My first thoughts were 'no alcohol?' there was no way on this earth I thought I was going to manage 10 entire days without a glass of wine. The fact that Day 1 consisted of only hot water and lemon didn't seem to be a problem just no wine at the end of the day was a scary thought. Just to get this straight, by no means do I have an alcohol addiction but I do enjoy a nice glass of wine after work to relax! Haha.
So, after Day 1 drinking copious amounts of hot water, ginger and lemon and a glass of orange juice and a homemade smoothie for dinner I was feeling surprisingly good! No hunger pangs at all! The same pattern pretty much continued through to day 6. During these first 6 days we lived on fruit, homemade smoothies, blended raw vegetables and at one point were allowed some dried fruit and nuts, at this stage they seemed like a major treat. There was also a lot of hot water and lemon throughout. Day 7 we introduced steamed vegetables with no salt or seasoning. By now I was starting to feel a bit sick and tired of eating vegetables and fruit. No added salt, sugar or seasoning can be very bland! Day 8 we had a rice day, this consisted of brown rice for all 3 meals, 2 of which included fruit and one with steamed veg. This for me was the most difficult day, introducing carbs back into the diet but with a carb that I'm not too fussed on at the best of times, never mind for all 3 meals of the day. I got to dinner time and finally cracked! My one and only cheat, a crisp bread (ryvita) and a cup of coffee that my poor mother brought me as I looked like I was about to cry! Day 9 was vegetable soup, homemade of course and we were allowed to use a stock cube! The flavour was amazing after 8 days without any salt! Day 10 we introduced meat back into the diet and it was chicken breast with homage tzatziki which was delicious!
Before starting the detox we measured our waist, thighs and hips and also weighed ourselves. I did not do this detox for weight loss purposes as I am only of a very small build but did it for my skin and to feel better in myself.
I lost 3lbs in weight but also lost an inch and a half from each thigh and 2 inches from my hips. The biggest thing for me was the ease of getting up on a morning and the condition of my akin, it was literally glowing. Every blackhead from my chin and my nose area where I suffer from them had disappeared without any exfoliating or special treatment to those areas.
I would definitely recommend a detox to anyone who wants to give their body a clean out or shed a few lbs if necessary but don't think it is something that should really be done for longer than a week. I will definitely do something similar each month to give myself a boost but for a maximum of 3 days.
The biggest breakthrough for me is that I stuck to no alcohol for 10 days and was so concerned about my meals that I didn't even miss it!
Does anyone have a detox or diet story to share?
