Days of Detox

Our week of detoxing is over! And, boy, are we glad!

We set out to do seven days.

Last Sunday I made a huge pot of the detox soup (that smelled oh-so-delicious) and chopped up 3 1/2 pounds of carrots into sticks for snacking purposes. I wrote out our menu plan, which went something like this:

Breakfast: 1/2 grapefruit, 1/2 cup of cooked veg's and Cleanse pills
Morning snack: 1 cup detox soup (with rice or quinoa added if desired)
Lunch: Salad
Afternoon snack: 1 rice cake w/ 1/2 avocado or carrot sticks
Dinner: Rice/Quinoa with roasted veggies
Before bed: 1/2 grapefruit, Cleanse pills


We had to drink 3 liters of water (which is a TON) throughout the day and could have as much herbal tea as we wanted. Peppermint ended up being my husband's tea of choice, ginger being mine.

Our first day was the most difficult. Our first taste of the detox soup proved to be extremely disappointing -- it tasted nothing like it had smelled while simmering. Really bummed! Basically, it was mushy veggies and water in a bowl. We added rice or quinoa hoping it would make it more edible. It didn't, but we had to eat it so we chocked it down from that moment on. By 9am my husband was already starving, and my tummy wasn't too far behind in the complaints department. Day One was pretty much our starvation day.

Day Two turned into our grouchy fasting day. We both woke up with splitting headaches and neither of us wanted to eat the bland food that filled our refrigerator. So, we ate as little as possible. This is the day we discovered the delicious combination of avocado spread on top of a rice cake -- pure yumminess! My husband was also dealing with chills and nausea throughout the day (on top of the nasty headache). We were not pleasant to be around and were so ready for the day to end when our heads hit the pillow at 9 pm.

Day Three was much better! We woke up, still with slight headaches, but feeling much more energized and ready for the day. This was also Will's first day back to work since we started detoxing. A much better day!

Days Four through Six were pretty easy. We got the hang of food preparation and our headaches were gone. Will lost his voice (somehow -- he doesn't have a sore throat) and is hoping that will come back soon. Weakness and constant tiredness were our only companions on these days. We had crazy conversations about the sweetness (yes, you read that right) of grapefruit. Proof that our sugar intake was at zero!

By day six, though, we had had enough. It was while I was fixing dinner that we both decided we were just sick of eating the same exact thing for six days straight, so we ended it... one day shy of our goal.

Oh well. The spaghetti and meatballs I cooked for tonight's dinner was so worth it. Not one ounce of guilt whatsoever.

We did lose weight -- my husband more than me, which is the way weight loss seems to go between the sexes.  But, six pounds for me is a good thing. Anything is a good thing! Our appetites have shrunk quite a bit, as well. Another good thing.

Now we start our new eating lifestyle. I'm looking forward to trying new recipes and conquering the challenge of gluten-free baking.