Detox

So my girl over at http://exhotgirl.blogspot.com/ inspired me to try a 7 day, raw food detox. The basic idea is that you fast for 24 hours, and then for the next 6 days you only eat raw fruits and vegetables and drink only water. No grains, no oils, no tea's, nothing. This is supposed to cleanse out your digestive system, give you a ton of energy, help you drop a couple pounds, etc.

The energy thing is really what got me. Since I average 65-70 hours at work per week and I am ALWAYS tired, I thought this would be a fabulous thing. So Saturday at 1:00, I started my fast. The fast was not a huge deal. It is supposed to go from 6 pm to 6 pm, but I had to work at Target all day so this was not possible. I tried to make it till 6 the following night, but I started getting weak feeling around 2, and finally broke down and ate at 5. First meal: 10 clementines. It was great. I drank a bunch of water and went to bed.

I woke up the next morning and made a green smoothie, which is basically any fruits you want combined with some sort of green leafy vegetable. I made banana-strawberry-spinach for the first one. These smoothies are actually really good because the fruit taste covers the taste of the spinach, so you get all the nutrition of the greens with the taste of fruit. Anyway, so I drank the smoothie for breakfast and set about doing some housework. I got very tired after a while and took a long nap, woke up, and made a kale-mango-blueberry-banana smoothie. It was excellent, even better than the first one. The bad thing about this day? I was exhausted. No burst of energy for me yet. However, this is not supposed to happen right away so I accepted it and went to sleep.

The next morning I had to work, so I made a huge smoothie for breakfast and packed a bunch of fruit and veggies and went off. I was feeling pretty weak while I was getting ready for work, and I was really sleepy all day. I fell asleep at my desk a couple of times. When I got home, I needed to leave for Target and that's when I cheated and had a piece of peanut butter toast. I went to work, came home, and collapsed into bed and was asleep by 10:30, at least an hour earlier than usual.

This morning I woke up and could barely drag myself out of bed. I was feeling VERY weak while I was getting dressed for work, and at the last minute before I left, I decided I was done with it. I really wanted to get more energy out of this experience, but almost 4 days into it and I was much more worn out than before. I got to work this morning and weighed myself... I lost 6 pounds!! 6 pounds in 3 and 1/2 days. No wonder I have no energy. So I ate some macaroni and cheese for breakfast and I am about to get some coffee, and hopefully I will feel better.

I don't want to say that nothing good came from this. For one, I lost 6 pounds. That's exciting! Also, any and all bloating went away. I feel bloated a lot of the time and its very uncomfortable, but I have not had any of that this whole time. Also, the weather has been bipolar but not once did I need to reach for an allergy pill. It was amazing! So if anyone is interested in trying this, let me know and I will tell you how to do it. Don't let my bad experience deter you, I have a couple of friends who are doing it now and they are both doing really well on it. I just don't think it was a good choice for me personally. I think I will continue to make the green smoothies because they are such a great way to get more greens into my diet. And it has been a good kick in the ass to start eating better, because gradually over the past few months I have let things go. SO! If anyone wants to give this a try, let me know and I wll give you all the dirty details!