Pre-detox, my quality of sleep wasn't great, my mental state was a bit foggy, I felt bloated and sloppy, and I tended toward the cranky, irritable, anxious side of the mood spectrum. As I worked my way through the detox, the change in all of these areas for the better is absolutely undeniable. My sleep is great, my mood is improved, my mental state and ability to cope is better...eating gluten-free and low sugar has been well worth the sacrifice.
And, I lost a whopping 9.5 lbs! Let me say that again - I lost 9.5 lbs in 3 weeks, and I did it eating real, whole foods that kept me energized and satisfied all day long. I wasn't starving myself, I was just giving my body the type of fuel it had gone without for so long, and man, did my body respond to it!
Throughout the challenge I averaged anywhere from 1400 to about 1800 calories a day (based on entering my meals into MyFitnessPal) I worked out a little bit, but nothing crazy - 5 yoga classes and 3 runs over the course of 21 days, so that's a few times a week on average. My macronutrient (fat, protein, carb) ratio generally speaking was very low carb (25% or less, mostly from veggies) and high fat and protein, and likely got my body into a ketogenic state or near it (even though the detox is not technically a ketogenic diet), which means operating on depleted glycogen energy storage, which means the body is burning fat for energy instead. Pretty cool! (hopefully I've explained that right!)
The favorite new food/recipe I picked up on the detox is hands down, ZOODLES! I also tried a handful of recipes from the 21DSD book, and look forward to experimenting with many more in the future.
My plan for "Day 22" and beyond is more or less to stick with it, but allowing for more variety of fruit, alcohol on the weekends (and a glass of wine during the week), and allowing for a little sweet treat on a special occasion...I'm toying with the idea of maybe 1 cheat meal allowed a week. This weekend is Memorial Day, and I don't plan to go hog wild, but Brian and I may go out for ice cream or something like that, and I'm not going to deprive myself, I'm just going to be smart, and go for a taste rather than a gut-buster. But, I am planning to stay very low sugar and low to no gluten on most days. I'd love to try to drop another 15 lbs, if not more.
And finally, here's a walk down memory lane, with links to points on my journey.
Pre-Detox: Unsweetened: The entry explaining my interest in the 21DSD
Day 1: It's harder than I thought it would be!
Day 2: Feeling Apprehensive...can I really do this?
Day 3: 1st mini milestone - 1/7th of the way! Resisted temptation when meeting a gf for dinner and a movie.
Day 4: Starting to experience vastly improved sleep (but peeing a lot!)
Day 5: Headaches starting to subside, and energy picking up, though experiencing some digestive challenges.
Day 6: Faced with more temptation out with friends, but stuck with the program, and proud of it.
Day 7: Hell yeah - made it through week 1 and feeling amazing! The 'bad' symptoms have subsided.
Day 8: Dropped a little knowledge on the pitfalls of sugar.
Day 9: Still sleeping well, but felt a little energy dip
Day 10: I know I made the right decision to cut out sugar, but severing the emotional ties is tough.
Day 11: Halfway there! B and I crave pizza means...we made "meatza" (so wrong, yet so right!)
Day 12: Energy is picking up again!
Day 13: Stayed on track, but my workout was a little shaky. Maybe I need to up the carbs just a tad.
Day 14: Two weeks down, one to go! And...the day we discovered Zoodles!
Day 15: Kale chips. Overrated.
Day 16 & 17: Controlling the chaos and managing the stress at work.
Day 18 & 19: See Day 16 & 17
Day 20: Almost there! Put myself in temptation's way one last time...and passed the test!
Day 21: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
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