Yesterday was my last day on the “Standard Process” 21-day detox plan. It involved drinking smoothies three times a day (with the Standard Process nutritional powder, whey protein powder, and supplements from them). And then I could have just about any fruit and many veggies (none of the starchy ones) and a small amount of lean, easily digestible protein (chicken or fish, with heavy emphasis on fish).
The first three days weren’t very fun. Although, I have to admit, it helped to have all those goofy pills and shakes to keep track of. It gave me something to do. I did have a headache and was grumpy on days two and three.
The first day wasn’t hard in terms of actual detoxing because my body hadn’t figured out yet that it wasn’t going to be getting flour, grains (other than a half a cup of brown rice each day), sugars in their less natural state, dairy, or CHOCOLATE!
That first day, my body was blissfully unaware of the impending doom. . .
Day two on the other hand, was less comfortable. General malaise, headache and GRUMPINESS! Megan started the detox with me, so she went through that with me as well. We were both pretty unpleasant, so we kept each other company to relieve the rest of the family.
That actually turned out to be pretty fun, in a weird sort of way. Have I told you that we have a cussing car (the way that Mark Twain had a cussing closet – apparently his wife couldn’t abide with cussing, so he would go into his cussing closet, cuss up a storm and come out refreshed). My husband can’t abide cussing from the children, who aren’t really children anymore as Megan is almost 17 and Kyle is 14 1/2. But, the kids LOVE to cuss. So, I declared the van, my van, the vehicle that the children are in most of the time, to be the cussing zone.
So, Megan and I drove around to different things those first days and cussed up a storm. We called each other names, repeatedly, and then laughed our fool asses off. (Megan just came up behind me to read this and scoffed at that last line. She thinks “laughed our fool asses off” sounds weird.)
By the end of the third day, I was feeling fine and wasn’t missing all those things that I “couldn’t” have. Those shakes were keeping me plenty full, so hunger really wasn’t an issue. The meals were big salads with lovely, crunchy things like cucumbers, red bell peppers and halved grapes. It was perfect because the weather was HOT, HOT, HOT, and cooking anything really wasn’t what I wanted to do.
Now that I’m done, I’m realizing that part of what I really liked about the detox was that Mark fed himself and Kyle and Megan (who made it a week and decided that it wasn’t for her). Not that I mind feeding them, it’s just that I go through phases where I don’t want to figure out what to cook for the whole family. So, it was lovely to only have to think about what I wanted to feed myself and to be pretty restricted in what I could eat. Fewer choices = easier decisions.
While I was on the detox/cleanse, I didn’t really think about all those things that I wasn’t eating, but as I came to the end of it, I started thinking about the things that I could have.
This morning I had eggs with roasted cauliflower and scallions, all scrambled up. I didn’t finish it. It would seem that two eggs and veggies are more than I want to eat this morning. And it’s not feeling as light in my body as the smoothies have been.
Food choices will be interesting as I slowly incorporate things back into my diet.
How about you? What are you eating these days?
I did find myself reading a cooking magazine last night. . .
Good for you! Isn’t it funny to notice that your body can quickly get used to having really healthy, easy to process foods. Did you feel better? Or much the same?
I am eating too much sugar, dairy and wheat again, but maybe you’ll inspire me to go back to my earlier plan!