Friday, November 16, 2012

Liver Detox - Metabolism Jumpstart



I decided to do a Detox/Cleanse on Friday after recommendation from my coach.  She recommended a Liver Detox ** from First Magazine.  At first glance, I liked the idea of this one because it wasn't some crazy product littered with words I can't read!  It was regular foods and it also allowed you to EAT starting day 2.

You can read the description for what it does for you, but reality is,  the cleanse is like an oil change.  You just need to do it once in a while to keep things working right.  Many of you know I struggle with my weight too, so I thought why not give it a try?

Day 1:

Drink a concoction that you create with spices, juices and water with an addition of flax seed in the AM and PM. Alternate that and water for 12 hours.

I can't handle non-sugar sweeteners, so I had to deal with the tart cranberry/lemon taste.  It wasn't that bad. It would have been nicer  sweet, but was just fine.

Thoughts: not as bad as I thought.  I  found that drinking 8oz of water every hour was really hard to do.  I'm dumbfounded too as it is only 4 more portions than required normally. Clearly I do not drink enough.  As expected, I had to pee every 45 min, and I was a little hungry at points.  I figured my 'hunger' wasn't really 'hunger' since my stomach wasn't growling, I just wanted to eat!

I went to bed early and dreamed of my eggs for breakfast.

Day 2:

I prepared my scrambled eggs, mushrooms and tomatoes. I realized there was a TON of food and wasn't going to be hungry today.  I finished my eggs, ate my orange for dessert and packed my lunch.



My first snack: 1 cup of plain yogurt, strawberries, blueberries and flax seed.  1 cup of yogurt is a TON!  Those single servings are like 1/3 of a cup or something, I felt like I was eating a full bowl of cereal.


Lunch: big salad with dark greens, beets, artichokes and chicken.  I giggled at at the beets, yes for you Carlie!   I also am not particularly fond of lettuce, it is just weird and difficult to eat to me, but it's a necessity in eating heatlhy! I found the salad to be very filling; and luckily I do not need dressing so "as is" was fine for me.


Around 1, I had enough and I just wanted to eat a piece of bread or a chocolate (or chocolate on bread?), or donuts  or cookie, or cake, or just warm french bread, or pizza.. or wings with bleu cheese,  or cheese, or potato chips.....then I reality checked myself and realized I AM FULL, it is my brain saying "eat this crap." I am fully addicted to carbs, hopefully this 3 day thing will help get me off of them.

Thank God I don't have a caffeine addiction. I imagine this would be REALLY HARD if you needed coffee.  My coach has asked me a couple times if I had a headache.  I really wouldn't know the difference, I have a headache 99% of the time anyway so whatever, right?  If you are going to try this, I recommend kicking your caffeine addiction first!

Dinner was good, a big bag of cauliflower and broccoli, 6oz of chicken and I made a dipping sauce for all of it.  2tbl of that plain yogurt and 'simply garlic' (a packaged bought spice blend.).    I like sauce, so the addition of my little mixture was just perfect. It is very good too!


Then a baked apple with nutmeg and cinnamon! Yum!



For those that don't understand how yogurt can be used as a sauce, you have to try it.  Plain yogurt is so well, plain!  John made a face at me, he said "but it's sweet" I said "no it's plain" he said "no it's sweet."  His response is typical.  You can use plain yogurt as a substitute for sour cream, just add some chive! You can have a veggie dip by adding onion soup mix....You just have to try it.

Day 3: 

Woke up and down 4.5 lbs from the start. That's not "REAL" we all can call a spade a spade here. Water weight! I'm just shocking the system, but hell, I'll pretend and be happy today.  I feel full, but my brain still wants something sugary or bubbly to drink, and carbs.. oh how I would love a bagel.

I choose to eat the same thing as Day 2, I could have mixed up my veg and protein  but was just easier to prepare it all at once.  Eating healthy does take more time, but I kinda like getting up early, making eggs and watching something from the DVR.

The most annoying thing so far with this detox is the pee-breaks!  I have a 1 hour commute, and a 30-45 min bladder at this point.  One word UGH.. (ok 2 words) pee dance!

I lived through day 3 just fine, I enjoyed my food for the day.  So much that I even prepared the same breakfast today. I'll probably have that yogurt/ fruit mix for a snack later.  I did add a small piece of toast to breakfast though.  Damn carb addiction, but man it was good!

Officially I'm 4.2lbs down from when I started. I'll be surprised to see how much actually stays off.

I feel a little better, but mentally I feel LOTS better.

I would recommend it, I feel like it jump-started my potential to eat better.

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** The original link to the recipe was removed from the source, so here it is **


First Day:
Prepare the Miracle Juice!
  • 8 oz all natural cranberry juice
  •  3/4 cup orange juice
  • 56 oz pure water
  • ½ tsp cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp ginger and nutmeg
  • ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
  • Stevia natural sweetener to taste
  • Ground flax seed (store in freezer)
Bring the mixture of water and cranberry juice to a soft boil. Combine cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg into a tea ball and steep it in the mixture for 15 minutes. (For a tangier juice, add the spices directly to the liquid.) Let it cool, then add lemon juice to the mix. Add Stevia for taste.
Day One of The Liver Cleanse Plan
  • For breakfast pour a glass of the juice. Stir in 2 Tbs. of flax seed 
  • One hour later drink 8 oz. water
  • Keep alternating juice and water for the next 12 hours without the flax seed
  • Add the flax seed again to your final cup of juice before bedtime
Alternate drinking 1 cup (8 ounces) of filtered water and 1 cup (8 ounces) of Miracle Juice during the day. Drink at least 72 ounces of filtered water throughout the day, in addition to the Miracle Juice. Make sure you drink at least a cup of liquid - either the Miracle Juice or water - every hour. Begin the protocol when you wake up in the morning. You don't have to begin at a specific time, but be sure to have all eight glasses of Miracle Juice in addition to the 72 ounces of water by day's end.
Breakfast:
  • scramble 2 eggs
  • add veggies (mix in or serve as side dish )
  • have a small orange for dessert (no juice)
  • add fresh lemon juice to glass of water
Snack:
  • 1 cup of plain Greek yogurt topped with fresh (or from the freezer) berries and ground flax seeds.  Grind in coffee grinder or mini blender.  Refrigerate after opening bag.  Organic yogurt best and Trader Joe's carries it!
Lunch:
  • dark green salad with beets (raw shredded or cooked), artichoke hearts, 6oz lean protein (wild and/or organic best).  Avocado okay.
Snack:
  • baked apple with cinnamon and nutmeg 
Dinner:
  • big portions of cauliflower, broccoli and 6oz lean protein (wild and/or organic best)



3 comments:

  1. Laura,

    Paul and I have done that Detox Many times. Usually to kick the sugar habit that creeps in from time to time. Its a good one.
    Christina

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