Thoughts on the detox

So, I did a 10 day detox. Actually, I am still in the midst of it as I am slowly adding things back into my diet. What did I accomplish from this time?

Well, mostly I was looking at it as a reset button. A time to get bad things out of my body and think about what I thought was a healthy lifestyle for me. I do think I accomplished that. I must admit, however, that thinking about the fact I was detoxing in January led to a bit of overdoing it in December so there was more "junk" for me to withdraw from than I would have liked.

I felt energized. I didn't need my cup of coffee in the morning (well, after a few days that is). My body did not feel sluggish in the morning. My body was not exhausted at night. I think I slept better and deeper. After the first couple of days, my mind felt clearer too. There were days, however, that I did not feel very strong when I was working out BUT I still had the energy to get through the workout, just with lighter weights.

I am realizing that lifestyles and diets are very personal. There are a plethora of options out there but you have to do some work to find out what works for YOU. For me, I am learning to consider more what I choose to eat in my day to day life. I know this may not be the case for everyone but the typical healthy lifestyle of whole grains and such just didn't seem to be working for me. I need to consider what I think will best support my activity level, my genetics, and my goals.

The thing about the detox was that it was easy to live with. I could eat what was on the list and I couldn't eat what wasn't on list. Even in the days that it was just certain veggies, apples, and pears, I knew that if it wasn't one of those items, I didn't eat it. My mind could think about other things and not what I should eat. For me, there wasn't much mental stress involved. The booklet had a lot of recipes but I only used a few. I actually am good with just eating steamed broccoli, sauteed spinach, etc.

I didn't eat out at all during this time. 10 days without going out to lunch or dinner. This showed me that I can actually pack my lunches. I can actually make dinner (although Tim did do a some of the cooking and prep for me). I know seeing dinners out as special occasions and not as "I don't know what to make for dinner" occasions is smart and DOABLE.

I noticed way too much advertising for food during this time. Advertising about things that I wouldn't even choose to eat if I weren't detoxing. Man, when did food become so complicated? There is way too much over stimulation when it comes to food choices! I wish we could go back to the time where you grew, hunted, raised what you ate and what you couldn't do yourself, you traded and bartered for. Well, maybe I don't wish we could go back to those days completely but I do wish we could raise some of our own food. Some day. When we are not such suburbanites.

A friend asked if I lost weight on the detox. She knew that wasn't the reason I was doing it (and it wasn't) but was curious. The honest truth is that I know I lost weight but I have no idea how much. You see, I didn't weigh myself to start the detox. I didn't want the lack of scale movement to derail me from the 10 days. I only weighed at the middle point and the end. I lost a few pounds. I know these are pounds that I gained during the months of November and December but they are gone now.

So, there are my thoughts on the detox. I will be posting soon about where I am going from here. Remember it is important to have goals but you also have to set up the steps to accomplish those goals!