In my wisdom, I’ve decided to undertake a 28-day detox*.
Not that I necessarily need to, more I felt I had the time to do it, and was interested.
I’m having some regular check-ups in a few week time, so just thought I’d give it a go.
The idea of detoxification is to eliminate any toxins from the body.
To be fair our bodies are pretty good at doing this by themselves…
They’re designed to do it!
The main organs involved include the liver, kidneys, lungs, skin and the digestive tract (colon).
But we tend to overload our systems with a lot of processed food and stuff that we know is probably not the best for us.
So our natural detoxification processes might not be working as well, or efficiently, as they should.
Now, to be honest I feel like a bit of a cheat…
I don’t consume a lot of sugar, I’m very low on the caffeine consumption and I haven’t had any alcohol for sometime.
But giving up dairy (I mean c’mon CHEESE!) and gluten…
I love good bread… I can think of nothing better than a fresh crust with butter on it…
My husband laughs at me saying I could happily live on a diet of bread, cheese and water!
So eliminating these two items is a relatively big deal for me.
I’m now on day three and the only things I am really missing so far (apart from bread and cheese!) are my cups of Earl Grey and Chai teas (essentially black teas with milk) and my decaff coffees.
(I didn’t know it, but apparently all decaffeinated products still have a small amount of caffeine in them, and some use synthetic chemicals in the decaffeination process.)
The last time I did a detox was about ten years ago.
It was a seven-day program at a health retreat.
The week prior to starting we were advised to minimise, or cut out sugar, caffeine and alcohol, which I did diligently.
The purpose of this is to minimise the headaches that can result from withdrawal, especially from caffeine.
It was very interesting…
So many people missed so many sessions because they hadn’t followed this advice and were crippled with really bad headaches.
For me, it quickly became apparent that what I needed most was a digital detox.
Unplugging… no phones allowed outside of your room and with minimal signal… it was great.
Although can you believe it… day one, in my room, I received a call from work and (automatically) took it!
The actual food detox was very easy because all the meals were prepared for you.
Whereas now at home, alone, I have to read and check, and double check everything.
But the good thing about this is that I am mindfully thinking about eating.
I usually prep and plan our meals in advance.
This week was a bit harder… as I really had to concentrate and think about the ingredients in each meal.
Mindful planning and prep… have helped a lot.
Now I’m just mindfully eating… noticing how the food tastes.
Having my ususal breakfast without dairy milk or yoghurt.
Is it such a big difference?
Not having my ususal cheese snack or snaffling some of Michael’s yummy potato chips (crisps).
Instead having homemade hummus and veggie sticks.
Mind over matter perhaps?
We don’t really do dessert, but instead of having (decaff) coffee and a biscuit… having a homemade bliss ball, or square of good quality dark chocolate, with a herbal tea.
As I said, it’s only day three, so let’s see how I go.
Wish me luck…
Ann 🙏
*PLEASE NOTE: I am not advocating that you/anyone/everyone do a detox – especially if you have a medical condition, or are on any medication. Always consult your doctor first.