In response to my holiday overindulgence in the last few weeks of 2013, I began 2014 with a gentle detox.
I've always wanted to try this, but have never before had time or the interest in doing the work that is necessary to make a detox accessible--and edible. Although the ingredients are simple, creativity is required in taking those ingredients and making them into something that I'd want to eat, as opposed to eating plain vegetables and counting the hours until I can eat bread again.
On New Year's Eve, as I sipped my glass of champagne, my body began to scream at me. It had been whining for the last couple of weeks, but it had reached its limit. My knees were hurting, my skin pale, and I was exhausted. And yet, it was the holidays! Have another Christmas cookie!
By New Year's Day I had decided to do something radical about my diet, but waited, of course, until we came back from a mini-vacation in Prague. A visit to the Czech Republic is certainly not the time to begin a detox.
We landed in Tirana on the 5th, and on the way home I stopped at my favorite vegetable market to stock up on produce. One of the benefits of doing a detox in Albania is that the produce is fresh, delicious, and inexpensive. If I decide to do this again in the spring there will be even more variety, and it will be fresher and cheaper.
I used a template from
Mind Body Green as an outline, and started the first full day we were home. I did not follow a strict plan, but completely eliminated wheat, dairy, sugar, and alcohol, and drank tea instead of coffee in the morning. I ate a lot of fruits, vegetables, walnuts, almonds, and cashews. I couldn't find the rubber seal for our blender until the second day, so the first two smoothies were pretty exciting. Note: a food processor is NOT a substitute for a blender.
A Super Breakfast
- banana
- frozen berries
-handful of walnuts
- ice and water
Lunch
- handful of spinach
- peach
- handful of almonds
- ice and water
Dinners consisted of salad, a variety of steamed vegetables, and protein. The first night I cooked salmon with olive oil, lemon, and salt in the slow cooker, and the second night I adapted Dr. Oz's recipe for
lentil soup. The third night was quinoa with lightly roasted vegetables, and my husband had chicken. Salad dressing was olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and a dash of dijon mustard.
Salad toppings
- avocado
- green peppers
- tomatoes
Tabouli with quinoa instead of bulgar.
- parsley
- cucumbers
- green onions
- tomatoes
- quinoa
- olive oil
- lemon juice
Lentil soup
- red lentils
- onions
- carrots
- tomatoes
- olive oil
- cumin
- bay leaves
- freshly made vegetable stock
I was extremely pleased with the results. I felt energized and less inflamed by the end of the first day, and my knee pain had disappeared by the second day. My skin improved, and I lost a little sag in my waist and bum. I never felt hungry.
There are many reasons to do a detox, but one of them is to shock yourself out of bad eating habits. I plan to stick to smoothies for breakfast and lunch, and do what I can to make our dinners healthier while not alienating my husband.
Women are well known for our ability to care for others, and for our difficulty in caring for ourselves. Whether you are a mother, elder caregiver, or simply a woman who spends extra energy and time doing the hands-on work required to keep the people you love healthy, I acknowledge and thank you for your hard work. This is not a discussion of whether or not women should be our primary caregivers. This is an acknowledgement that women are, for the most part, our primary caregivers. I sincerely acknowledge and thank all the men who are their family's primary, hands-on caregiver, but this week, let's focus on women. And yet, there is one way in which women need to improve their caregiving: caring for ourselves. There are many barriers that keep us from practicing self-care: time, money, the availability of help, and, of course, sheer fatigue. However, none of these barriers are insurmountable. So how do we change these habits and start taking care of ourselves? There are many factors that go into acting on self-care, but the first--and most important--is to make the decision to do it.
You ARE worth it. You DO deserve it.And it is absolutely necessary in order to continue taking good care of others. Get started today. Take a yoga class or go for a walk. Make time to treat yourself to a healthy meal. Take the first steps in getting help relieving your pain, stress, or anxiety.
