Detox results!

Weight today: 9 st 6 lb

I’ve now completed my first 50@50 challenge by sticking to my detox for a week! And with a bonus of losing 4 lb this week too… yay!

This has meant:

No alcohol for 7 days – achieved!
No processed food – achieved!
No sugary food – achieved!
No ‘bad’ carbs (white bread, cakes, biscuits, pastries etc) – achieved!
Lots of vegetables and fruit – achieved!

I did manage to keep to around 1150 calories on average which wasn’t too difficult and combined this with quite a lot of exercise:

Swimming
2 x gym sessions
10 mile walk on Sunday
2 x 5 mile walks
1 x 3 mile walk

I generally prefer to eat healthy food rather than junk food. But making this extra effort has definitely motivated me to continue with the whole package of more exercise, better quality food and an overall healthier lifestyle on my countdown to 50!

I would recommend a week of focussing on a healthy detox and I am planning to continue eating as well as I can in order to continue to tackle my “bordering high” cholesterol levels. However I must say I’m looking forward to a glass of red tonight! I’m in the ‘red wine is good for you‘ club and not planning on an alcohol-free lifestyle any time soon…

Detox update…

A quick update…

Following the tweak on Day 1 where I decided 800 calories is too low and I also found the effects of cutting out coffee were worse than just drinking it (when coffee is almost the new super food…) things have gone well so far…

I’ve been eating super healthy food and so far have consumed no alcohol, processed food or junk food since Wednesday. I am genuinely starting to feel more energetic, positive and healthy… all good stuff!

My diet today (Saturday: Day 4):

Breakfast: smoked salmon and fried egg (I’m rubbish at poaching so fried the egg in a tiny bit of olive oil)
Snack: handful of blueberries
Lunch: avocado, hummus, tomatoes, rocket, red pepper, raw carrot with a dressing of balsamic vinegar
Dinner: home made broccoli and stilton soup (we’re having a bit of a craving on this at the moment…)
Snack: handful of unsalted nuts (walnuts, cashews and macadamias)

Estimated at around 1100 calories

Just 3 more days to go…

Detox Day 1

Weight: 9 st 10 lb

So this morning I started my one week 800 calorie detox!

I set out with an ambitious menu plan for the next 3 days (as devised by me… I am not a dietician or nutritionalist and it might not be the healthiest…)

Day 1: Wednesday

2 x scrambled eggs and a handful of blueberries (250 calories)

Raw organic peppers with hummus (200 calories)

Home made broccoli and Stilton soup (350 calories)

Added 2 squares of dark chocolate, a handful of unsalted nuts and a vegetarian (mushroom based) sausage to bring the calories to 1150… (see below)

Day 2: Thursday

Plain porridge with raspberries and blueberries (200 calories)

Plain yogurt and a handful of mixed nuts (200 calories)

Home made sweet potato curry (400 calories)

+ 350 calories!

Day 3: Friday

2 x hard boiled eggs (200)

Pret salad (250)

Tuna steak and roasted vegetables (350)

+ 350 calories!

Saturday to Tuesday TBC…

Day 1 (Wednesday) review:

Today began well and, even though I felt hungry, I religiously stuck to the scrambled eggs for breakfast and hummus for lunch with just water and organic fruit tea to drink.

I went swimming at lunchtime but by about 3 pm with zero coffee and zero carbs I had an awful crashing headache and started to question why I am putting myself on an 800 calorie per day detox???

I’ve successfully lost 7 lb in the last month with increased exercise and improved eating. I am pleased to have lost this weight particularly as the last month included Christmas with the usual festive temptations. I’ve therefore decided already that cutting down to 800 calories, even for a week, is too low for me. I’m not sure how people on the 8 week blood sugar diet can manage this for 8 weeks! I am hoping I can continue to lose weight and achieve my goal of 9 stone without taking drastic measures.

In addition, the main purpose of this detox week is to give my body a break from alcohol and chemicals (such as those found in processed food) and to give myself a healthy start to 2018 and my approach towards turning 50…

I’ve read several articles recently which have linked drinking coffee to a longer life expectancy. I suspected that having no coffee today may have contributed to my afternoon headache and sure enough, as soon as I had a cup of coffee, the headache disappeared about 20 minutes later.

I’ve therefore tweaked my January detox by now including 2 cups of coffee each day and increasing the calorie count to 1150. Everything else will remain the same… and most importantly I am aiming for zero alcohol for a week!

Preparing for the Detox…

Why?

Good question… why do I want to detox? I am hoping a week or so of giving up all nasties from my diet will continue to motivate me towards a healthier future. I’ve read conflicting articles to suggest either the liver and kidneys are super efficient organs which don’t need detoxing or others which strongly recommend regular strict detoxing plans with weird drinks and things to ‘clear and refresh your gut’.

As with many health ideas there is never any conclusive evidence of what is right and what is wrong however if nothing else, surely giving up alcohol and adopting a super healthy diet for a week must be a positive thing?

When?

Hmmm… another good question… I can’t start today, 1st January as I’ve already had two coffees (which are probably to be avoided). And you do need to think about and plan these things to ensure you have the necessary food in stock. You also need to consider how to manage your social life during the detox week… We have a shopping delivery tomorrow night so maybe 3rd January would be a good day?

Which one?

Following a recommendation from a work colleague before Christmas, this morning I eagerly downloaded the 8 Week Blood Sugar Diet book by Michael Mosley. Essentially this is a very low 800 calorie diet for 8 weeks which claims to reverse the negative effects of a high sugar western diet and lower one’s blood sugar levels. Apparently there is evidence to suggest that surviving on 800 calories a day is now a health benefit! I had previously understood this to be a damaging way to lose weight but the book says that as long as you follow some basic rules about eating more protein and less carbs, you will burn fat…

However after scrolling through and reviewing some of the recipes, I don’t think I can follow the suggested menu plans… firstly, they contain food items I don’t tend to eat (red meat being one) and secondly I would need a huge shopping order for all of the different ingredients and would either end up throwing most of it away or eating the same thing for 3 days running (and thus not being able to follow the different recipes for each day).

On balance with the suggestion by many that detoxing doesn’t make any difference and given I don’t want this to be all too time and life consuming I have decided to try a combination of both this diet and Juliette’s Weight Loss Resources 7 day detox plan.

I am hoping the combination of the low carb/800 calorie blood sugar plan with some of the sensible ideas of Juliettes plan will result in a healthy start to 2018. (And hopefully an additional couple of lb’s being shed this week…)

Personalised detox

So… here is my one week detox plan:

Allowed

Lots of vegetables and salads of any kind
Home made soups
Low sugar fruit (blueberries, raspberries etc)
Smoothies (small ones)
Oily fish (tuna, salmon etc)
Quorn
Free range chicken
Free range eggs
Beans and lentils (kidney beans, chick peas etc)
Unprocessed natural oats
Unsalted nuts
Dark chocolate (small amounts)
Natural yogurt
Occasional small amounts of wholewheat pasta
Herbal or fruit teas
Water

Banned

No alcohol, ~~coffee or tea~~ update: will permit myself two coffees a day!
No sugary drinks
No processed food
No high sugar or dried fruit (bananas, raisins etc)
No breadcrumbed or battered food
No pastries, cakes, biscuits or sweets
No bread, white rice or white pasta

Organic where possible and with an attempted limit of ~~800~~ 1150 calories a day… (800 is just too low for me…)