At first I wasn’t going to talk/blog about this. Because I thought it would be boring or give a not so pretty picture or maybe even sound preachy (and man I do not want to sound like any of those). Then for a while it’s all I could think about (I even avoided humans for a day, as I didn’t want to be that girl), but I documented things anyways. Then as I got near the end I sorta thought, “everyone should do a detox” (in the least preachy tone possible) – since I felt so amazing. Now that I’ve been finished for 3+ weeks and this simple detox that I started (with hopes that it might help ease my allergies), still has me feeling amazing and has actually changed the way I continue to eat. So I figured I better just share already, since it’s on the tip of my brain every time I come here.
WHY THE HECK WOULD ANYONE DO A DETOX? Good question, I’m not going to lie I used to be the person who always sorta eye rolled the whole idea. It sounds so brutal and just, why? For me I got fed up (am fed up) with allergies, and heard that for some a detox helped flush enough toxins out of their body that it eased their allergies. Then after doing more research I got more into the idea of a fresh start, per say – flushing toxins from the body. My whole plan to help ease my allergies, didn’t really work – they are less intense, but still there. But it did make me feel crazy amazing, higher energy levels, lighter cleaner feeling all around. The simple 12 day detox I did was enough to break cravings and habits, and allowed me to start fresh and feel amazing doing it.
The detox I choose was not a fast or a juice cleanse (I’m sure those are great for their own reasons too), then one I did was a herbal detox called Wild Rose DTox. After doing a ton of research I felt this was the best one for more, it came with a little can and can’t eat diet booklet (also a pdf file on their site) – it was really easy to follow and didn’t require a whole giant revamp of my fridge (a plus for a frugal lady like myself). It was really gentle and simple, I would highly recommend it – two thumbs up from this girl! *no I was not paid to write this, all honest options only around here.
SO WHAT WAS IT LIKE, AND ALL THAT JAZZY STUFF? I kept a little log of how I felt each day, more for my own curiosity – a detox diary.
DAY 1: Not so bad (I expected a hellish day), but I did feel a whole a lot of “oh my god I want that, and that and that and THAT!” – and a few extra bathroom breaks (the only time I will bring it up) but I still went about my day as I would normally.
DAY 2: Probably the hardest day, by mid day the cravings “give me a butter croissant, a bag of licorice and some salt & vinegar chips or else!” were crazy intense. And I started feeling physically sick, dizzy and SOOOO grumpy – basically I was detoxing like woah! Thought of the day: “don’t look at me, don’t breathe near me”
DAY 3-4: Weak in the knees and a bit uneasy in the belly, but good. Making meals started getting easier as well (I got the hang of what I could and couldn’t eat). Thought of the day: Saw a man eating a slice of pizza, initial thought was to punch him and take the pizza.
DAY 5-6: Lot’s of energy and LOT’S of cravings, also held the super beotch title (like super duper) between the hours of 3-6. Thought of the day: If I eat a loaf of bread fast enough, will my body even notice?
DAY 7-8: I had to actually think back at the end of the day to see if I had a craving, felt so much better and had so much energy.
DAY 9-10: Only 2 more days? I think I could do this way longer, and I sorta want to because I actually feel so super amazing.
DAY 11-12: Sorta mourning the idea of not being on a detox anymore, the herbal supplements I can do without – but the strict eating plan that is accompanied has been surprisingly amazing. It’s strict and limited and way hard to maintain long term, but I feel so good that it has inspired me to take it further – with allowance for a few things (like honey, mushrooms, bananas, tropical fruit, maple syrup, etc).
I cheated twice: kombucha was really hard for me to quit.
stripey tank is c/o American Apparel *goofy pictures c/o King and our goofy picture day.
At first the idea of such a restricted diet was scary. Cooking food for my family and not being able to eat it? How unfair! Or making myself what I thought would be bland foods, I thought it would probably make me dive head first back into old habits when it was all finished. I was way wrong. The first few days were rough, like super detoxing – super beotch rough. But it got better, and then food starting tasting better – I even like my coffee black now! I lost most of the want to just sneak a bite of cheese when I was making my kids a grilled cheese sandwich. And usually the whole family ate pretty close to the same healthy diet that I ate. Also the food I thought would be sorta bland – started tasting so much better, simple flavors stood / stand out more without all the fluff in the way.
So now I’m 3 weeks post detox and I have stayed totally off gluten, dairy and refined sugars. And our household diet is more of a mix of clean eating, gluten free and vegan / vegetarian then ever before – we still live the moderation life, but more moderation of only the good stuff. The amazing feeling I felt during my detox has stuck around, and my bad eating habits and cravings are gone (I still dream of an ice cold beer, but I am reminded how great I feel without it). I literally feel so amazing that I would recommend this to anyone, hence why I decided to write a post. I actually think it could be an key ingredient to a lifestyle change (I’d say diet but I think a healthy lifestyle change is much better and maintainable) – 12 days is enough to break habits and stop cravings. I highly doubt I ever would have stopped eating cheese or gluten if I hadn’t done the detox first *my plan right now is to stay away from gluten, dairy and refined sugars for as long as possible – if I falter or cheat every once in a while that’s ok too.
WHAT DO I / DID I EAT? Everything from scratch, basically clean eating with a lot of minuses or subs of things. My pinterest boards for vegan and vegetarian food, and regular dinners have been my personal recipe book / meal planning guide (I actually use them for good) – if the regular recipe is healthy to begin with, subbing in non gluten and dairy free things are pretty easy to do.
So what do you think, would you ever do a detox? Or are you already a believer or an eye roller?
Chris and me have tried several ‘diets’ and found them all hard to follow. Then we made a lifestyle change and feel waaaay better.
I agree, impossible to keep up with – so awesome you two!
Sounds interesting. I could do with hitting the restart button as I just gave birth two months ago. Can you share some sample meals you ate? 🙂
Everything from scratch and very clean: Lot’s of quinoa "stirfrys", channa masala, roasted veggies, salads, hummus on roasted veggies, poached egg on salads – I have a ton of links in my pinterest food boards, I mostly used those as my recipe headquarters and minused items that weren’t allowed in the detox.
ooh so exciting!!! I’m definitely gonna try, thank you for posting. I’ve been a follower of yours on Instagram and Pinterest… I don’t know why I’m just now getting to your blog-I love it!
Oh thank you so much! Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
I tried to start a detox before summer and I kinda chickened out..I must try again! I was trying the juicing one. So maybe this would be better. I am already a vegetarian (have been my whole life) so I just have to eliminate the refined sugars and eat less cheese…ahhh my favorite! I will definitly go check out your pinterest board for receipe ideas!
I have always been so intrigued by the juicing one, but for me I’m allergic to a few raw fruits and veggies so thought it would be too hard. I would suggest this one, it was really great, lot’s of cutting out but still able to eat so much.
Ah! I too am allergic to raw fruits and veggies! All root veggies and all fruits with a seed….uhh that’s a lot. I find as time goes it’s less and less bad though. But in juices I can barely feel it. (It’s not so much as an allergie but actually an intollerance for me, my lips can swell up and my throat, tongue and pallet itch!) But in a juice I find that it’s really ok.
So far I have just added juicing as a lifestyle choice..like instead of a great big meal I’ll drink up a juice with something super light beside if anything at all, this way I get more veggies/fruits in my day 🙂