Doing this detox was pretty difficult for me, even though I went into it with a good attitude, feeling I was mentally prepared, having done my reserach beforehand. I wanted to do a different sort of post today and share with you some lessons I learned through the course of the ten days and offer a bit of advice that you may not find elsewhere for those who are thinking of embarking on a detox. Being that this is a food blog, my lessons focus on food. They are definitely things I'm going to keep in mind if I ever do another cleanse. I hope you can take away something that will help you have an easier time on your mission seeking improved health.
VoraceRachel's Detox Download
1. Planning is paramount when it comes to your groceries. Schedule in time to hit the grocery store when you're mapping out your detox plan. Make a list of what you can eat on each day and use that to make your grocery list for each of the days you will be stopping by the market. I went to the store for fresh ingredients three times through the ten day detox, and I wouldn't recommend going more than that. The grocery store is temptation central! The scent of rotisserie chickens wafting through the air (and I don't even eat meat!), the cheese bar that never looked so extensive, and the baking section - just stay clear of there! I had a game plan for the grocery store before I even set food inside: stick to my list and enter the produce section and soup/bean aisle ONLY. Have someone else do the shopping for the rest of the household during this time, unless you truly have nerves of steel. Side note: a second fridge would've been nice to store all of the fresh produce I had around during this time!
Schedule in time to hit the grocery store when you're mapping out your detox plan.
2. Food prep is key. You know that saying, "failing to plan is planning to fail"? That is never truer than when you are doing a detox. Pretty much everything you eat/drink needs to be prepared at home, so making time for food prep needs to be a priority. Otherwise, you will either be going hungry and your body won't be getting the nutrients it needs to carry on with the detox, or you'll be tempted to eat things not on-plan, ruining your progress. Set aside time each day to prepare food to eat or to take with you if you're going out. Make extra so you have back up for snacks and instances when you're short on time.
3. Preparing and cooking healthy food takes the same amount of time as preparing and cooking regular food. Say what?! I don't know about you, but I formerly had this misconception that cooking super healthy food was so time consuming, involved, and difficult. The exact opposite is true. Cooking healthy means you're using pretty simple ingredients: fresh veggies, fruits, and legumes. Chop 'em up, add some seasoning, and voila! A tasty, healthy meal in no time. OK, maybe not 'no time,' some recipes take longer than others - but guess what! That is true of 'regular' recipes as well. Realizing this was a game changer. The bonus is that since I made the same recipes multiple times, I got practice! So going forward, I know that I can quickly whip up a pot of detox veggie soup or vegan chili in under an hour. I definitely plan to incorporate some of the healthy recipes I've learned into my cooking repertoire moving forward - especially the hummus!
I formerly had this misconception that cooking super healthy food was so time consuming, involved, and difficult. The exact opposite is true.
4. Kind of in line with the last lesson, I discovered it's best to stick with one-pot-wonder recipes. When you're detoxing, you get hungry. And you're already dealing with irritability and some other uncomfortable symptoms that come with the territory, especially in the first few days. Cut corners wherever you can! This is the time to be gentle with yourself and be physically lazy while being mentally strong. At least that's how I felt! It makes things a lot easier to throw all of your ingredients in one cooking apparatus and call it a day! The chili recipe I will be sharing is a one-pot-wonder, and so was the hummus I made (food processor), veggie soup (dutch oven), and berry salad (glass storage container). Cooking all of your food at home creates a lot of dishes, so cut back where you can and give your dishpan hands or trusty dishwasher a break!
5. If grocery stores are temptation central, restaurants are enemy #1. The food there is already prepared or a request away from being prepared for you. The food is just begging you to eat it. Don't put yourself in the position to be tempted or so uncomfortable that you make yourself and everyone around you miserable. My suggestion is to set aside a block of time to complete your cleanse in which you have limited social commitments. I did this and it made things so much easier on myself to not worry about letting anyone down by not attending an event or stressing about being tempted or cranky in the face of an inevitable variety of fried foods and sweets. If you do have to go somewhere that food is involved or the focus, make sure to eat before you go and even bring a plan-friendly snack with you in case you get hungry so that you're not tempted to eat what's being served. Have a meal lined up for when you get home. This is what I did on the day we celebrated my brother's birthday and although I was still a little cranky and jealous of the calamari and sandwiches that were being eaten (oh how I have longed for a sandwich for months now!), it did make it easier to bear since I wasn't really hungry while there.
Don't put yourself in the position to be tempted or so uncomfortable that you make yourself and everyone around you miserable.
6. Healthy, simple food tastes really good. I owe it to this detox that I now have a better appreciation for the sweetness of a perfectly ripe pear, and the tartness of a plump blackberry. Two fruits I've never been gung ho about I now thoroughly enjoy. I don't know if it is the gratefulness I felt to be able to eat anything at all or if it was the clarity of my tastebuds after toxins had been flushed out of my system, but everything I ate tasted pure and delicious. I'll definitely be taking advantage of my new-found love for these fruits when I go back to regular eating and will pick these guys up at the grocery store from now on.
7. Food is comfort. It just is. We have all heard of food addictions, wherein the person uses food to mask their feelings or comfort them when they are feeling all the feels, but even if you don't have a food-related addiction, food is still a comfort. That is human nature and that is something I discovered while doing this detox. The first few days where I could only eat pureed soup and berries, I was an irritable, angry, ragey crankpot. I was that way maybe because of what the detox was bringing up for me, but those feelings were extra intense because I actually had to feel them instead of covering them up with food distractions or comforts, like stuffing my face with an almond butter smothered brown rice cake (my go-to comfort food). Suggestion: think of some non-food related comfort activities you like to do and use them when you're feeling overly irritable during your cleanse. You can't FEEL all of the time, it's OK to distract yourself. My favorite distractions were watching Bravo marathons and taking hot baths while reading a light topic book (The Andy Cohen Diaries was my go-to! I see a Bravo theme here...).
You can't FEEL all of the time, it's OK to distract yourself.
8. Create a food-related reward for when the detox is over. This one is just for fun. Some background info: I've recently learned that the best way to set yourself up to complete a goal is to have a combination of intrinsic and an extrinsic motivators pushing you along. You have to assess whether you as an individual tend to be intrinsically or extrinsically motivated, then you put some structure around whichever is your unnatural proclivity. When it comes to my health, I tend to be intrinsically motivated, therefore it's helpful to set up a reward for myself that is outside of myself - extrinsic, that way I have a balance and am setting myself up for success. My intrinsic motivation is feeling physically well - that is a reward for me in and of itself. My extrinsic motivation is buying a new purse once the detox is complete! This is where the just-for-fun food reward comes in. Technically, you aren't supposed to have your reward be related to your goal - hence the purse. But dude. I'm giving myself a bonus! My secondary reward is most definitely related to my goal in that it has to do with food! I plan to indulge a little the day after my detox is over and have one of my favorite take-out meals - Naked Pizza. Yum! Now, proceed with caution on this one guys, you don't want to shock your system. If your favorite takeout is Dominos or McDonald's, maybe steer clear of those and find a healthy option that would still be considered a treat considering you just deprived yourself from comfort food for 10+/- days. And just a suggestion, don't think about this until you're towards the end of your detox, otherwise you'll be torturing yourself for days day dreaming about that take-out pot of gold waiting for you at the end of your detox rainbow!
Eight happens to be my favorite number, so I think that's a good place to stop. Best wishes to you on your detox endeavors! Check back later for the chili recipe :-) Here's a little preview:
