Day Four... Only three more days left!

Today was so far the best day. And I believe it was all due to a healthy morning breakfast. Even though I goofed and left part of my lunch and snack at home today, it was still overall a good day in the land of detox. I survived, ate too much broccoli & arugula soup for lunch, and surprisingly didn't feel very hungry. Cravings and the desire to quit still haunted me a bit, but they weren't as severe as before. I guess this is progress?

Real Menu
7:30a: Glass of lemon/raspberry water
8a: Eggs with mushrooms and spinach
9:30a: Wild Sweet Orange Tea with honey
11a: Apple
1p: Broccoli & Arugula Soup
4p: Dried Mango Slices
7p: Orange
8:30p: A few cucumber slices with olive oil & lemon juice
9p: 2 cups of popcorn (lightly salted)

Sample Menu
7am (or upon rising): Glass of room temperature lemon water
8am: Herbal tea
10am (breakfast): Mango and Coconut Milk Smoothie (follow method for Blueberry and Almond Smoothie)
11:30am: Coconut water
1:30pm (lunch): Miso Soup with Watercress
4pm (snack): A handful of blueberries
6pm (dinner): Steamed Salmon and Greens

Day Three - This Must Be What It's Like to Have an Addiction

I almost gave up again today. I feel like that's going to be a daily occurrence. And this whole thing would be a bit easier if I got up early enough to eat a proper meal for breakfast, but... I'm lazy. I like sleep. I also like cheese, as my brain keeps reminding me. Being stuck at work late, unable to eat the tasty snacks in the office kitchen, make a detox-er just a liiiittle bit crazy. I must have gone back and forth between reasons why I should just give up now and why I should suck it up and keep going. Luckily, I keep sucking it up. I feel like I'm a junkie going cold turkey. Ok fine, maybe it's not THAT severe, but that's what my brain is associating it with.
And because of that, I'm keeping this short... here's my menu for the day.

Real Menu
9am: Glass of lemon/raspberry water
10am: Herbal Tea
10:30a: Banana
11a: Orange
1p: Thai Chicken Salad (no dressing)
4p: Grapes & Blueberries
9p: Peach & Raspberry Smoothie
9:30p: Stir-Fried Asparagus

Sample Menu
7am (or upon rising): Glass of room temperature lemon water
8am: Herbal tea
10am (breakfast): Oatmeal (make with rice or almond milk instead of water so it’s a bit more substantial)
11:30am: Coconut water
1:30pm (lunch): Blueberry and Almond Smoothie
4pm (snack): Cucumber, Lime and Basil Juice
6pm (dinner): Super Greens Juice / Miso Soup with Watercress

Day Two, I Haven't Given Up Just Yet.

This morning, my brain almost won and I was just about to quit this whole detox and eat a damn english muffin. But instead of getting out of bed at 6a, I stayed in it and calmed my brain down a bit with another 3 hours of sleep. Because of that, I decided not to give up, but I did have to change my menu quite a bit from the recommended menu. I had the lemon water right away. Made some tea (with honey) after my shower and took it to work with me. I skipped the morning smoothie since I didn't have time to make it, so I had a peach instead... and I also conveniently "forgot" the coconut water at home.

I did remember to bring leftover soup and some grapes & blueberries to work for lunch and snack, but of course my brain started tormenting me again. To appease it, I ordered lunch with the rest of the office... but I got a detox friendly salad with no dressing. Just lettuce, cabbage, mandarin orange, rice sticks, sesame seeds and grilled chicken.

For dinner, I think I'm going to keep it simple and make a peach & raspberry smoothie. It's pretty filling with all that protein powder in there, but if I do get hungry (or more cravings from the evil brain) later on I can always make popcorn. I realized that since I have an air popper, plain popcorn with a little salt and pepper (or maybe cinnamon, I'm weird... I'll put anything on popcorn) is completely detox friendly.


Here's the breakdown of my Day Two menu, in comparison to the sample menu from Goop.

Real Menu
9:30a: Glass of lemon/raspberry water
10:30a: Raspberry herbal tea with honey
11a: A Peach
1p: Chinese Chicken Salad (no dressing)
4p: Handfuls of grapes & blueberries
7:30p: Peach & Raspberry Smoothie
9p: 2 cups of popcorn, lightly salted

Sample Menu
7am (or upon rising): Glass of room temperature lemon water
8am: Herbal tea
10am (breakfast): Raspberry and Rice Milk Smoothie (follow method for Blueberry and Almond Smoothie)
11:30am: Coconut water
1:30pm (lunch): Detox Teriyaki Chicken and Steamed Greens
4pm (snack): Miso Soup with Watercress
6pm (dinner): Pea and Basil Soup (follow method for Broccoli and Arugula Soup)

Day One... is it over yet?

Well, I survived Day One and I'm already realizing that this detox is much more difficult than I anticipated. I made sure that I was fully prepared for this new diet, but all the preparing in the world can't fight that overpowering desire to have a bagel and cream cheese... or a piece of chocolate... or just a slice of toast.

Here's the menu of what I ate yesterday, along with the day one sample menu from Goop:
Real Menu
6am: Glass of lemon/raspberry water
7am: Green Tea
9:30am (breakfast): Blueberry, Strawberry & Almond Milk Smoothie
11:30am: Coconut Water
1:00p (lunch): Salad (romaine, carrots, cucumbers, strawberries & basil) with Olive Oil & Balsamic Vinegar
4:00p: Handful of dried mango slices
6:30p: Banana
8:30p: Broccoli & Arugula Soup

Sample Menu
7am (or upon rising): Glass of room temperature lemon water
8am: Herbal tea
10am (breakfast): Blueberry and Almond Smoothie
11:30am: Coconut water*
1:30pm (lunch): Salad with Carrot and Ginger Dressing
4pm (snack): A handful of mixed pumpkin and sunflower seeds
6pm (dinner): Broccoli and Arugula Soup

All in the all, it went pretty well. The only bad parts are the cravings and my brain's unending need to sabotage me.

Day One: The Detox

Nope, it's not another crazy apartment plan, this time it's a health plan. A detox diet, for one week, and today is day one.
The detox diet I'm following is the one that Goop wrote about.

Here's the basic breakdown of it:
Length: 7 Days
Focus: Mostly liquid meals (smoothies, juices, & soups), mostly vegetables & fruits
Not Allowed: dairy, gluten, meat (except skinless chicken breast), shellfish, anything processed (including all soy products), fatty nuts, nightshades (potatoes, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant), condiments, sugar, alcohol, caffeine or soda.
Additional: Do deep breathing/yoga exercises, take a couple spoonfuls of olive oil at night to stimulate your liver, exercise (or sauna) to allow your body to release toxins through sweat.

I'm normally not one for strict, rigid diets, especially ones with the title "detox" attached, but this is something that I can wrap my head around and understand how it works and how I can benefit from it. I'm not denying myself food (though I am eating some pretty unconventional meals) and I don't expect to ever let myself be hungry. I'm simply taking a week to focus on 100% healthy eating. And I hope to be able to take all of the healthy eating choices I make this week and start using them regularly... like I used to, I sort of fell off the wagon a bit, and I'm hoping this week will be the push to get me back on.