Detoxification

A friend at work and I are doing a Detox Diet together. I think calling it a "diet" is misleading, since the goal really isn't to lose a lot of weight, despite the tabloid-esque statements on the book's cover.

My friend was looking to do a detox and bought this book a few weeks ago. After she read it, she loaned it to me and I thought I might like to try it, so we decided to do it together, for camaraderie and motivation. The program has a 7-day prequel, a 1-day "fast", and a 3-day sequel.

I put "fast" in quotes because the plan has you make a cranberry drink and you alternate 8-12 oz of the cranberry drink with 8 oz of water every hour. In my church we're supposed to fast the first Sunday of every month, for either 2 meals or 24 hours, depending on the individual. And they're not kidding with the word "fast". No water, no food, nothing. After growing up doing that once a month (when I remember), I think I'll be okay with this cranberry drink fast.

The author's blather kind of gets on my nerves. When I looked at her picture, my immediate thought was, "She looks perky." Her picture fits the tone of the book. But if you get past the perkiness and some of her crazy extremeness, I think there are some good things underneath it. Plus, the plan is only for 11 days, and my friend and I already determinined if we feel bad, we'll stop. I managed to condense the entire plan into a 3 page outline that I used for shopping.

During the 7-day prequel and the 3-day sequel you basically eat fruits, vegetables and protein. No bread or dairy products. There are certain amounts of categories of food that you're supposed to get a minimum of. My favorite category is "liver-loving." Just say it out loud. You're also supposed to drink at least half of your body weight in ounces of water. I've had 80 oz today. Here's what I've eaten so far:

B: 2 eggs cooked in olive oil
L: Spinach salad with celery, mung bean sprouts, cucumbers and a little dressing I invented with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and oregano. The oregano isn't on the list, but it's just a little shake and she seems okay with herbs. Apple.
S: Pear, carrots and celery, 1 1/2 C. chicken broth and I may tackle the orange on my desk.

Looking at the list of things I've already eaten as my Snack, I guess it's pretty obvious that I'm hungry. I'm kind of worried about swimming tonight and getting a headache. I just don't feel like eating any more vegetables right now. My body is used to carbohydrate fillers.

Another thing I have to get used to not having: my daily Diet Coke with Lime or Diet Dr. Pepper. I was planning on going cold turkey this weekend, but my roommate bought a 2 liter of Diet Dr. Pepper and asked me to help her finish it. So Saturday I had a big glass, Sunday I had a little glass and today I've had none at all. I think I would like a piece of my roommate's oatmeal bread more than a Diet Coke right now, so at least the caffeine craving isn't killing me.


70 laps on Friday, 32 in 14:30
80 laps on Saturday. I didn't do the long set because I was really feeling Thursday and Friday nights' swims. When I was on swim team, we had Wednesday mornings off so they could clean the pool, but I also see the utility of having practice for 2 days, then off for a day, then practice for 2 days. It gives your body the chance to recuperate a little, which right now in the early stages, I need.