Results of the Detox

I survived the detox! And here are the highlights, lowlights, lessons learned and results…

- I ended up losing about 4 pounds although it is hard to truly say it was a direct result of the detox. I exercised throughout the week as well. Regardless, my pants fit better and I'm looking less puffy.

- I feel good. No more crazy sugar cravings only to be followed by a severe crash. I was feeling very lethargic the last 2 months and I think it's because I went through lots of highs and lows from all the desserts/candy I'd been consuming. You know the cycle… you eat some candy or dessert; you get on a sugar high and then you crash… only to reach for another piece of candy or dessert.

- I cheated a little bit. Look - I'm being honest. I didn't cheat with bad food though so that should count for something. The beginning of the week called for a mix of pumpkin seeds and raw sunflower seeds. So throughout the week if I felt really hungry and had another hour to go before another "meal", I'd munch on some seeds. Nothing out of control.

- I learned that quinoa is f'n amazing. It's my new favorite side dish (in place of rice). Seriously - go try it. It's nutty. It's delicious. Apparently it's good for you.

- I learned that seitan is not good. I was so turned off by the seitan I ate (which technically is cheating on this detox because it's a wheat gluten but they didn't provide veg alternatives so I substituted the best I could) that I don't ever want to try any of the seitan dishes in my vegan cookbooks.

- Never eat raw beets blended in a blender.

- I need a juicer. Once I obtain said juicer, I'm going to retry that beet juice concoction.

- I've learned the value of snacking. So instead of eating huge meals and then feeling so full (to the point where I am on the brink of vomiting)… only to snack throughout the day from feeling tired or bored, I've learned that I should eat smaller meals and snack smartly (i.e. on nuts or something).

- Drinking lots of water = less headaches for me. That's awesome! I think I was just TOO full from eating all day to consume more water so I'd just get terrible headaches at work.

- I've learned that I do have some bit of will power. Go me!

- I missed drinking wine terribly. I don't even drink wine very often but man, I really really wanted some wine during that week.

- The craving for wine led to me drinking an entire bottle on the evening of the last detox day. Is that cheating? The Mr felt that at that point in the detox, I wasn't really detoxing anymore from my body.

- I got some good recipes from this plan! That carrot and ginger dressing? F'n delicious. I made it again on Sunday.

Would I recommend this? Certainly. It's only 7 days and it was a good way for me to break some bad eating habits. Do I think it's feasible to maintain this type of eating for longer than 7 days? No. That would just be a sad life, doncha think?