It's been almost a full week since I finished the cleanse by adding back my "typical" foods slowly. I still feel really good, and I've (so far) made some significant changes to my eating habits. Like?
Gluten-less -
I added gluten back in at the tail end of the cleanse by having a cupcake made by one dear friend to celebrate my other dear friend's birthday. Complete with icing. And a glass of wine (not at the same time). Go big or go home, right? Well, the cupcake made me a bit wonky, and I experienced quite the crash from my sugar "high". Not to be defeated, I had home-made challa for Shabbat dinner the following night, as well as made-from-scratch apple pie (have I mentioned how much I love my husband? He made both). I was feeling pretty good, didn't have the spike and fall I'd experienced the night before, and went to bed thinking my diet was almost 100% back to normal. But...I woke up with a stuffy nose. No other cold/flu symptoms, just a stuffy nose. A quick text conversation with Mishra confirmed my fear - the stuffy nose was likely a reaction to the gluten.
I've been playing around with this all week and seem to find that bread is the most significant trigger. I tried some goldfish crackers and only had mild stuffiness that didn't last (whereas bread leaves me sniffling for a good 4 - 6 hours). I will continue to eat bread at Shabbat dinner, and the occasional cupcake/cake/pie when there's a special occasion, but beyond that I'm currently avoiding gluten. So, not gluten-free but gluten-less. :-)
Caffeine
Ah, coffee. I've been drinking coffee since those late-night trips to iHop and other cafes started back when I was in high school. It wasn't something I drank at home until moving in with Bill back in 1992 (ouch - old!), since coffee is his main source of fuel. Well, I guess I didn't start drinking it daily until after we had Forest in June of 93 since I avoided caffeine during my pregnancy. In fact, pregnancy was the only time I *have* cut coffee out for any extended period of time. Until now. I'm 6 days past the end of my cleanse and I still haven't had a sip. I don't intend for this to be a life-long farewell, but I just don't *need* it now! I am still working my crazy, 16 hour days full of activity. I'm still only getting maybe 6 hours of sleep a night. But I don't need it! I am enjoying the freedom this gives me, and, I'll admit, I'm a little afraid of what the caffeine might do to me (see cupcake experience above), so I'll have to time out my reintroduction very carefully. I'm imagining breakfast in bed on Mother's Day, or a date night at Cafe SelMarie. These seem like good coffee moments.
The Rest
My skin is apparently glowing, my eyes are sparkling (though that might be the switch to contacts), and I feel really good. I'm still seeking out more veggies, and am making good food choices for protein and carbs in general. My weight is slowly moving down (I'm not weighing myself daily anymore, but my last check put me at 177), and I won't check my body fat % until the end of the month (last check was at 34.4). I really enjoyed the experience and would recommend it (even with the shakes). It really gave me perspective on what I eat vs what my body needs.
Oh, and I still haven't had processed stuff, AND we bought hormone-free meat for the family for the first time. Pretty cool!
Thanks for reading! I hope to continue blogging on a weekly (daily was just too much!) basis, and would love to know what you'd like to read about. Other health "fads" you'd like me to test out? Topics of interest? Throw a comment on here, and follow if you'd like. :-)
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Detox, day 10
11:50 pm...Ah, Day 10, how lovely to see you! I've decided to retrace my steps in terms of how I'm reintroducing foods to my diet, so today brought the addition of grains like wheat and corn. Functionally this only added 28 grams of corn chips to my day because wheat is hard to come by without it being wrapped up with dairy and sugar, and we're not quite at corn-on-the-cob season.
Even though I didn't get to add much new to my day I really feel like what I'm eating is fairly sustainable. I had almonds, raisins, and a banana for breakfast, lentil soup for lunch, hummus and celery for my pre-teaching meal, and stir-fried veggies over white rice for dinner. AND NOT A SINGLE SHAKE!
I am looking forward to tomorrow's additions of eggs and dairy! I hope hope HOPE that my body reacts favorably to the addition as I'd hate to learn that I shouldn't eat eggs and cheese. I love both on their own and together as a pair. Fingers crossed!
I'll have to report my stats tomorrow as I left the notes at the studio. Sorry!
It is nice to be shake-free today. I feel much more "normal", have an appetite, and haven't had to visit the bathroom every 15 minutes. All good things.
I got a couple of comments/compliments today that I look good and seem to be full of energy. At the moment I feel SO tired. Perhaps that's because I taught 4 classes today (2 of them being Zumba).
Tired. Going to bed - I'll write moe tomorrow
Even though I didn't get to add much new to my day I really feel like what I'm eating is fairly sustainable. I had almonds, raisins, and a banana for breakfast, lentil soup for lunch, hummus and celery for my pre-teaching meal, and stir-fried veggies over white rice for dinner. AND NOT A SINGLE SHAKE!
I am looking forward to tomorrow's additions of eggs and dairy! I hope hope HOPE that my body reacts favorably to the addition as I'd hate to learn that I shouldn't eat eggs and cheese. I love both on their own and together as a pair. Fingers crossed!
I'll have to report my stats tomorrow as I left the notes at the studio. Sorry!
It is nice to be shake-free today. I feel much more "normal", have an appetite, and haven't had to visit the bathroom every 15 minutes. All good things.
I got a couple of comments/compliments today that I look good and seem to be full of energy. At the moment I feel SO tired. Perhaps that's because I taught 4 classes today (2 of them being Zumba).
Tired. Going to bed - I'll write moe tomorrow
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Detox, Day 9
11:50...I just drank my last shake. Ah, what a nice sound that has! It is the perfect end to a solidly good day, punctuated by foods like almonds, celery & hummus, lentil soup, veggie stir fry over white rice, and an organic banana. Oh, and an apple (gotta get back on the horse).
The reintroduction of these foods (today brought legumes back onto the scene) doesn't seem to be having any sort of negative effect. I am going to retrace my steps in terms of adding foods back into my diet in the order I removed them even though the official plan doesn't give me guidelines past today. That means I'll add wheat and other grains back in tomorrow, followed by dairy and eggs the next day, and will finish with meats, sugars, and possibly caffeine after that.
A trip to the grocery today (I was out of organic apple juice and bananas) showed me that I won't have to give up as much as I thought for the long haul. I mentioned before that I want to continue to keep artificial colors/sweeteners out of my diet, right? Well, I thought for sure that meant saying goodbye to Goldfish crackers. Not so! Despite their vibrant orange color there's nothing artificial in there! Wahoo!
Today I did start to miss eggs and cheese. I'm really hoping my body handles them both as I'd hate to learn that they shouldn't be a part of my diet long-term. That said, the way I ate today feels totally manageable. I know I'm getting my protein in the shakes and that I need to replace that somehow - I just mean that I didn't feel deprived today or like I had to make crazy food choices. Good to know.
I didn't end up in the studio with time to do my body fat analysis today, so my daily stats are incomplete, but here they are:
Weight: 179.7 (down 3.5 from day 1)
BMI: 28.8 (down .7 from day 1)
We're coming close to a significant amount of weight lost, but I expect it will return as my diet returns to "normal" as water weight is typically in the 5-pound range. No worries - weight loss was just a possible side effect, not my intention for doing this. Now, if I hold onto some of the changes I've made AND take advantage of this new-found relationship with food I just might be able to do something in the weight loss challenge. That'd be cool.
Goodnight, Day 9. You've treated me well.
The reintroduction of these foods (today brought legumes back onto the scene) doesn't seem to be having any sort of negative effect. I am going to retrace my steps in terms of adding foods back into my diet in the order I removed them even though the official plan doesn't give me guidelines past today. That means I'll add wheat and other grains back in tomorrow, followed by dairy and eggs the next day, and will finish with meats, sugars, and possibly caffeine after that.
A trip to the grocery today (I was out of organic apple juice and bananas) showed me that I won't have to give up as much as I thought for the long haul. I mentioned before that I want to continue to keep artificial colors/sweeteners out of my diet, right? Well, I thought for sure that meant saying goodbye to Goldfish crackers. Not so! Despite their vibrant orange color there's nothing artificial in there! Wahoo!
Today I did start to miss eggs and cheese. I'm really hoping my body handles them both as I'd hate to learn that they shouldn't be a part of my diet long-term. That said, the way I ate today feels totally manageable. I know I'm getting my protein in the shakes and that I need to replace that somehow - I just mean that I didn't feel deprived today or like I had to make crazy food choices. Good to know.
I didn't end up in the studio with time to do my body fat analysis today, so my daily stats are incomplete, but here they are:
Weight: 179.7 (down 3.5 from day 1)
BMI: 28.8 (down .7 from day 1)
We're coming close to a significant amount of weight lost, but I expect it will return as my diet returns to "normal" as water weight is typically in the 5-pound range. No worries - weight loss was just a possible side effect, not my intention for doing this. Now, if I hold onto some of the changes I've made AND take advantage of this new-found relationship with food I just might be able to do something in the weight loss challenge. That'd be cool.
Goodnight, Day 9. You've treated me well.
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