A Detoxicating Week

This week I basically stripped all artificial ingredients, sugar, dairy, meats, gluten and wheat – including my beloved breads and pasta -- from daily life. Instead I loaded up on fruits, vegetables, rice, nuts, oatmeal and beans for five days and alternated between a detox tea and room-temperature water. I seasoned my food with sea salt, vinegar and/or a dash of extra virgin olive oil. That’s it.

The results:

The biggest surprise: I was never hungry. I ate something every two or three hours the first few days, but mostly out of habit. Then I just let my stomach guide me. It may have helped that by Thursday, the same salad for lunch and rice for dinner wasn’t nearly as appealing. I continued to take my supplements and drank an orange juice with calcium added.

I did have sustained “energy.” By Wednesday I was really noticing that I didn’t have the physical energy highs and lows I normally experience as caffeine and carbs start to wear off. Instead, I kept at a steady state. Mentally, though, I tanked frequently at work, which is not good when you have a cerebral job. I didn’t want to deal with caffeine withdrawal, so I started each day as I always do: with a strong cup of regular, unsweetened tea. Once I was at work, I had a daily cup or two of a detox tea, which tasted worse as the week wore on.

I remained regular. I thought all that roughage and special tea might produce a laxative effect, but I continued to remove waste just as I always had. I initially was supposed to drink a lot more water, but that edict was complicated by a water main break that led to a three-day water ban in Carmel Valley. Our office didn’t replace the filters until mid-day Thursday, so we still couldn’t drink from our reverse-osmosis water cooler. With only bottled water available, and in short supply, I couldn’t drink as much as I normally do.

I got bored. The water ban also impacted all of the restaurants and grocers around me. I’d been banking on some sanctioned vegan dishes at Jimbo’s health food center, but they had to shut down their fresh food operations like everyone else. On Friday, I splurged on organic tomato basil soup and collard rolls, just to mix it up a bit. I think if I took more time to really plan appealing meals, this aspect might change.

My social life suffered a little. First we had a big party for someone and about all I could eat was the garnish and stare wistfully at the margarita machine. Then I got invited to happy hour at Jimmy O’s in Del Mar and decided to decline. Bars don’t make money off women who order water and can’t eat anything on the menu and I didn’t want to explain myself to everyone. That’s just how I am. The final incident was our monthly birthday and anniversary celebration at work this afternoon. As one of those being celebrated, I felt rude not eating a piece of cake. Thus the diet officially ended with the first of three bites of red velvet ice cream cake from Cold Stone Creamery.

I didn’t save any money. I actually spent more on food than I normally do. Real, whole foods, particularly organic fruits, vegetables, juices and grains, are more expensive. But I think they are worth it. Plus, since I can’t afford as much food as before, I also can’t eat as much as before. And, for once very little perishable food went bad in the fridge.

My running went south. The first couple of runs were fine, most likely because of all the previous carbs still in my system. By Thursday, I was really laboring to get up the hills and could tell my pace had slowed overall. Maybe it takes a little longer for me to reap any running benefits from a better fueled body. I can tell that were I to wolf down a Gu now, I’d feel a strong surge. Of course, Gu isn’t on the approved food list.

I learned a lot about my body and how it responds to certain foods and how it doesn’t crave sugar as I once thought. But it does need more protein and healthful carbs to function optimally. My goal now is to continue to weekly stock up on fresh foods and stay away from the Splenda box.