The Reluctant Detox Partner

That is me … the reluctant detox partner. Brian and I just finished the 3 week detox plan based on the 2012 Whole Living Action Plan. I joined in on this eating plan to support Brian. The idea of eating a 3 week vegan detox, a 3 week vegan diet, and 6 week vegetarian diet was NOT on my resolution list for this year. I love cookies and hot tea and … well, a lot of stuff that we suddenly aren’t eating. That being said I joined in to support Brian’s efforts, I survived and so can you.

How did it go for me?

• The first week and half I craved cookies ALL OF THE TIME. Yes, all of the time. I wanted cookies. I missed my morning hot tea like crazy. It is cold out and I wanted something warm not a smoothie.
• On the topic of smoothies, the smoothies were surprisingly OK. The berry smoothie and carrott-mango smoothie are the only two I recommend though. They are also the only two we still make.
• Lunches have been salads for three weeks. It is boring but I am OK with salads. I like salads. I like olives and mushrooms on my salads so that adds variety. We also discovered the olive bar at the grocery store so that has  made my salads more fun.
• Dinners left something to be desired though. This is not a bash on Brian’s cooking but just that they left me hungry … a lot.  Eating roasted veggies for dinner just doesn’t seem like dinner … even now. Sorry, babes.
• I learned to snack. I snacked before this but I snacked on cookies and whatever else was around (like that candy bowl on my desk at work.) I learned to snack on fruit and nuts. My favorite evening snack is apples with peanut butter. Thank goodness for peanut butter … it saved me these past three weeks.
• The people that tell you feel better while detoxing and that you will have tons of energy and you will just love it … are smoking something or on crack … or don’t have kids and a job and a life. To be honest, I felt like CRAP the whole time we were on the detox. I found out the last week that this is normal. (Where was that warning when I agreed to do this?!?!) Most people do claim to have energy but feeling crap left me sleeping like crap. Plus we have three kids that run us ragged on a normal day and left me more tired than normal (I didn’t know this was possible!). Anyway, I felt sick the whole time. Today is two days after detox and I feel normal for the first time and am so happy about feeling normal!

Was the detox worth it?

I really want to say no because it took so much self control that I didn’t know I had. But I can’t say it wasn’t worth it. It was worth it.

Even though it is a sin, I learned to say no to the chocolate cake left in the work kitchen. (I still feel guilty over that and that was THREE weeks ago!) I learned to enjoy fruit and peanut butter as a snack. I learned to live without my hot tea in the morning. I remembered to drink water because everything else was off limits. The icing on the cake that I wasn’t allowed to eat was that I lost weight. I am down about 9.5 lbs.  Not bad for three weeks of watching what I eat and not finding any more time to exercise than before (which is no time right now!)

Would I do it again? Probably … but not right away. I think I will need some chocolate cake before I try again!

Have you ever detoxed? If so,what was your experience?
Are you considering a detox? If so, what are your questions about the one we did? Leave me a comment and let me know!!