(Day 1) - When Life Turns a Page
I have to stop eating. All I’ve done is suck down half a bowl of miso soup and with a few carrots and green onions sparsely floating around, but it was too quick. I get indigestion and belch, nauseous from the food hitting my belly after 24 hours of it grumbling.
Well, it hasn’t been all that bad really. Day one of the detox is a 24 hour fast. And I’ve just made it through. It was nice to have a partner in this. He’d tease me about food and I’d get annoyed and ten minutes later I’d do the same to him. We each almost bit into something or other without thinking. But we kept each other honest. And this bowl of soup is delicious. After a few minutes of waiting for my stomach to adjust to having something to do I am able to finish my soup and the handful of cherries we’ve chosen for dessert.
Getting home from a trip as long and life altering as the one we just pulled back into the driveway from has made this a fitting time for a detox. I’m ready to get things rolling. To clean up and purge this filthy college party house and turn it into something more clean and comfortable and alive. I say it as I look out at the overgrown garden. There is so much to do. And this detox will help clean my body to align well with the clean page I’m creating with the return to this place I once called home.
(Day 2) – Whole Foods
No, not the store. Although I admit we shopped there. Did you know you can pay with Bitcoin through GYFT … Not that we did that. But you can. Today I was ready with whole foods, only fruits and vegetable for the rest of the week. At least that’s the goal. Rob has strayed off to do almost the opposite and try the Keto diet so if you’re into that check out his post. But for me the vibrant colors of fruits and veggies adorn my plate.
For breakfast I made a stir fry with beets, carrots, broccoli, and green onions. I’m also using cold pressed olive oil and balsamic vinegar so I added them to the meal. It was good but not really filling. I also drank English breakfast tea with Pau D’arco and rose petals I gathered in the mountains. It was amazing.
We did a lot of work today in the garden and making a bed so we were both starved by lunch. I made up a colorful salad with arugula greens, Sliced rainbow radishes, sliced rainbow carrots, a little broccoli, some green onions, and a handful of chopped cashews. Oh and my favorite sun gold tomatoes (not from my own garden despite the fact that I can grow all of this except the cashews). I topped them with balsamic and oil.
We got some cold pressed veggie juices and a beet and ginger drink called gut shots and I dipped into those throughout the day too.
And suddenly it was dinner. I couldn’t believe when I looked at the oven clock and it read 6:34. Shit. What should I make? I throw in an acorn squash for about 45 minutes. And then back from my head in the weeds I created a cooked salad by mixing the arugula, radish, broccoli, and onions into the hot acorn squash and again added the oil and vinegar with some spices this time. It was great but the squash was too filling. I had to save about a ¼ of it for later (now). We also finished off our miso soup and topped it off with a plum.
Whole foods are so good! I can’t wait to come up with something tomorrow. Maybe I’ll find something in the yard.
(Day 3) – That Food Allergy Test I Took
Feeling pretty good. Not necessarily any different other than I actually get hungry. I think before the detox I wasn’t hungry often. Did I snack? Not really. I think that I was eating a lot of higher calorie processed foods though and things like breads and meats and cheeses do a better job at filling you up than veggies and fruit. I guess I just need to eat more often. Eventually after the one week is up I will add in other whole foods like meat. I’m still not 100% confident what I want to include in my description of whole foods but I figure something along the lines of the Paleo diet feels right for my body.
I took this food allergy test about a month ago that you can just purchase online. Check it out here. You can order it without a doctor, complete it at home, and get results sent back to you that are easy to understand. I found out I was allergic to eggs! And now I really do notice that it’s true! I don’t think I ever would have figured it out.
Breakfast – Sautéed beets, green onions, arugula, and cherry tomatoes with olive oil and spices.
Lunch and Dinner, well I’m starting to get a bit bored with my options here, stir fry and salad.
(Day 4) – Getting Bored
Not feeling much yet. Made a smoothie of fruits and veggies for breakfast. Starting to crave meat and fats today. Used a lot of olive oil and coconut oil in my stir fries to try to help with that.
(Day 5) – Cheater, Cheater, Meat eater
Woke in a bad mood. Not sure if that has anything to do with the detox.
Well, I cheated tonight. I ate smoked salmon because I couldn’t just watch Rob eat something so delectable without me. I’m still eating veggies and fruit for the next 2 days but don’t feel like I’m seeing any results that make me feel like a detox is really going on. Hmmm.
Rob on the other hand seems like his detox of eating low carbs and mostly meat and fats (keto) is working out pretty well. Seems counter intuitive to me. But I’ll begin eating meat and dairy (mostly just goat dairy) starting in 2 days. Getting excited for that and making my own sourdough from 
(Day 6)- Ketones?
Veggie stir fry for breakfast but I’m starting to get real real bored of veggies. Not as satisfying as it was at first. Really craving a piece of toast or bacon.
I mentioned earlier that Rob is trying out the Keto diet. It’s where he eats very low carbs and mostly meat. Doing this is supposed to raise your ketones and cause your body to run off fat instead of sugar and carbs. My diet however has been veggies and fruits. Much different and from my knowledge is not supposed to cause ketosis. However Rob’s test strips for testing the ketones in your urine showed up today. He was happy to say that the diet seems to be working. A small amount of ketones was found in his test. Then it was my turn, I guess because why not, might as well test and show him that he’s doing better than me. But the test showed that I had higher ketone’s than he did! What? Why?
After some research I think my calorie intake is not enough with just veggies and fruit and since I never planned to lose weight and have my body run off of fat, I’m going to end the diet a little early and take advantage of the nice juicy steak Rob has to offer.
In the coming days I will be eating a ton of probiotic foods which is supposed to be extremely helpful for your body after a detox in that it replentishes your good gut biome.
So much for a Detox … Or was it?
I guess it comes down to what I wanted out of it. I wanted to clean my body up a bit, to expel all of the things that were part of my last year but no longer serve me. And I wanted a transition point to start eating the way I want to eat now that I am in a stationary place with stores I know and foods I have access to. In the van I had a stove and small cooler but now I have a fridge and an oven, and a stove, and a blender, and it’s quite a bit different to cook meals in a home, especially one that is your own.
I guess some people might think that this detox was a failure. But I think it was exactly the transition that I needed. My skin feels cleaner and fresher, I feel healthy, and I feel like I’m at the starting line ready for the whistle to blow.
Ready. Set. Go …
New life started. Goals, dreams, and accomplishments lie ahead.
Have you ever done a detox or cleanse? How’d yours go?