One of my recurring goals for every year is to detox at least for a month. Such monthly challenges help me to get back to healthy habits in case my consumption of French fries and chocolate is starting to get out of hand. And what better time to detox than during the month of January? Typically, end of the year is the unhealthiest time when it comes to meal and beverage choices, and despite coronavirus and lockdown, 2020 wasn’t any different. I enjoyed remorselessly every unhealthy food option that restaurants and supermarkets offer here in Frankfurt am Main, where I currently live. On January 3rd, though, I pulled myself together and bid adieu to all the rosé, prosecco, burgers, schnitzels, fries, potato salad as well to stollens, gingerbread, chocolate, and pralines. My month-long detox had officially started.
What type of detox did I do?
When people started asking me if I really only drink juice and smoothies for a month, I realized that the word “detox” can be interpreted differently. So, I had to look up if I really use the right wording here as not to mislead anyone. Detox literally means “the physiological or medicinal removal of toxic substances from a living organism, including the human body, which is mainly carried out by the liver” (source: Wikipedia). As juicing is way too extreme for me, my choice of detoxing was to give up alcohol, refined sugar and reduce processed foods to minimum, and to have as many veggies and fruits as possible.
First days of the detox
How often have you heard that the first days are always the hardest? I have to say this time I agree with harsh truth. I didn’t have any specific cravings during the first days (I guess I was still fully tanked from sugar from December), but I simply felt as if I was missing something. To be more specific, I was missing snacking. On the first day, I even found myself contemplating if detoxing was even worth it. What if I would die tomorrow, would I be happy that I was spending my last days eating roasted veggies and not of a bite of chocolate? Luckily my rational mind kicked in and I realized that it is unlikely I will be dying during the detox month and I also reminded myself of the benefits that there is to gain. Once the first two or three days passed, I started getting used to the new routine. By then, I had also discovered that nuts and dried dates can also be a pretty good snack.
Rest of the detox
After conquering those first days, the rest went surprisingly smooth. I was afraid that towards the end of the challenge I might start having cravings for sweets (I have a sweet tooth), but interestingly I didn’t experience any accept for maybe one or two occasions. What I found challenging though, was the somewhat repetitive menu and I did get a bit bored of having to eat healthy meals all the time.
Benefits
- Weight loss was not one of the goals here, but I lost approximately 1kg (2,2 lbs)
- My stomach was most of the time flatter than usually and digestion department overall happy. If you have a sensitive stomach like me (plus IBS), I do recommend to cut out processed foods for a while.
- Average heart rate went down (I tend to get racing heart before my periods that is super annoying, so this benefit was HUGE for me)
- My energy levels went somewhat down, but at the same time I also felt calmer and not as restless as usually
- My mood was more stable
- Since I was preparing 90% of my meals myself at home, I saved money because average lunch or dinner takeout price here where I live is approximately 12-15 Euros.
- I started developing new habits around this new routine. E.g. since snacking while watching shows wasn’t “allowed” any longer, I started reading a book instead of watching Netflix. Yoga, meditation and journaling also started feeling like a natural part of my routine.
- Just do be able to say “I can do it!” boosted my self-confidence. Sometimes the only person who needs to be proud of you, is YOU!
Downside?
- Don’t underestimate the time that goes into such dieting and detoxing challenges. Looking up new recipes and making sure that I can actually cook all of these meals parallel within 2,5h (I didn’t want to spend more time on it on the weekend) takes TIME. In addition, I also had to consider if this amount of food is going to last me for a week and how to store all of it.
- You also need to plan for shopping. So just walking into a supermarket and freestyling between the aisles, is not going to work. You need a shopping list!
- Most of the time my stomach felt really good and thankful I had cut out all the crappy foods, but not every healthy food is suitable for everyone. That being said, there were some new foods in my menu that my stomach didn’t like at all. So be aware of it!
How to succeed?
- Be kind to yourself! Two years ago I did a very similar challenge where I told myself “It’s all or nothing” and didn’t allow myself to eat anything that contained sugar (incl. dried fruits) and the food I consumed had to be 100% unprocessed (like no canned beans or no hummus from the store). What happened? I was miserable! I was craving sugar two weeks into the challenge and having the pressure to prepare everything from scratch made me quite stressed. This time, I followed the same rules. However, I told myself it is fine to eat dried fruits now and then and it is OK to buy some processed foods like hummus and bread as it would be quite unrealistic I would be able to cook 100% of the meals myself each and every time I ate.
- Do not follow trends and do what is best for you!
- Plan ahead and prep your meals. Make sure there are ready-to-go meals in your fridge and some snacks available. I don’t know about you, but I tend to wait until he very last minute to eat (until I start getting dizzy) and if there is no meal available immediately, I would go and buy a sandwich from the gas station next to my house. Obviously a situation to avoid.
- Find favorite blogs or social media accounts/influencers to follow. I find it makes it easier to check one or two accounts instead of surfing online every time. It really saves you time. My current favorites:
- Identify your favorite meals and have them every week in your menu. My staples: green smoothies, gluten free oatmeal, various roasted veggies, portobello mushroom pizzas with pesto, bean salad, wild rice salad with herbs and dried cranberries, hummus, dried dates and nuts.
I hope that you found this post beneficial and maybe even inspirational! While I am not going to say “no” to a glass of wine or occasional French fries, I am continuing my healthy lifestyle as long as I can. There are just too many benefits to give it up!
Light and love,
Liis