This is how I felt in my soccer game. Clean and energized.
I’m cleaning house with The BodyLab. Their in-house health care professional Sara Peternell hit me with this super-awesome medical food (I said last week you couldn’t get it online, but you can–from a health care providers website), and I’m currently three days in. I’m still not into the hardcore days (5-8), but I’m already experiencing some anxiety. Here’s the deal–when I quit smoking, I transferred a lot of my bad habits over to my food intake. A little snack here, eating almond butter like it’s ice cream there, a little something I wouldn’t normally touch in a month let alone every other day slips in and boom–I’ve gained 20 pounds. But, it’s been about eight months since I quit smoking. So, it’s time to challenge myself to quit with the bullshit food, too. But, that doesn’t make it easy. What worries me is, I feel the exact same way I did every time I tried to quit smoking and failed. I don’t feel like that focused, secure, confident woman who just put the cigarettes down for good. That doesn’t mean I am without moments of clarity or am convinced I’m going to screw this detox up. To the contrary, I’m quite certain that I will do what I’m told with minimal straying. I do tend to take my anxiety and triple it just cause it’s there…not because it’s merited. Being a perfectionist and extremely goal-oriented just exacerbates the anxious sensation. What is making me anxious you might ask? I can’t eat diary for a while. I love cheese.
So, for the first day of the detox, you cut out sugar, booze and caffeine, pretty much. The second day, you axe diary. The third day, you go gluten-free and by day five you cut out all grains and nuts as well. And, everything you eat has to be organic. Days 5-8, you’re subsiding on protein and veggies. I mean, in reality, it’s not a stretch from what I normally eat. But, I’m hard-wired to want to push back.
Wish me luck.
Days 2 & 3 Lows
–I didn’t realize it was day 2 when diary was gone–I thought it was day 3–so I wasn’t prepared to say goodbye to cheese. I had a really hard time getting over it.
-Day 3 greeted me with some stomach issues. Nothing crazy, but I really wasn’t expecting it. On most cleanses I’ve done, people say this type of thing can happen, but for me, it never has.
-Feeling a little miffed by how much food preparation is happening. Hoping that I can get used to this.
Sort of what my hot cereal looked like, but add almond milk and some fruit. Good stuff.
Days 2 & 3 Highs
-I felt very light and proud of my accomplishments.
-Was able to keep working out at The BodyLab.
-Killed it in my soccer game at 9:15 pm. I was pretty tired going into it, but the whole team killed and I was so quick and light. Awesome.
-Tried Sara Peternell’s hot cereal recipe and was extremely surprised by how much I like it. It’s buckwheat, millet, quinoa and aramath served with a little almond milk, raw honey and some ground flax seed and flaxseed oil. Sounds like it would be difficult to love, but it’s not. Throw on some dried fruit–or fresh oranges since I didn’t have the dried stuff–and you’ve got yourself a satisfying moment in life. As my dad says, this is definitely a do-over–as in, again and again–detox or nay.
Laura Standley is the editor in chief of 303 Magazine. She’s been blogging about fitness since January 2011. To read her past blog posts, click here.