40 Day Detox

The first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is weigh myself on the scales and get a break down of my Body Fat, Body Water and Body Muscle readings. From day one to day two I went down only 0.1kg from 69.9kg to 69.8kg. From day two to day three I stayed at 69.8kg, and no I did not convert fat to muscle. From day one to day two my Body Fat, Body Water and Body Muscle stayed constant at BF: 18.8%, BW: 55.8%, BM: 42.3%. From day two to day three my weight stayed the same at 69.8kg but my Body Fat went up to 19.5%, my Body Water went down to 55.3% and my Body Muscle went down to 41.9%! This is despite all the exercise and cutting out many things from my diet. I thought of a few reasons this could be happening: 1) I’m consuming too many fat and carbohydrate calories (e.g. Cheddar Cheese and Quinoa); 2) The reading might have detected more fat due to The Body Shop strawberry butter I put on my body after coming out of the shower the night before; 3) My two hour training on an empty stomach in the morning is forcing my body into starvation mode and it’s starting to burn my muscle as a form of fuel, rather than just fat and carbohydrates. 

Whatever is going on something is not working! These thoughts were going around in the back of my mind most of the day. 

Anyway, back to the morning gym session I did on an empty stomach again. My resistance training generally improved with an increase in reps in most sets from yesterday’s session. However, my 2 laps around the park were slower by 41 seconds. I completed my 10 minutes on the cross trainer as usual. 

When I got home I had a double lime with two teaspoons of honey mixed with hot water drink, a fresh mango, a protein shake with milk and flaxseed oil and two toasts with peanut butter. The hot water is supposed to boost the “kick-starting the metabolism” effect. 

Despite the attempt at refuelling I was once again quite exhausted after my work out for the rest of the morning/afternoon. 

For lunch I had quinoa with the last of the vegetable curry. Through the day I snacked on nuts to try and boost my energy and give me a continuous source of protein. 

Me eating a bowl of fruit in the smoking area of Tiger Tiger in Piccadilly Circus, London

A couple of my friends had been in touch asking me to join them for a night out. I wasn’t sure if I’d be up for it due to low energy. However by the time it was evening I was feeling normal energy levels again and decided to go out with them. We ended up at Tiger Tiger in Piccadilly Circus – I would not recommend it, not on a Saturday night anyway. There were lots of fat unattractive people on Stag and Hen dos trying to unconvincingly dance to crappy 80’s music. It was hot, the air conditioning was broken and leaking and thus there were lots of sweaty smelly people everywhere. Yuck. Definitely not my kind of scene. Though it’s possible I felt like that because I was completely sober. No alcohol. No drugs. No tobacco. Just almonds. Which, mistakenly I left in the cloakroom. At one point I got the munchies and so we went on the hunt for something I could eat. Luckily across the road from the club was a Spar. There was a large variety of foods on offer. I would have loved a wholemeal salad sandwich. No chance. The vegetarian sandwiches they did have, like, the Ploughman’s Lunch, though in wholemeal bread, contained mayonnaise, and mayonnaise contains egg – which is a no, no. The only foods that suited my detox regime was a bowl of salad which was £2.89 or a small bowl of fruit which was £1.69. So I went for the fruit. I ended up bringing back the bowl of fruit and eating it outside the club in the smokers’ area. Yes that’s right, I’m taking this detox thing hardcore! And when I was inside all I was drinking was water with a slice of lemon. Lovely. After completing my midnight munch I reluctantly went back inside with the boys. 

Despite the shitty venue, there were however, two great things that came out of the night. 1) I got to meet up with a couple of my friends who I hadn’t seen in a while – always good to see them. 2) I was inspired by a Chippendale-looking shot-serving guy who had his top off and had an extremely well carved body. I looked at him and then thought back to the photos I’d taken of myself over the last couple of days (I’m taking photos of myself every day to track my progress) and thought, man! I need to get my act together and stop looking like a pregnant man (really). I looked at him and contemplated how I was not getting any results the last few days and thought I really would like to share my before and after pics with you guys at the end of the 40 days. In order for that to be possible I must get results. The only way I could show you topless photos of me now is if I have something impressive to show for this 40 day detox and I have to at least have a flat belly by the end of it. So I decided I would up the detox regime. I will start looking into how to train and fuel myself properly. Sure, these last few days I have proved to myself that I can eat incredibly delicious meals without the crap and dead animals I would normally eat. However I need to realise that my body is a biochemical machine and food is its fuel. I must treat food as fuel. I make the commitment to myself to understand what I need to eat, when to eat it and abide by the rules I will soon discover. 

The chicken at KFC is not suitable for vegetarians

At the end of the night I went on the hunt for munchies again. When I asked the lady working in KFC if they had anything vegetarian she simply said “What? Here?! No”. McDonald’s salads all seemed to have meat in them. McDonald’s Spicy Veggie though delicious comes in white bread, which meant no. Finally I sourced a Subway. There you can choose exactly which bread and exactly which fillings you desire. Perfect! After finding out their veggie patty had potato in it (no potatoes allowed) I bought and consumed a 6 inch salad sandwich in wholemeal bread with no sauce. It was delicious and only £1.99. 

On my way home on the night bus I started Googling how to burn fat while keeping muscle and read through a few articles on bodybuilding.com. All I will say for now is that as a result of my preliminary research, when I got home I ate the rest of the cottage cheese we had left in the fridge before I went to bed. And while I slept, my body was busy working away at rebuilding my muscles…

Last night I dreamt of befriending dogs and cooking brightly coloured organic vegetables with succulent looking meat (not sure what kind of meat it was). Seems my subconscious is missing my love affair with the flesh of dead animals already, whilst embracing the increased use of plant based food. 

This morning I decided to exercise on an empty stomach. No caffeine and no lemon or lime juice. The only external things fuelling me during my two hour workout was a litre of water and fresh air. I improved my performance on my resistance training by slightly increasing the number of repetitions on each exercise. Though my second set was not much better than yesterdays, I didn’t feel a sudden crash in energy after my first set. I also completed my 2 laps around the park about 8 minutes faster than yesterday. 

After completing my 10 minute sprint on the cross trainer I returned home to a fresh single lime and double orange juice. Lime juice in the morning has a similar effect to lemon juice when it comes to cleansing your liver. However as I just worked out I needed an extra shot of carbohydrates to replenish my muscles with energy so I thought I’d fill the rest of the glass with orange juice rather than water. 

For breakfast I had muesli with a fresh sliced banana, a sprinkle of mixed nuts (I have every kind you can think of – try me!), a teaspoon of flax seed oil, a teaspoon of honey and skimmed milk. The oats and whole wheat in muesli have many benefits including helping to reduce blood cholesterol and have a lower GI (Glycemic Index) than more refined breakfast cereals – which means they digest more slowly and release energy into your muscles over a longer period of time. I chose to eat a banana to help restore my energy and it also has many health benefits including reducing depression. I have 11 varieties of nuts in the flat. Most are stored in my freezer for long term use. A handful of these provide me with protein, long term energy and numerous vitamins and minerals! If that isn’t a good enough reason to include them in one’s diet their monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat helps reduce blood cholesterol and contribute to a healthy heart. A handful of nuts everyday has been shown to increase one’s life expectancy according to numerous research studies. Flax seed oil contains Omega 3 and Omega 6 essential fatty acids and numerous other nutrients. Omega 3 is good for the brain and cells and Omega 6 maintains healthy skin, nails and hair (wish someone had told me earlier!). Honey has numerous health benefits too – my main reason for including it in my muesli was to give me a quick boost in energy that I lost during my work out. 

After this my wife had cheese on toast which tempted me into indulging in making a cheddar cheese on toast, with fresh slices of green chilli and tomato. I was just being greedy! 

Despite all this eating I felt very tired again. I didn’t have the brain energy to concentrate on this blog so I started Googling for alternatives to caffeine pick-me-ups. Whilst researching I came across many articles claiming the benefits of drink green tea for weight loss and detoxing. I found out that many of Green Tea’s benefits can be enjoyed in its decaffeinated version. I had also recently read how skincare products, toothpaste and other toiletries can also contain toxins that can enter the body through contact with the skin. I decided to do something about it and went out on a mission to find decaf green tea and buy natural toxin free toiletries. 

The Body Shop Strawberry Shower Gel

I went into Holland and Barrett, The Body Shop, Boots, Sainsburys and a local store in Ilford called Health Mantra. I bought some herbal detox and cleansing type teas from Holland and Barrett. At The Body Shop I bought soap, deodorant, antiperspirant, lip balm and hair conditioner. You might be wondering what I’d want to do with conditioner with my shaved head? I prefer using conditioner instead of shaving gels and foams for shaving. I find it’s smoother to shave with conditioner. You should try it. I have to admit I found the men’s products in The Body Shop quite lame and overly priced. At one point I was really tempted to buy the ladies strawberry perfume for myself. I mean it smelled so much better than anything they had for men, and hey who says smelling like a strawberry is only for women?! At first I thought The Body Shop was quite pricey, but after the £5 discount they gave me at the till I walked away with £20 worth of products for £15 which I later discovered was pretty good when it comes to natural and organic products. I didn’t find decaf green tea anywhere. At Health Mantra I bought natural organic toothpaste and a vegan all-natural protein shake made from pea and hemp proteins. The toothpaste was nearly £4 and the 462 grams of vegan protein shake was nearly £25! I was desperate as I had already started the 40 day detox and couldn’t wait around for deliveries to arrive after shopping online so I went ahead and bought them. The Body Shop seemed like a bargain in comparison! 

For my lunch and dinner I ate quinoa with the mixed vegetable curry my wife made the day before. I also had a couple of thin slices of halloumi cheese with my dinner. 

I felt more energised towards the later part of the day and stayed up until 00.30. Before going to bed I drank a serving of the protein shake. Not the most delicious, but definitively tasted more natural. It was like drinking a mug of unsweetened mushy weetabix!