Intensifying the detoxification (Day 15)
My weight and readings stayed identical to yesterday’s readings. Weight: 68.8kg; BF: 18.1%; BW: 56.3%; BM: 42.6%.
No Meat. No Dairy. No Kidding.
Despite me cutting out: 1) all forms of meat – including fish and eggs; 2) alcohol; 3) tobacco; 4) caffeine; 5) granulated sugar; 6) artificial sweeteners; 7) white carbohydrates; and 8) drugs; I am not finding the diet side of things particularly challenging. I have had to learn about food as I’ve gone along and have been discovering which foods are good to eat when and what their nutritional value is. However since the beginning, I have had a niggling in the back of my mind based on what other detox diets recommend, that I should remove wheat and dairy products from my diet and I should only be drinking filtered water. So from this day forth 9) wheat products (e.g. bread and pasta), 10) dairy products (e.g. milk, yogurt, fromage frais, and cottage cheese) and 11) tap water are also being banned from my diet for the rest of this detox. The diet I am now following is similar to the one called the Whole Food Diet:
“Whole food diet: This type of detox programme is based on the intake of fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds and their cold pressed oils, legumes, sprouts and whole grains with the avoidance of caffeine, alcohol, tobacco, drugs, meat, fish, dairy produce, wheat and other gluten-containing grains, refined foods, fried foods, sugar and salt. Drinks may include filtered/bottled water, fruit and vegetable juices, and herbal teas. Eating a whole food diet is the gentlest way of detoxifying the system and can be continued for a longer period of time without depleting the body or encouraging it to detoxify too quickly.”
Soy milk
I started my morning with my usual lemon in hot water drink. For breakfast I needed something new. My usual muesli with fromage frais were now out (no wheat and no dairy allowed). I wanted something high in protein for breakfast. I looked for vegan alternatives to milk. The options were: hemp milk, almond milk, rice milk, coconut milk, soy milk, and oat milk.
Protein per 100ml:
- Soy milk 3.7g
- Hemp milk: 2g
- Coconut Milk: 1g
- Oat Milk: 1g
- Almond Milk: 0.4g
- Rice milk: 0.1g
Quinoa, soy milk, blueberries, raspberries and Agave Nector
I will try all alternatives to milk. It seems this detox is a good opportunity to come out of my comfort zone and explore food I have never tried before. As I have also just run out of protein shake I will start by consuming the highest protein value milk, which is Soy Milk. I bought 1L of organic unsweetened Soy Milk from Holland and Barrett for £1. Seems reasonable. Instead of muesli I mixed the soy milk with quinoa, raspberries, blueberries and a drizzle of agave nectar. Not bad, not bad at all. It was a bit like rice pudding.
In the morning I did the second part of my HIIT experiment. A couple of days ago I did it on an empty stomach. This time I went fueled on a banana and some almonds. My readings before the 20 min High Intensity Interval Training on the cross trainer were: Weight: 68.8kg; Body Fat: 17.8%; Body Water: 56.5%; Body Muscle: 42.8%. After the training session my readings were: Weight: 69.3kg; Body Fat: 17.7%; Body Water: 56.5%; Body Muscle: 42.8%. My fat decreased by 0.1%. I’m not sure how the scale managed to show an increase in weight of 0.5kg, whilst not showing an increase in Body Water percentage. It makes me wonder how reliable these scales are after all! The immediate decrease in Body Fat does not compare to the 0.5% decrease in Body Fat following HIIT session on an empty stomach. However a better comparison will be made tomorrow morning when I can see my morning after results too.
My scales always seem to be telling me to Go Run
Apple and carrot juice
I came home to a fresh apple and carrot juice. I didn’t have any protein shake so I tried improvising by stirring in peanut butter into Soy milk. I tried, but the peanut butter refused to mix with the Soy milk. I ended up eating peanut butter off a tablespoon instead. In the quinoa, the soy milk tasted fine. On its own it might be white like cows milk but tastes like water. It does not compare to cows milk at all. Soon after I ate my lunch which was an Urid Whole Dal curry with red kidney beans, peas, almonds and lemon zest. It was the first time I ate this dal. And what can I say?! It was absolutely delicious. It had a creamy texture to it. So! So! Good!
Soy Milk doesn't taste so good on its own
I extended my resistance training to include squats, lunges and a military shoulder press. I did these exercises at home before going to the park to do the rest of my training. I thought they would be easy as I’m used to doing squats with weights in the gym. However I was quite surprised how hard I actually found them. After about 30 squats I was done. For my shoulders I improvised as I have no machine or any free weights. I used a case full of CDs instead. I’d like to see if I can get fit without spending a penny on gym membership or equipment.
This is the silver CD case I use to do my military press shoulder exercise
In the park it seemed the additional exercises I did at home, the HIIT session I did earlier in the morning, plus the brand new diet were now taking their toll on me. I was very tired. My performance during the resistance training in the park reflected this. My sets were not so good. I completed the laps around the park in 56 min 36 sec. When I returned to the gym to do the cross trainer, I found someone was using it. I was tired and felt I had done enough for the day and went home.
I had a fresh pear and carrot juice as soon as I got home and had my evening meal which was the Urid Whole Dal curry with some salad.
Urid whole dal, lemon zest and almonds with salad