40 Day Detox

Following a two-hour long conversation with my brother last night, today (Wednesday 4th August 2010), I decided that I will commit to a 40 day detox diet. Ok, not strictly 40 days, more like 42 days which is a 6 week detox diet. I decided to keep the extra couple of days just to see how I feel following the 40 day detox, in case the 40th day is some kind of threshold. It’s possible I may well continue to commit to the changes I implement during this 40 day period indefinitely if I’m impressed enough by the results.

So what exactly do I mean by a 40 day detox? Will I be consuming just water or fruit juices for the entire 40 days? No. Nothing of the sort. My goal is to transform my diet in a way that I can sustain those changes long term so that I can gain from the ongoing health benefits for the rest of my life. I started something similar back in January 2010 where I eliminated 1) all forms of meat – including fish and eggs; 2) alcohol; 3) tobacco; 4) caffeine; and 5) granulated sugar. This time I will be cutting out the above with the following additions: 6) artificial sweeteners; 7) white carbohydrates; and 8) drugs.  

If the above things are out, what’s in? I’ll be consuming fresh fruit, vegetables, fresh juices of both (using my juicer), water, wholemeal carbohydrates like wholemeal pasta, brown rice, multigrain wholemeal bread, vegetarian sources of protein like nuts, pulses (e.g chana daal), tofu and quinoa, and dairy products i.e. skimmed milk and a variety of cheeses. Though I shall try not to eat too much cheese due to the high saturated fat content in most forms it comes in and will instead use it mostly to add flavour to a dish.I thought about starting today, but then decided that I wanted to blog the experience and figured it would take me at least a day setting up a new blog. I also needed to head out and buy healthy groceries in preparation.  

Dixy Chicken and Chips

Whilst carrying bagfuls of healthy food back home I caught a whiff of fried chicken and chips (Dixy Chicken to be precise). It smelled divine (from a meat eaters perspective it certainly did). My first reaction was “Oh no! How am I going to be able to resist once I’ve committed to the detox?” It felt as though the detox had already started. I was already thinking about oven baking some vegetables when I got home. But then I realised, “There’s nothing stopping me eating some chicken tonight as the detox starts tomorrow.” So in I went and ordered meal number 3 (One piece of chicken and three spicy wings). I bought a can of Dr Pepper and smothered my meal with large dollops of chilly sauce and mayonnaise.

As I savoured each bite of chicken and fries wet with sauces and gulped down on my sugary Dr Pepper I realised that from midnight onwards every item I was enjoying would be banned for the next 40 days and perhaps forever. My eyes water as I write this. :’-(