a huge problem in this country. Another very fantastic read is Wheat Belly - give it a shot too - it talks about how wheat of the 1950's is not the wheat we eat today and has been genetically modified as well. So the wheat is affecting people differently.

[Hubs] didn't do it when me the first time- ther ewasn't really a meal plan but usually my day would go breakfast: eggs and avocado, lunch would be a salad with protein and homemade dressing and nuts. dinner would be steak, sweet potato, and a green veggie  - rinse and repeat  - it got a bit old - I know that this whole30 thing is HUGE in the crossfit world - so I'm not as hardcore as some people.

I do agree it's insane about prices - we do try to stick to organic milk - as for organic fruits and veggies - I try to buy only organic from the dirty dozen - organic bananas aren't necessary, but organic strawberries are better to buy.

Fun fact about organic milk - it stays fresh longer - i know its weird, but it does. Organic strawberries do too in the fridge. Also I feel you on the real maple syrup - ITS FREAKING INSANE how expensive some stuff is.

For a nice yummy breakfast I make this as a cereal replacement - http://paleomg.com/pumpkin-granola/ IT'S DELICIOUS.

I watched Fat Sick and Nearly Dead too - made me want to juice everything!!!

I honestly think staying away from processed foods in general is the best form - ive been looking at ingredients more and when I can't pronounce something its probably not a good idea.

I go to a yoga studio 4 times a week for an hour or hour and a half at a time. Keeps my anxiety at bay and you can post what you want. :)

Did you read that? Her diet is helping her control her Multiple Sclerosis, an autoimmune disease that affects the brain and spinal cord (central nervous system). WOW!

moi':

That's awesome! I'm so glad you aren't having episodes. That right there is amazing, and like you said, something is going right. 

Yea, I watched King Corn, read the Omnivore's Delima and just some other articles and so forth in my Agriculture and Rural Lands Law class- so have a little bit of an understanding of the modified wheat thing. I mean, all that stuff seems like a good idea at first- more food, less $, more people eat. But now we are realizing that this stuff is having unintended side effects. I have a friend who's involved in the agricultural world and she get's upset when people attack modern farming practices because it's necessary to feed everyone at the prices we're accustomed too. And she's partially right I think, we have to realize that we as consumers have somewhat chosen these practices, and most American's cannot afford to eat whole foods like we're suggesting. What really gets me up in arms is when food companies use science to trick and mislead consumers. So like, MSG making us fat, or using addictive isolates.  As an aside, did you know one of the reasons corn is used in everything is because we subsidize it so much that big farmers are pretty much forced into using/growing it. And one of the reasons we subsidize it is because we are using leftover fertilizer (nitrogen) from the second world war. That stuff is pretty interesting.

Yea; the organics lasting longer thing is wild! Why that is!? I feel like it sets off the cost a little bit- I never have to throw organic milk away before I get to use it. I didn't realize that organic fruits lasted longer. I guess that makes sense though- there's no poison on them. I wonder about rasberries... I never buy rasberries because they go bad so quickly, especially for the price. 

Pal:

That makes a ton of sense about the industry and feeding everyone.
Next summer maybe think about joining a CSA with [future hubs]- i'm sure your area has them.
I do mine all year round it just depends, but for example = for the summer - I pay a flat fee and go pick up fresh vegetables at a farm about 3 miles from my house. It's great - CSA - community shared agriculture. I get some delicious local foods and don't worry about pesticides etc b/c she's an organic farm. http://www.localharvest.org/

sorta detox

So if you read this blog, you likely know me in real life, and may have heard my relatively recent understanding about how all sin is a perversion of something that was originally good and how such perversions are intrinsically harmful to our health (whether it be physically, emotionally, or as a society), often in ways that we don't recognize. So when God instructs us not to do something, it usually is for our own benefit. For example, sex outside of marriage and masturbation is a perversion of the sexuality God gifts us and harms our current or future spouse, ourselves, and harms society as a whole, messing with an individual's or society's ability to commit and creates families that have the odds stacked against them.

I also think that the root of most of our food/weight issues follow this same framework. Gluttony is a perversion of enjoying the bounty God provides for us. And it makes us fat, sick, and sad. God gave us diligence to work for his Glory, or 'stick-with-it-ness' to overcome difficulties in life. The human body is perfectly made for labor, but when we move away from that we embrace sloth. Sloth is a perversion and it makes us fat, sick, unsuccessful, and sad. On this note, I have also been more aware of the theory that when we mess with the make up of our food, we are treading this line of perversion that may harm us in ways we don't know. 

When we shove all our beef into concentrated animal feeding operations ("CAFOs") the cows stand in their own excrement, therefore we have to prevent them from getting sick and passing that sickness onto other animals and to us by using preventative antibiotics. That paired with growth hormones or steroids makes for some pretty altered food. I'm not saying that doctoring sick animals is bad, and I'm not saying that you're going to Hell for eating McDonald's. However, what I am saying is that this dramatic alteration of our food may be harming us in ways we don't understand. We're building tolerances to antibiotics, we're finding more and more people with endocrinology problems (raises hand), and even fish in our water supply are showing the effects of our country's dependence on medicinal hormones. http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/what-the-pill-is-doing-to-our-water-supply/

So, I'm swearing off soda, foods that have been genetically modified, and foods that have been so broken down that they only have one nutrient (white sugar, high fructose corn syrup, artificial sugar, bleached flour)for 10 days. I'm also skipping any artificial preservatives (sodium nitrate, that means no deli meats), picking organic fruits and veggies when able ($), and most importantly, avoiding any animal, or animal product, that has been raised with steroids, other hormones, or preventive antibiotics.

source: smitten kitchen

I'm only doing this for 10 days for a few reasons. #1. I'm expecting it will be expensive. #2 It's going to take a lot of meal planning, beyond what I usually do. #3 I'm addicted to carbs, breads, and cookies and to find/bake without processed flour and sugar is going to be very difficult for yours truly.  Fortunately though, I have two buddies willing to take the plunge with me to spur me on and to help absorb some of the duties of cooking and the cost of the groceries. I really shouldn't call it a detox because we're still going to eat a small amount of : complex carbs, sugar in the form of honey, meat, and dairy. Really, we're just trying to eat the way we should be already and searching for food in its original form without excessive poking and prodding from the food industry.

Here's an example of what a day will likely look like:

  Breakfast                                    Lunch                                        Dinner

Pumpkin spiced oatmeal

Greek chicken salad

Bulgur Salad with Chickpeas, Roasted Red Peppers and Spiced Cumin Dressing

See, no deprivation. But none of the foods are instant and they are in their original form.

If this is a success and isn't as difficult as we thought, I'm planning on doing a longer diet for lent.

I'll post my whole 10-day meal plan with some of the recipes here in a few days in case you want to do it with us. We start the 6th and go until the 16th.

I'll also post some of the names of documentaries that are great motivation for changing your diet. They are better at explaining how the body works with processed foods than I can explain. Sometimes they can get a little preachy and conspiracy laden, but they'll inspire you to forgo the 3pm diet coke and cheetos.......... Jesus help me; I love me some cheetos.