Over 10 years ago, I experienced the biggest heartbreak of my life. It came with such intense pain that it forced me to move countries . Anyway, I survived. Obviously. But in order to pick up those shattered, emotionally torn pieces, I threw myself into a stringent health regime.
I diligently packed my gym bag every morning and I was there 2 – 3 times a day, for at least 4 days a week. I was insatiable.
Taking it up an extra notch, I also focussed on my eating habits and began a 3 day detox.
After spending the weekend partying hard in a city as vibrant as Tokyo (think of a karaoke singing, sake drinking Carrie Bradshaw…but with black hair…), every Monday to Wednesday was my break from the boozing, smoking and bad food.
There was to be strictly no caffeine, no nicotine, no sugar, no carbs and no meat. The menu plan was straight forward.
Breakfast: A cup of warm water with a squeeze of lemon juice and a bowl of fruit.
Lunch: Fresh salad with whatever vegetables I wanted and dressing was olive oil with garlic and lemon juice.
Dinner: Steamed vegetables. On the 3rd and final day, I could have some fish.
Tough ? Maybe. (Did I mention he left me for his ex ?)
But this was my endeavour to change all of that relentless emotional pain into something that was at least controllable and productive. To gain some self-esteem. To stop thinking about why the douche-bag dumped me.
Needless to say, the results were unequivocal.
It was my most healthiest, fittest, energised time. Ever.
Just another one of those instances where hardship turns itself into a personal triumph.
Anywho.
Fast forward to today and of course I’m completely over the break-up. Life is awesome.
But lately (especially the past month, what with blogging conferences, a 4 day long weekend lounging around at home and nasty viruses), I have resorted to eating rubbish food. And of course these things just happen sub-consciously, but the damage was done. My palate is now so immune to tasting artificially sweetened or extra salted processed crap, that even all those flavours have lost their effect.
And let’s face it, my 40 year old metabolic rate is dwindling down to a snail’s pace. So, the kilos just keep piling on like a stack of lego blocks.
It’s time to try and recover – even an inkling of – what my body felt like a decade ago.
With some thought and preparation, stocking up on lots of green vegetables and other fresh foods, today seemed to be as good of a time to start making some changes.
If there’s anything that I learned from my Nutrition course last year, it is to experiment and try different types of food and meal schedules (I refuse to use the term “diet”). Just keep it simple, sensible and with variety.
So, if some idiot guy can be the catalyst in achieving a resilient, strong, kick-arse body, then surely all the existing surrounding moral support today can help me reach even higher heights ?
I’ll be sure to report back at the end of the week. Hopefully my hunger pangs and junk food cravings won’t get the better of me. I promise I won’t poke anyone in the eye.
Have you ever done a detox ? What were your experiences ?
Hey Grace
I am on a ‘healthy eating’ diet at the moment. I am eating carbs all I want for breakfast such as porridge with no sugar (cut out all sugar other then fruit or something that comes from the ground). Then limited carbs (no bread rice etc) for lunch so lots of salad and soups. Then for dinner I am eating similar to lunch but add fish every two/three days.
Cut out dairy as well that was a challenge but using Soy, Almond and Coconut milk (love them prefer then to milk now). Also eating lots of tofu (trick with tofu is to seasone well). I have used a number of recipes from a great book ‘Eating for the Seasons by Janella Purcell’. The lady from Good Chef Bad Chef
Found a great recipe the other day for low carb pancake try this
1 tablespoon of almond meal
1 table spoon of agave
1 egg and 1 egg white (could just use the whites)
1 tablespoon of Flaxseed (by the way add flaxseed to everything like salads etc as cheap and high in Omega 3)
Stir up then cook in fry pan and add some fresh fruit such as blueberries.
Found the recipe from a lady who is a female body fitness model who is pregnant and looks fantastic and is much better choice then pancake parlor.
Ooooh, that recipe sounds very healthy ! Will have to try it, Ellie ! It totally sounds a much better choice than Pancake Parlour.
Yes, your healthy eating diet sounds ideal. I think I’ll start incorporating some of that stuff. I’m going to increase the uptake of tofu and fish. I am a major carnivore and that needs to change !
I know the Good Chef Bad Chef program. I’ll look into Janella’s book. Thanks for all your great tips ! xxx
I did a four week “Carol Vordeman” detox many years ago. I found the no caffeine the hardest and weakened and allowed myself a cup of black tea a day. It was still tough – no meat, dairy, wheat.
I now know that I have coeliac disease, so no wonder I felt good – my gluten intake would have been massively reduced.
A month back Mr J and I were feeling a bit bler and we decided to have vegan dinners for 5 nights. Definitely need to do that more often.
Good luck! xx
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Wow, Lee ! A 4 week detox ! Did the actual detox help you figure out that you are coeliac ?
I’m not coeliac but I can definitely tell the difference when I cut breads and rice out of my diet. Rice is my biggest weakness. And I love having it for dinner. Old habits…
Vegan dinners sound awesome !
Do you recommend any particular recipe books ? xxx
I won a juice detox on a blog giveaway once (what was I thinking when I entered?). I didn’t struggle with the lack of food as much as with having to drink some of the juices that were included on the menu. Day 1 and the whole family was warned that the juices were for me only. Two days later I was happy to exist on just water and was offering my juices to anyone who’d have them. Picking your own foods should make it a lot easier for you.
Your coconuts look great and I do want to try some of Ellie’s almond meal pancakes. I’ve been obsessed with pancakes lately, but buckwheat pancakes day after day are getting a bit boring.
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I don’t think I could do a juice detox. Well, not for very long anyway. I would just miss eating solid food ! And especially if the juices didn’t taste very good.
I just know what my diet’s lacking and what I eat too much of. So doing this is just to try and get some balance back.
The coconuts have been so addictive ! I have 1 or 2 every day ! So great for the digestive system too !
I don’t believe in detox diets. They just seem a little extreme to me, plus I get faint if I go without solid food for too long…but your photo looks like a whole bunch of delish. I can definitely do with some extra leafy greens in my diet!
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For me, detox is to cut out all that rice and meat that I’m so used to eating. I eat so much of both ! And the thing is, I really love the taste of fresh green vegetables but I never to have them. So, doing this is more of a conscious effort to putting back some greens into my diet. So far, so good 🙂
No, I’ve never done detox…except when I was forced to because I had the flu. I couldn’t eat much.
Ok, I do cycle as part of my lifestyle. To work, to the grocery store, to cafe 🙂 and on vacation. We do take bike trips. I’ve been car-free for last 30 years.
Have you ever considered cycling with the twins? Or just yourself going out for an half spin to do some errands? It doesn’t feel like exercise after awhile.
By the way, my diet has changed because I came close to a diabetes 2 reading. So past few years:
*cut out white rice consumption. Which means lots of sushi doesn’t make me feel well. 🙁
*cut out white bread
Both are high glycemic and cause my blood sugar to go up.
I never did like pop or fizzy drinks. It just made me too full. I still have to resist the pastry/biscotti with my coffee.
I just have to cycle more. It’s tougher now, because I live in a province where there is more snow in winter and a whole lot colder.
30 years car free ? That’s great !
I used to cycle a lot ! Even did a 100kms ride in Austria…on a rinky dink that I hired from some random ice-cream shop in Salzburg. I took it all the way to Zell Am See. Best bike ride I’ve ever done.
White rice consumption is my big downfall. Being Asian, it’s my staple but I just eat way too much of it. So this whole detox thing was an exercise to see if I could cut out white rice…even for a couple of days. So far, I’ve been successful !
Sounds like a memorable bike ride. Great stuff.
Well, yes like you I had rice 80% of the time for dinner as my carb for many decades. Then 5 yrs. ago a false diabetes 2 reading scared me. I noticed in myself my bodily reaction to eating lots of white rice vs. not eating any. Also one of my sisters is a doctor. She herself lost 50 lbs. (when she was around 35 yrs. old) with jogging and cutting out white rice, etc. She’s regained some of it after having 2 children. During her 2nd pregnancy she really had monitor herself so that she wouldn’t tip into gestational diabetes which can happen for an expectant mother.
She recommended a book on low glycemic diet. It is not detox, mamagrace. It is lifelong changes to diet.
I gradually cut down on rice consumption without thinking much or paying attention. In place of it, I eat light pastas…light fresh Asian or light dried Asian noodles that are cooked of course. Not rice vermicelli. When I eat bread, I only buy artisan bread that is sugar free, no shortening, no eggs (which enrichens the bread). The whole wheat Mediterranean flatbread from the Middle East that’s quite thin is also good. But I don’t eat that much of it.
I was never a potato person. I eat potato dishes 3-4 times annually –usually in a restaurant.
I usually avoid deep fried foods… maybe a donut 3-5 times annually ….offered at work to employees.
But I have to cut down on sugar. As you can see, my blog does have write-ups about European gourmet desserts, an influence of my partner who is of German descent, and son of a mother who trained in pastry chef techniques.
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I think mamagrace, is to make permanent changes and make it gradual if all this denial of favourite foods is hard psychologically.
I don’t think about cycling as a chore. I simply see it as a way to get things accomplished and to see the world, my little world as well as the big world when we travel overseas. So the less, you think of “dieting” or exercising as a “Must” vs. it’s just another habit of mine that I like, the easier it gets over time.
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Sounds like an awesome plan 🙂 I was just talking with my hubby last night about making some changes to my meal schedules and exercise routine. Like you, I was a gym bunny in Japan! Went there about 4-5 times a week.. what’s with the Japanese air?!! haha… good luck in and hope I’ll be able to have some good updates to share too ;p
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I know ! What’s with the Japanese air ??! Haha ! I think it’s because the gyms are such easy access (Tipness, baby !!!) with them all being so close to train stations. It was so easy for me to go there before and after work and also lunch breaks.
Let me know how you go with your healthy lifestyle changes !!!
Ganbatte ne !
Hi Grace, Ohhh wow, Love your post, yes I too have done a detox or two in the past like the Beverly Hills Diet, very drastic and drops the weight very quickly, all the fruit and vege sure does bring back “life”, I remember myself having a BURST of new energy and waking very early in the mornings…but this is not me now, I need to revamp the dietary needs of my family as we relent to the junk foods which keep us craving more junk food and which end up depleting us of any energy we may have left. Thanks for the inspiration!
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Hey Jess, I’ve never heard of the Beverly Hills diet but I can imagine with only fruit and veg you would gain all that energy back!
I just wanted to stop feeling “blagh” and do something positive. Hopefully it’ll help me restart some good habits I used to have.
I’ve been thinking about doing this for a while now.
https://www.jointhereboot.com/index.php?lang=au
Love & stuff
Mrs M
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I read about this guy ! Sounds interesting. I think I’d only be able to do the 3 day one…Especially if it’s just juices only. Also, I heard that he was under a bit of scrutiny because a “just juice” diet isn’t the most nutritiously ideal way to get healthy…lack of fibre etc. But hey, like I said…as long as it’s simple, sensible and has variety, I’ll try anything once.
Nope. I’ve never detoxed but looking at all that fresh food made me drool so perhaps i need to. I don’t think I could do your detox for three days but perhaps I could start slow and make it for one instead.
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Now if only you are a few blocks away from where I live Grace-ie, I’d be a frequent visitor. Don’t worry I’ll bring in some of the ingredients, promise! 🙂
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I’ve done 2 detoxes in recent months – with my naturopath. They were tough, but worth it. I’m meant to be doing another one, but I keep putting it off. I hope yours goes well. All that healthy food looks amazing.
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Yes I have done what’s called an Elimination Diet which sounds pretty similar to yours and then you re-introduce the foods back slowly to see what your body is not kosha with. Hence my new blog and journey into clean eating and fitness. I haven’t looked back!! I used to have 2 sugars in my coffee and now I don’t have any and can actually taste the flavour of the coffee bean!!
I’m completely more easy going 😉 energetic with my 4 kids under 6yrs, skin has cleared and glows, nails are great and the list goes on. For anyone that needs a change in their meals department come check out some of my dishes. I hope I can inspire or motivate someone xx Dani
PS: Grace did you end up making that Green Smoothie AKA Popeye spinach 😉 my kids like to call it a Shrek Smoothie…..bless!