Healthy Detox Diet Thread August 28-September 1

[monarch64]

A few of us from the weekly workout thread (Mara and Monarch for sure, anyone else is more than welcome to join) have decided to take five days to "detox" from processed foods, dairy, meat products, and alcohol. It is an attempt to detoxify our systems from chemicals used in food processing, and kind of get back to a more natural way of eating. Please see the past few workout threads for more info! We thought we'd start this thread as an alternative to the workout thread, so as not to "clutter up" that thread with our own endeavors. Mara, if you have anything else to add, please do, as this is my own unguided attempt at explaining it.

I read a book called "The 7-Day Detox Miracle" recently, which I mentioned in one of the workout threads. Basically the "diet" consists of eating fresh fruits, veggies, and brown rice or rice products, and excluding processed foods, dairy, meat, etc. from the diet for several days. We have discussed it and kind of adapted it to mainly eating fresh fruits and veggies, as well as rice for 5 days...veggies and rice to be prepared in a minimal amount of EVOO )extra virgin olive oil) and spices with the exception of salt, etc. The idea behind it is to see how our bodies respond to a more natural diet, along with moderate exercise. A "healthier" lifestyle, without processed "extras," if you will.

So this is a support thread in which those who choose to participate can come and share ideas, concerns, menu ideas, thoughts, questions, etc. I hope we all have a good week and are able to support each other during those periods when we need each others' help. Best of luck!

Oh, and Mara, we can eat herbs and lettuce, hee hee.

 

[Mara]

Thanks Monarch for starting the thread!!!!! WOO HOO excitement on 5 days of detox...YAH! (is that enough energy!?!)....

So we had our ''last meal'' tonite...mwahahhaa...I made us coconut curry lemongrass roasted mussels which were just divine and we had a salad and bread as sides. YUM. I plan to have one of our fave parfaits for dessert since it''s the last sweet thing I''ll have til Friday!!

I went to Whole Foods to get our dinner and picked up a few other things...like Kashi Honey Puffs (they didnt have regular), and rice sticks, bananas, broccoli, cauliflower. I have nectarines already, and I got raw, natural almonds as well and Silk vanilla soymilk.

I also already have this natural honey roasted oat granola that I bought last week, it''s got all natural stuff in it, but it does have some sugars from the dried fruits, but that page said dried fruits were okay, and it tastes YUMMY so I am going to keep eating that as a snack.

So tomorrow I figure I''ll do Kashi for breakfast with some banana, and I have to have coffee so I''ll drink it with soy milk...eeee we''ll see how that turns out. I will try to just have a little, like 1/2 cup just so I can get some caffeine going. For lunch I am not going to feel like doing much elaborate, so I am just going to take some almonds, and a nectarine and banana and some of the granola. Then for dinner I figure we can do some sort of brown rice with steamed veggies thang...just to keep it simple.

I hope to work out tomorrow...but we''ll see! What''s your plan Monarch????

Who else is joining in? I think that TravelinGal said yes...and someone else??

 

[decodelighted]

 

[Lorelei]

Best of luck ladies, I will be following this thread and will be most interested in the results! May you have tons of energy and a nice drop on the scales!

 

[KristyDarling]

Wow, this sounds great! I would''ve loved to join you but I''ll be in Chicago over Labor Day weekend. Yep, Chicago -- city of red meat, more red meat, and red meat.

I''ve already set my expectations and plan to gain about 5 lbs while I''m there.

Best of luck ladies.........and resist the urge to watch the Food Network while you''re on the diet!

 

[monarch64]

Good morning, fellow detox-ers!

Mara, sounds like you have a good plan going there. Love the description of your "last supper." LOL! We had grilled portabellas, roasted potatoes, (DH had some ribs), garlic bread, and peas last night, followed by some very yummy banana/walnut bread. Saturday night I ate my last pizza for the week, hee hee- with every bite, I was like, awwww, no pizza for a week!

My breakfast this morning was a banana and 10 oz. of natural apple juice. Lunch will be baby spinach, mandarin orange sections, red onion, and a few walnut halves...the tough part will be no dressing.

But I''ll survive! Dinner tonight will be (surprise) rice, with zucchini, yellow squash, green and red peppers, and mushrooms, grilled with just a slight coating of olive oil and some spices. For snacks I''m just drinking juices and LOTS of water with lemon...

At the moment I''m trying to figure out how to make a natural eggplant dish. Any ideas are welcome...I was thinking I could just lightly saute slices of it in olive oil, and try to come up with a natural tomato topping/sauce with maybe some fresh basil?

 

[jcrow]

hello ladies! i''ll be joining in too, but on a modified level. hope that''s ok. FI will be as well, but on an even MORE modified level. this morning i ate a flaxseed ceral with soy milk. i know it''s not on the detox plan, but well that''s part of my modification. i''ll pick up some bananas to try tomorrow. i am also doing black coffee in the morning. only about 1/3 to 1/2 of a cup though. maybe i''ll quit that all together, though. souldn''t be a big deal. along with bananas, i''ll pick up some organic soy sauce and some EVOO and lots of fruits and veggies. yum.

i even brought my recycled POM green tea (yum) glass to work to remind me to drink lots of water!!

 

[Lorelei]

Monnie, in one of my recipe books, it says to slice some eggplant, rub it with fresh garlic and olive oil and griddle it. Then sprinkle over some fresh lemon juice. That might jazz it up a bit. Of course, the recipe says to use rock salt, but I guess salt is out right now...

 

[jcrow]

Date: 8/28/2006 10:24:29 AM
Author: Lorelei
Monnie, in one of my recipe books, it says to slice some eggplant, rub it with fresh garlic and olive oil and griddle it. Then sprinkle over some fresh lemon juice. That might jazz it up a bit. Of course, the recipe says to use rock salt, but I guess salt is out right now...

mum--- that sounds good!!!

 

[monarch64]

Date: 8/28/2006 10:28:33 AM
Author: jcrow

Date: 8/28/2006 10:24:29 AM
Author: Lorelei
Monnie, in one of my recipe books, it says to slice some eggplant, rub it with fresh garlic and olive oil and griddle it. Then sprinkle over some fresh lemon juice. That might jazz it up a bit. Of course, the recipe says to use rock salt, but I guess salt is out right now...

mum--- that sounds good!!!

Yay, I can totally do that! I LOVE garlic

!!!!

Glad you''ll be joining us, JCrow!!!

 

[snogirl17]

Hi!

My boyfriend and I actually started doing this last week already, so it was nice surprise to see this tread!

I lost so far about 3 lbs. and he lost about the same. we would just eat veggies and fruit all day long with water. however we did allow ourselves a serving of fish for dinner, baked with a twist of lemon juice. We need our protein because of our exercise routines (we like to lift).

Our favorite thing so far is what i like to call my melon medly... I just cut up a watermelon, a few cantaloupe and honeydew and threw it in a bowl.. that was our breakfast most days... just a few cups of this would really keep me fully until lunch hour.

Both last sunday and this past sunday i made sure i had alot of the stuff cut up and preped for our week because otherwise i am not likely to take the time to prepare in the morning before work.

We did alow ourselves a indulgement meal (with a few cocktails) on saturday so we would not feel deprived

I know that I have felt a bit better and my tum tum was not as bloated.

One thing i cant get myself to scarf down is the baby spinich salad.. i have tried with cut up strawberries on it, blueberries and i just think it is just to dry... but it is a super food.... the darker the veggie the better i guess.

Best of luck to all who are participating.. the first few days was the hard part.. now i am looking forward to my fruit and veggies

 

[Lorelei]

Glad I suggested it! Just slice the eggplant into large slices or as you want it, marinade in olive oil and crushed garlic for a few mins or as convenient, then remove from marinade and griddle until cooked. Then serve drizzled with fresh lemon and a little cracked pepper if allowed on the plan. Probably some fresh herbs might make a nice garnish, some parsley which is very good for you, fresh basil etc.

 

[Mara]

morning ladies!!! yay crow for joining us.

monarch, the diet thing said olive oil and balsamic were okay, what about mixing a bit of that together with some crushed garlic or herbs for a salad dressing? that is what i was planning on doing for my salads. i just CANNOT choke down a dry salad.

breakfast right now is a cup of kashi honey puffs, vanilla soymilk and 1/2 a banana. i probably should have gotten regular soymilk because the vanilla tastes a little sweet in the cereal, but i figured it would taste better in coffee since i am forgoing sugar in the coffee (yikes!) which is a huge deal for me. i am a total sugar coffee whore. maybe this week will turn me into a milk and coffee person only! i only made about 1/2c of coffee since it's really just a bit of caffeine i need in the mornings. today when i go to WF again i will get regular plain soymilk for my cereal.

lunch i am just going to take a banana, a nectarine, the fresh oat granola i was talking about, and a small baggie of almonds. also yes drink lots and lots of water! i have my pom glass at work too and it helps remind me to drink more water...whenever i see it empty. it's a good size too.

thanks for chiming in on progress beanie! i was thinking about eating a plain sauteed in EVOO fish on the nights i work out because i am not sure if i will be getting enough protein after my workouts if i just eat the rice and veggies. though i thought i could do soy too..like tofu. on the other hand, i sometimes wonder if i consume too much protein and maybe that's why the scale hasn't moved yet, i'm encouraging my body to produce a ton of muscle from all the protein i eat. hmmmmm. so i may not do protein tonite after my workout and just see how i feel. i know that protein also helps your muscles repair faster and more efficiently so maybe i will regret it tomorrow when i am super sore, but i figure i'll just see tonite.

have a fabulous day gals! oh the one other thing i wanted to say monarch, if you are looking to lose any poundage from this thing....watch the juice intake...juices can have a lot of calories because it's easier to drink a fruit than chew to eat it...physically. so you don't want to consume TOO many calories drinking fruit juice. i decided to just drink water and eat my fruit because then i gt the physical sense of chewing. if it was juice i'd drink way too much of it and then before you know it, 300 cals later!! just a thought anyway!

oh and miss kristy darling, we are only doing the detox from monday-friday...so if you want to, join us for the 4 or 5 days if you can!!!

 

[Mara]

I saw this in my inbox today, appropriate for this thread!!

'Get your Protein without the Meat'

"The 2005 USDA Food Guide Pyramid favors plant-based proteins (like legumes and nuts), and even recommends fewer servings of meat than before."

http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=379

 

[njc]

Monarch / Mara - I love creating my own dressing using EVOO and either lemon or lime juice. Add in a few grinds of fresh pepper and salt and its so simple and tasty! Throw in some other spices you like in place of the salt… experiment a little! You can also use honey if you like a sweeter dressing... mix it in with your acid (vinegar, citrus juice, etc) and then add your oil to make sure its dissolved.

This all sounds so interesting… I would love to try it, although dinner would get hard since DH really only likes maybe 3 veggies. Can you drink Green Tea? Seltzer Water?

Good luck ladies… I’ll be reading and trying to follow myself

 

[Mara]

yep njc...herbal teas and waters are fine..seltzer i think should be fine if it doesnt have sugar etc.

greg is just following it with me at night...i told him to get his dairy and fat and meat during the day at lunch! hehe.

 

[Mara]

this sounds like something to try:

vegetable tofu scrambler:
http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/recipes.asp?category=3&recipe=380

served over brown rice? maybe our dinner tonite.

this one sounds good as well:

primo pasta (veggie pasta with beans):
http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/recipes.asp?category=3&recipe=1170

i'd omit the soy sauce most likely (too much salt) and use fresh chopped tomatoes, and maybe rice instead of pasta or use something like an orzo possibly.

black beans and rice:
http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/recipes.asp?category=3&recipe=3

 

[TravelingGal]

Hey Detox girls!

Started off with frozen grapes this morning. They are cold (duh) and take a lot longer for me to eat, so I feel fuller. I won''t be able to do this all week, as I am traveling yet again for work, but it''s a short trip so I am hoping to do OK...

So...how may days do ya think before we get grumpy? Hee hee....

 

[monarch64]

Mara, thanks for the juice reminder...I know I can''t drink a ton of it, but I''m hoping to kind of fill in with it if I feel the old blood sugar start to dive. I have Martinelli''s apple juice, which is 140 cal. in 8 oz, and Ceres Guava juice, which is 120 cal. in 8 oz. I really love V-8, but it has a lot of additives, so even though it is low in calories I won''t be drinking it this week. Not to mention how much sodium it contains--we''ve been down THAT road before!

I just came back from lunch and read your post--I was laughing because I totally didn''t do the salad for the same reason you mentioned--couldn''t choke it down with no dressing! I might try the EVOO/lemon juice instead. Or maybe a little honey...I usually like a honey dijon dressing on my spinach salads, anyway. Maybe I could figure out how to make a "natural" version with honey and mustard? I''ll have to look into that. Anyway, I ended up eating an avocado and a nice ripe tomato, and I brought some almonds and walnuts back to work with me for a snack this afternoon. It doesn''t sound like much food, but when I add up my calories for the day, I''m right where I want to be, so I''m pretty pleased so far, and I don''t feel like I''m starving.

Oh, Beanie, your "melon medley" sounds like a great breakfast. I actually have half a watermelon and a canteloupe in the fridge, I think I''ll cut them up tonight and make breakfast out of them the next couple of days! Yum!

 

[monarch64]

Date: 8/28/2006 3:10:15 PM
Author: TravelingGal
Hey Detox girls!

Started off with frozen grapes this morning. They are cold (duh) and take a lot longer for me to eat, so I feel fuller. I won''t be able to do this all week, as I am traveling yet again for work, but it''s a short trip so I am hoping to do OK...

So...how may days do ya think before we get grumpy? Hee hee....

LOL! Ask me on Wednesday, TG...I bet I''ll have hit the "grumpy" mark by then. Or maybe we''ll all feel so healthy we won''t get grumpy at all, who knows?

 

[Mara]

ha ha...grumpy...well its TTOTM for me this week when i am typically grumpy anyway, so what a bad week to choose for both no salt and no sweets but i will be a better woman if i can make it out of this week alive! hehee.

but i don''t think i will find this TOO hard with the adaptations we have made...aka herbs and garlic is allowed which is a huge deal for me to flavor things, i can do without salt and sweet if i can have fresh herbs and garlic and EVOO!! the one thing i will probably crave is something sweet. but honestly, a just ripe cold banana is pretty sweet tasting....so i may just keep those around to snack on. and the vanilla soymilk is a little sweet too.

is natural peanut butter allowed? like from whole foods with natural oils kinda thing? i thought maybe doing a little bit of PB, mashed with a banana could be a way to get a little ''dessert'' going on if i got really desperate.

 

[monarch64]

Yes, I think you can have natural PB. And you get "MAD props" for doing this detox during TTOTM!!!

I''m thinking that even if you are moodier, at least you''ll be cutting down on the bloat factor by not doing salty snacks, though.

Oh, I wanted to mention a little gadget I have that is so useful...it''s called Misto. It''s this air-pump stainless canister about the size of a can of Pam spray that you put olive oil in, then you pump air into it with the lid and you can "mist" your veggies or whatever you''re cooking/grilling with it. That way you can get an even coating of the olive oil onto the food and not worry about using too much. You can find them online, and I''m sure any store that sells kitchen gadgets like BB & B sells them.

 

[Mara]

i used to have one of those refillable mister things monarch, we got it at WS i think, and it was awesome, i used it on everything, then it broke and i never got a new one. but actually at the store, they have them in disposable ones, and it comes with EVOO in it already. so i've just been using that one. i got it at the regular food store. it's like in a spray Pam but it's not butter flavored or anything, it's just straight EVOO in a spray mister can.

lol re the mad props. it's definitely 'mad' as in insane, but yes you are right at least i don't have to worry about giving into wacky cravings this week!

it's someone's bday at work today so they have cupcakes, chocolate. they smelled good but i withheld. woo hoo. drinking more water now.

 

[Odilia]

I will have to read through this thread and keep an eye on it too! I need to do this as well, although this week will not be the best to start (except I''ve been trying to in little ways), but hopefully it will help me when I get the chance to do it. My DH works a weird schedule, and it''s easier for me to do this if he''s out of town for a few days for work. But I''d love to see if you have any recipes that fit these criteria but are tasty and easy to make too!

 

[TravelingGal]

I''m using a wee bit of salt, so I''m probably cheating. Had soybeans for lunch...don''t know if that is on the list of OKs, but it''s natural so I figured it''s OK. Plus I need my protein!

If you can''t eat a salad dry, I really recommend that Bruschetta Sauce from Trader Joe''s! It''s in the white tub with green background. It has an olive oil base, but it''s pretty minimal, and with only 20 calories for 2 tablespoons, it really is enough to dress a good size salad. Pure ingredients...only tomatoes, garlic and basil!

 

[Mara]

okay so went to WF again...and this time got more bananas, nectarines, and fuji apples for my fruits. i also got some pre-cut pineapple, expensive, but it's all ready to eat so it's worth it. i got brown rice cakes, brown jasmine rice, and brown basmati rice (more interesting than just plain long grain brown rice and probably more tasty), they also had something called brown california rose rice or something which looked interesting but i didn't get any this time (the bins are so handy, i don't have to buy like 4 lbs of rice so we can try different ones!). i got firm tofu and makings for the veggie scramble with tofu from sparkpeople...it looks yummy...i am going to add more mushrooms and maybe some broccoli as well and serve it with brown rice.

so for lunch i had the 1/2c granola oats with dried fruit, and about 20 raw almonds and 1/2 banana, and i just got hungry again so now i am eating a brown rice cake with some PB on it...i checked and our PB from WF has a bit of salt in it but only 20mg which is less than 1% apparently. so i figured it was okay. the funny thing is that i put an okay amount of PB on the rice cake but it's almost better with just a tiny bit! i ended up scraping a bunch of the PB off...PB sacrilege!!!

so interestingly enough even though it seems like i havent eaten much today, my calorie count is at about 850 which is a little high for 4pm...typically i am at about 750 or so around 6pm. but this PB rice snack should last me til dinner so i am only about 100 calories off. thing is i don't think i am going to work out tonite because i just feel like crap...so i will just go to the gym tomorrow and do some hills on the treadmill...hopefully i'll feel better. though i think i may go for a walk later today...1-2 miles or so. just to do something.

i've been drinking water as well. so doing good so far...except for my CRAMPS...ugh. well those aren't detox related though.

 

[jcrow]

we went to the store and left wishing we had a WF''s! we got some risotto (sp?) and thai basmati rice. we got some veggie stock to make the risotto along with EVOO. we got the spray and regular EVOO. we looked at getting the organic soy sauce but the sodium was 1000 mg!! comapred to 575 mg of sodium of the light soy sauce. 1000 mg of sodium per TBSP!! dango~! figured the detox wouldn''t like that!! i also got some pesto to use for veggies. that''s just EVOO, garlic, pine nuts, & basil and a couple of other things - that i can pronounce, so that sounded good. we got bananas, mango, apples, onions, bellpeppers, eggplant, brocelli, fresh garlic, & portabella mushrooms. oh, and orgainc wine. i figured if we happen to splurge on wine, better to make it organic!! hehe.

 

[TravelingGal]

I wasn''t in the mood to make brown rice, so I found these packets at Trader Joe''s where you microwave it for 60 seconds. Eek, it was dry! FI did the nuking, and I think he vented it way too much, allowing the steam to escape. Tomorrow I''ll try a smaller slit, plus maybe add a few drops of water. Fortunately, I do really like brown rice.

We had veggie stir fry...pretty good. I am really modifying this, using soy sauce and some other sauces which are probably taboo. So I''m not officially detoxing, but I am sticking to mostly fruits and vegetables. I say "mostly" because at TJ''s they were serving some chili with cheese...and I had to try a bite! It was a tiny little cup...am I officially derailed off this thing?

Off to the gym in a half hour!

 

[Mara]

go jcrow!

we just had our veggie tofu scramble and it was awesome! greg actually loved it. i made it with jasmine brown rice as well and it was yummy. the curry made it very flavorful, i also added a tiny bit of soy sauce, to the tune of something like 400mg of salt for a 3/4 tablespoon..yikes. but at least greg had 1/2+. hehee. if i can continue to make things like this for dinner we'll be fine all week!

for dessert i'm going to have some pineapple!

how's everyone else doing tonite, TG...monnie?

ETA: i see TG updated while i was posting, girl stay away from the chili with the cheese!!!! GIRL, if i can forgo a chocolate cupcake at work, you can pass by the chili cheese for 5 days!!!

oh and also i wanted to say that the jasmine brown rice was really yummy...it had a bunch of flavor to it...definitely moreso than white rice.

 

[Miranda]

I totally need to do this! It seems like everything I eat gives me gas or a gut ache or acne. I do have to ask...How hungry are you all???