Day 9 Detox

I was able to fall back to sleep after waking up at 5am. Oh, the luxury of a lazy Sunday!

I had a banana after getting up and waited to see how hungry I was. About an hour later, I made a fruit smoothie with mixed organic frozen berries, banana and the protein powder. It was a nice change from just drinking the shake.

An hour and a half later, I had an apple and a grapefruit. I've noticed the shakes only last about 1.5 hours until I'm hungry.

For lunch we had leftover turchetta and risotto. We went for a walk by the lake and lunch was enough to keep the hunger away for awhile.

I had to stop at the grocery store and I made the mistake of going there on an empty stomach! Everything looked good! I couldn't find any raw cashews (needed for a recipe this week) and I was NOT stopping at another store! In a weak moment, I bought the roasted and lightly salted version...it was a low blood sugar moment! I even had a handful of them on the way home! So that was my "cheat" for the week!

While I was making dinner, I made some baked sweet potatoes to snack on. I also had snap peas to hold me over until dinner. I made spicey black beans (recipe in the Metagenics detox pamphlet) and guacamole. It was really good! We decided we would keep this recipe even off the detox!

This meal was really satisfying and I am still not hungry tonight. It is much easier to go to sleep with a full stomach! Sweet dreams...

Day 8 Detox

Ryan had to work this morning, but I was already awake when his alarm went off! I'm really hoping sleep will turn around soon!

Today is the day the detox changes for 7 days. Only foods from vegetables, fruits, fats, spices and beverage categories are allowed and rice. That means all the protein is coming from the shakes. Also, no legumes, nuts, or oats. This makes thinking about what to eat...easy, but less actual food being eaten.

For breakfast, I mixed a shake and headed off for a walk with one of my dearest friends and her two boys, down by the lake. It was a gorgeous day, with the sun shining and temps near the 30's. Spring feels like it is around the corner! I walked for almost an hour and went home to find something to eat.

I had an apple, then a banana, then some snow peas, then a tomato. The walk must have kicked up my metabolism, because I was starving and NOTHING was making me satisfied. I buckled and had some of the leftover turchetta from last night. I also had some steamed broccoli with flaxseed oil drizzled over it. I would have had another shake, but realized our jug was getting low and we didn't have enough to do 3 shakes a day and get through the weekend. We'll have to deviate from the schedule a little and only do 2 shakes a day, until I can get more product this week.

I was busy all day and HUNGRY all day! This was the first day of discomfort, well, sort of, if you consider hunger...discomfort. I felt like I couldn't think about much else today, except what I was going to eat next! I think the hardest part was not having a satisfying breakfast, like oatmeal, and drinking my breakfast instead.

By late afternoon, I was REALLY looking forward to dinner! I had another apple, a shake, and a grapefruit to get me through while I was cooking dinner. Another thing I have realized on this detox, is how much I like to snack on something while I'm cooking! I usually have some chips and salsa, chips and guacamole, etc. I miss them!

For dinner, I made risotto with carrots, yellow squash, celery, onions and garlic. I also had baked sweet potatoes and cucumbers. Dinner tasted soooo good after a long day of feeling hungry! The sweet potatoes were such a treat because they tasted so sweet! Ryan and I commented on how we would normally put lots of ketchup on the potatoes. We both thought ketchup would have been much too sweet because we are getting used to the taste of the actual food and the sweetness in the potatoes was more than satisfying. I hope we can continue some of these lessons we are learning after the detox. No ketchup will save us lots of extra sugar and calories if we can pass it up!

Even though the meal was fantastic, I was still a little hungry. I waited a half hour after dinner and then had to have a rice cake!

I didn't go to bed really hungry, but I definitely know I'll be hungry by morning!

Day 7 Detox

WIDE AWAKE at 4am again!!! GRRR! I felt like I was finally falling back to sleep and my alarm went off! I was really slow-moving and groggy!

Breakfast was the usual oats with walnuts, cinnamon, and almond milk. I had a banana at work mid-morning.

That's where the regular work day routine was thrown off! I was trying to open a file on my computer and the whole thing crashed! Stressful! I had to put the computer on the back-burner and ran over to a lunch meeting. It was a sandwich bar with creamy tomato soup...problem! It was an even bigger problem because I was getting low blood sugar and was really stressed about the outcome of my computer! The restaurant was not able to accommodate me with a side salad, so I had to eat a plate of fruit for lunch. The fruit was really good...cantaloupe, honey dew, pineapple and strawberries, but I needed protein! I raced home after the meeting for a shake and a rice cake to ward off a headache and crabbiness!

I had a very busy afternoon going between two computer places. The errands/appointments ran later than I thought, so by the time I got home, I was famished! I was close to a major melt-down with the stress of the computer and low blood sugar, so I grabbed an apple and leftover steamed broccoli while I waited for dinner to be ready and started to feel much better! I have a really hard time having control over my emotions (crabby one minute...weepy another) while on this detox. It definitely helps when the blood sugar is maintained!

Dinner was steamed kale, turchetta (Tino and Tomasso Turchetta Roast) and a grapefruit for dessert. The turchetta was phenomenal. It wasn't organic meat (kind of a "cheat") but it was prepared with all natural spices, no MSG or nitrates. We met the owner of the company at Whole Foods last weekend and sampled his new product. So even though it was a little "cheat" we were supporting a local business!

Thanks to an amazing computer whiz, I have my computer back tonight with a new hard drive. I am hoping another business will be able to help me recover my data on my old hard drive, but at least I am able to update the blog tonight! It's the small things in life :) Happy Friday and sleep tight!

Day 6 Detox

I finally slept a little better last night. I didn't have as many crazy dreams, but I was wide awake at 5am again. If only I could sleep until my alarm went off!

I had my usual oatmeal with walnuts, cinnamon, and almond milk. I'm finding it easier on my system to have the shake later in the day rather than right away in the morning.

I had a breakfast meeting this morning and forgot they were serving a meal. Thank goodness I had eaten already because the restaurant provided stuffed french toast! The smell was heavenly and the french toast was stuffed with apples and coated with an amazing caramel sauce. If I wasn't detoxing, I still wouldn't be able to eat it because I'm gluten intolerant, but it was still hard to be around when I haven't had sugar for quite a few days! What I DID have was green tea and mixed fruit (honey dew, cantaloupe, pineapple and grapes).

I also had a lunch meeting. It is very difficult to find something on a menu that works for a detox meal, but most restaurants are really willing to work with requests. I learned this once I ventured into the gluten-free/MSG-free diet. The detox just pushes the restrictions a little farther. I had a mixed greens salad with apples, dried cranberries, grilled chicken breast and olive oil and vinegar for the dressing. In a restaurant, none of this is organic, but I think it was as close as I could get to what I would have made at home. The cream soups and gooey sandwich melts that people were eating around me looked fantastic, but I felt very satified with my option. I made it through two temptations today...whew!

I had a rice cake with almond butter before my walk today. I am really liking this snack...very satisfying. When I got back from my walk, I had a shake and AdvaClear about a half an hour later. The shake tasted grittier today, but I think it is because I have had quite a few lately.

Dinner was leftover Rosemary White Bean Soup, steamed zucchini and pineapple. I had a grapefruit as a snack later on in the evening. I'm looking forward to doing some more cooking this weekend and trying more detox recipes. I think the leftovers that I have now, I will freeze and use at the end of the second week or beginning of the third week.

Overall, it was a good day. Energy levels were higher and it felt good to be on a walk outside with the sun on my face. Spring is on its way!

Day 5 Detox

My sleep wasn't much better last night. Lots of weird dreams! I was wide awake at 5am and I think the detox is allowing me to have much more energy in the mornings, which has been a problem in past and one of the reasons I wanted to do the detox.

I started off the morning with the usual oats, walnuts, cinnamon, and almond milk. It took me quite a bit of time getting lunches ready this morning. I baked chicken this morning because I was too tired to do it last night. By the time I found all the lids for containers, got veggies cleaned and cut, I think it was almost an hour from start to finish to make and eat breakfast and finish lunches.

I had a banana and rice cake with almond butter for a snack around 11am. At 1:30pm I had my shake with AdvaClear. I was hungry by 2:30pm, so I had a lettuce wrap with chicken, sprouts, hummus (Deepak Chopra's Cookbook) and cut up vegetables (zucchini, carrots, and cucumbers). I have to say the hummus from this book is the first recipe I haven't really liked. It is really dry compared to the stuff you buy in the store. I'm not sure I would make it again without tweaking the recipe quite a bit.

I have to say one of the other side effects I have been experiencing that I haven't mentioned is body temp regulation. It may sound kind of crazy, but I have been cold all of the time. Yesterday when I laid down for awhile, I had two blankets on and I just couldn't warm up! Today was the first day I started to shake this, so I hope it lasts! I can't stand to be cold!

Another confession....even though I have felt fairly satisfied with this food, I have been having some cravings for junk food! Oddly enough, food that I wouldn't usually eat! I saw a commercial for pizza and it made me immediately hungry! I also stopped off at the grocery store and they were baking or frying donuts and I was salivating! I would never buy them, so I don't know where that is coming from!

I went for a 40 minute walk/run tonight on the treadmill. I had lots of energy and ran much farther that I thought I would be able to. I thought I would be weaker than usual, but it was just the opposite! This brings me to mention something I was discussing with a great friend on the phone tonight...nutrient dense food. When you aren't eating high quality food and lots of fruits, vegetables and clean proteins, your body doesn't have the nutrients to nourish the cells that are constantly turning over and regenerating. Our bodies are under so much stress trying to break down food that has lots of chemicals, perservatives, and lack of nutrients. Our bodies try to pull some nutrients out of our highly processed food, but it takes that much more work. So it makes sense that I am able to exercise much easier when my body isn't having to put energy into breaking down junk food and getting great nutrients from easy-to-digest food.

Dinner was uneventful with lots of steamed broccoli and leftover Moroccan Vegetables with quinoa. I am so thankful I did all the cooking last weekend because the immediate food available has really helped to stay on track when I come home hungry at night.

Here's praying for better sleep and temp regulation tonight and tomorrow! Thanks for reading!

Day 4 Detox

I was hoping my sleep would be getting better on the detox, but I haven't experienced that...yet. I have had lots of weird dreams and have been waking up a lot. I woke up this morning at 5am and was EXTREMELY dizzy! I wasn't sure if my sinuses were plugged, I needed to be adjusted, or if it was one of the detox side effects. I went back to bed until 6:30am and was still dizzy when I got up. I was VERY slow-moving and irritable. I grabbed an apple on my way to work because I didn't think I could handle a shake when I wasn't feeling very well.

9am-I took 3 AdvaClear and had oatmeal with walnuts, cinnamon, and almond milk. Still dizzy and kind of crabby!

2pm-I was finally coming out of my slump and had my shake. I talked to Ryan at work and he said he was hungry and low energy. He said he can't believe how much and how often he has to eat to stay satisfied!

4pm-I had a banana and homemade almond butter (recipe in Deepak Chopra's cookbook and I used olive oil instead of ghee) on a brown rice cake. It tasted fantastic!

I think that is what I am realizing more and more...you taste the actual food rather than extreme salt and sugar. I had a fairly clean diet coming into this process, so I think it may be important for some people thinking about doing a detox to work into it slowly. Maybe cutting out sugar first for a couple weeks, soda, etc. I think to break all bad habits cold turkey could cause some nasty side effects.

I took the dog for a walk and even though it was very sunny, it was very windy! My energy was low and combined with the wind, we cut it short! I did lay down when we got back and I felt much better. The dizziness was completely gone. Let's hope it stays that way because that was not very fun!

7pm-For dinner I had Dr. Chopra's Rosemary White Bean Soup, a salad (sprouts, cucumbers, zucchini with oil and vinegar) a rice cake and pineapple for dessert. Plenty to fill me up and feel satisfied.

The recipes I have used really make me feel like I am eating normal and not on an actual detox. The key is having these meals made up ahead of time for the busy lunches and dinners during the week.

I am hoping for better sleep tonight. Good Night!

Day 3 Detox

I definitely felt much better this morning than Sunday morning...thankfully! The tricky part about today is a full day of work for both Ryan and I. We had to plan ahead for lunches and snacks throughout the day.

I made oatmeal with almond milk and walnuts for breakfast and Ryan made a shake. I wanted breakfast to last awhile, so I decided to use the shake as a snack. At 11am I mixed my shake (1 1/2 scoops today) and had some cucumbers. The shake lasted longer with the larger amount of powder. At 1:30pm I heated up left-over stir fry.

I was able to make it through the rest of the afternoon with an apple and some walnuts. I had lots of energy and the dull headache did not return today. I also had lots of water and hot tea throughout the day.

So far so good...sounds like an uneventful day, right?!?

When I went to leave for home, my car wouldn't start :( I called Ryan who was working late at work and he came to rescue me :) What I didn't know was he had really low blood sugar because work had been very busy and he didn't have time to grab a late afternoon snack. He ate some walnuts and a clementine before he went out to save the day. I hate to even admit it, but all he did was go out to the car, try and start it and it started!!! How frustrating! Another example of how important it is to be eating constantly throughout the day.

When I got home, it was much later than usual and I knew I needed to eat soon or I was heading for a bad low blood sugar headache. I got in the door and found my dog slinking around the corner....never a good sign! I went into the kitchen and he had gotten into a bag of quinoa! It was everywhere!! (See pics...if you can't tell, he knew he was bad!)

I quickly ate some pineapple to keep my blood sugar and energy up and cleaned up the mess! I made a great salad for dinner with lots of mixed greens, quinoa, fresh basil, 1/2 an avocado, carrots, and broccoli. I used olive oil and white wine vinegar with black pepper as a dressing. Not exactly lasagna with garlic bread, but satisfying, quick and easy!

Overall, the detox is going well with lots of planning and a little self-control. Did I mention one of my co-workers brought dark chocolate covered strawberries to work today?!?!? Yes, I passed them up, but it was difficult!

Day 2 Detox

I woke up this morning with body aches, no energy and a sore throat. Yikes...

9am-I hauled myself out of bed (I am usually up much earlier than that, so that was REALLY sleeping in for me!) and Ryan was getting the shakes ready. We used one full scoop this morning and the AdvaClear. The shake was easy to get down and settled in my stomach well and I was already feeling better being up and around.

10:30am-We were already hungry so I made the gluten-free oats with walnuts and almond milk. We also had hot herbal tea and half of a grapefruit.

After an hour, I was slightly hungry and had snap peas and an apple. We decided to go for a walk and were gone for almost an hour. It was a beautiful day in the 30's and the sun was shining. The snow is melting and it is hard to believe it is still February! During the last 10 minutes of our walk, Ryan "hit a wall" (his words). He didn't have any energy and he was hungry. We got home and he had an apple. He said, "This is the best apple I have ever eaten!" and had the look of a kid eating an ice cream cone! I don't know if he was serious or if he was just that hungry, but felt it in my best interest not to ask any further questions! Like I said, we are learning more about our relationship and best not to question someone with low blood sugar!! He also had homemade hummus from the Chopra Center Cookbook with veggies.

3:30pm-I made an early dinner from Deepak Chopra's cookbook, "Moroccan Vegetables with quinoa and chicken. I will tweak this recipe in the future, but it tasted pretty darn good!

We have had lots of water over the course of the evening. I have a minor dull headache, but Ryan feels great. The day went well, but I'm glad I'm not working today! Our activity levels are less than usual and I think it is because we don't have the energy we normally do. Thank goodness the Olympics are on! Go USA!

Day 1 Detox

Welcome! Thank you for reading my blog! I am Dr. Kristen Klos-Maki, D.C. with Life Compass Chiropractic. I am starting this blog to share my experiences and knowledge with different health and wellness related topics.

The first topic I would like to conquer...Detoxification. Ryan (my husband) and I decided to start a new adventure and begin a detox this weekend! I wanted to share our experience with everyone and give you a first-hand account of what we will be going through. I hope this is helpful information for you if you are trying to decide if you should begin a detox. There are many reasons people decide to do a detox. We made the decision to detox to help identify food sensitivities we may be having and to cleanse our systems for 3 weeks.

**Disclaimer first...a detox is not right for everyone and should only be done under the supervision of a health care provider.

With that out of the way...I consulted with my local Naturopath (I will list her name in further blogs, but I need to get permission first!) and she recommended we use Metagenics, UltraClear Plus pH, flavor: natural pineappple banana, which is the protein shake powder. In addition, we are taking Metagenics, AdvaClear, which helps support the detoxification.

The diet is relatively basic with lots of fruits and vegetables (as many organic as possible) clean meats (grass-fed, organic), rice (wild, arborio, brown), nuts and oats. The fluids recommended are water and tea. The absolute "no-no's" are dairy, sugar, gluten, peanuts, eggs, soy and corn. Metagenics has a great booklet that gives information and recipes to support the detox. This may sound challenging, but I was surprised at the recipes we found that accomodate these restrictions.

We began Saturday morning at 9am with our first shake. We didn't mix anything with it, just water and powder. We wanted to get a feel for the taste and texture before we started mixing it with fruit, etc. We started off slowly with only a 1/2 scoop. The texture was a little gritty, but not difficult to drink. The taste was palatable and not overly flavored. I was concerned the banana flavor would be very artificial-tasting, but I wouldn't be able to make out the specific flavor if I didn't already know what it was. We also took the Advaclear at the same time. Ryan went for a run on the treadmill and I did stuff around the house. I had a dull headache after a half hour, but Ryan felt great after his run.

10am-we were both hungry already, so I heated up a soup I had made from Deepak Chopra's book, "The Chopra Center Cookbook", Rosemary White Bean Soup. We were off to run errands for a few hours and that was a mistake. We ended up stopping at a grocery store for raw almonds and apples to get us through. We had an appointment at 2pm and knew we wouldn't make it until we got home to eat! By the time we got home at 4pm, we were both famished, with dull headaches and body aches. We had gone much to long without a substantial meal. First lesson learned...eat on a consistent basis and don't wait to be hungry to eat! When we waited too long, our blood sugar was LOW!

4pm-I made us gluten-free oats with walnuts and some almond milk and we both laid down for a nap. When I got up, my headache was gone and I felt like I had energy again. Ryan felt the same way.

For dinner, I made "Buddha's Delight Vegetable Stir-Fry" from Deepak Chopra's book. It was excellent and I added chicken to give us extra protein. There was a minor "cheat" with some maple syrup (sugar) and Bragg Liquid Aminos (a soy product) in the sauce, but the amount was so small, I let it slide by! The result was well worth it!

It felt good to get the first day completed. We learned how quickly our moods are impacted by our blood sugar and how quickly we grab something for snacks. We also realized how much we need to plan ahead for our meals and snacks because healthy food takes time to make! I think this is going to be a great experience for us and I think we will learn about ourselves and also our relationship! I have to say, my husband is such a great sport...he is always up for another one of my crazy ideas. This is the first idea I've had that has lasted 21 days....we'll see how it goes :)