Meanwhile two of my cousins completed marathons and biathlons and posted FaceBook pics of their quite epic, I must say, achievements.
I pondered my upcoming half marathon on May 19th and a 24 mile hike to Saranac Lake I intend on doing this June. Am I really ready? The extent of my winter workouts has been limited to a weekly yoga class and some nature walks. I stepped it up in March and used my treadmill at full incline 5-6 days/week. My legs were on fire and I almost threw up a few times. I noticed increased firmness in my entire body and felt great. But then I stopped doing the treadmill. I got bored of it.
Winter is such a self contemplative fog. People peek like turtles out of their shells every so often, but the town stays very quiet. The fog is clearing now, and I attended a detox workshop 2 weeks ago with my mom. I learned that the months of April and May are the most important months to do a detox. This is because so many toxins accumulate in our bodies during winter.
But seriously. Who wants to up and fast right after a season of Christmas cookies, Valentine's chocolates, and Easter candy? Not to mention all the hearty winter meals that literally keep Upstate New Yorkers warm on days that are 30 below.
That's why I am writing this blog: To introduce people to the "Elimination Phase" of a detox. This was the most important thing I learned at the detox workshop.
Anyone who wants to clean out the toxins in their body must go through an elimination phase first. This should take anywhere from 3 to 30 days, depending on your level of food addiction. Some people may choose to devote an entire season or year to elimination. For me, I needed 10 days.
During the elimination phase of a detox, you ween yourself off food in a patient, controlled, reflective way. For example, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, you might give up meat. On Tuesday and Thursday you might have some meat but give up caffeine. On the weekend, you might give up wheat-based products (cereal, bread, pasta, crackers). Then on the following week, you might do the same thing, but you also give up sugar and diet soda on a few days.You continue eliminating toxic foods from your diet until you get to the point where you can give up all toxic foods for 24-72 hours in a row.
Here are 9 categories of toxic food addictions you should work into your elimination phase:
1. Gluten (wheat, barley, rye)
2. Meat
3. Dairy
4. Sugar
5. Alcohol
6. Caffeine
7. Nicotine
8. Flour
9. Soda
You can keep a chart or food journal and design the elimination phase to fit your own schedule. Maybe you can't give up coffee, but you could cut down to 1 small mug in the morning without cream or sugar. Maybe you could use almond milk and honey instead. Make substitutions, and adjust accordingly as you make progress in your elimination phase.
Learning about the elimination phase of a detox made me nervous. So right after the detox workshop, I went to McDonald's. I haven't eaten anything from McD's for probably ten years. But the anxiety I felt after leaving the detox workshop drove me to order an Oreo McFlurry with a squirt of hot fudge. I had my first real food addiction insight at that moment. I realized the scariest thing in the world for me was to give up sugar. That McFlurry was kind of a last dance with a true love who has always been there for me. I realized sugar would be the hardest thing for me to give up. Even when I did my 30 day juice fast last Fall, I got plenty of sugar. I juiced way more fruits a day than any normal person should. I drank 2-3 pints of fruit juice, 3 or 4 times a day, with very little vegetable juice worked into the fast.
I've never really had a time in my life without sugar. So this was scary.
The next 4 days after the detox workshop, and after that last dance with sugar in the form of an Oreo and fudge McFlurry, I eliminated processed sugar. I still ate fruits and juiced apples in the morning, and ate roasted veggies and veggie chips with sour cream in the afternoons when my 3:00 hunger pangs kicked in.
I was doing well. But then Thursday came.
I'd developed a severe cold (and a headache from sugar withdrawal), and felt awful. Snot was dripping down the back of my throat into my empty stomach, causing me to feel nauseous on top of everything else. I convinced myself that unhealthy food was necessary to soak up the virussey mucus entering my stomach. My mother conveniently asked me if I wanted anything from McDonald's and of course she was being sarcastic, but I said Yes, a small fry please. Before she returned with the fries, I helped myself to a bowl of Stewart's Cream and Coffee Fudge Ice Cream (thanks to my Dad for buying it even though I don't allow it in his home) and I ate a bowl of veggie chips smashed with lots of sour cream and Celtic salt, which I shoveled into my mouth with a spoon at lightning speed.
I felt better that evening, but the next day I felt so lousy for having lost my self control. So I spent the next few days sticking to tea, apple juice, roasted veggies with sour cream, and veggie chips with sour cream. It wasn't so bad. I realized last night on my 10th day of elimination that I was ready to start my fasting phase on day 11. So again, I panicked. Right before midnight last night, I wolfed down a multi-grain ciabatta sandwich roll, a couple bites of egg salad, and a thick slice of homemade banana bread with peanut butter. I woke up feeling extra sluggish and way under-motivated to start a 3 day fast. But here I am at the end of the first fasting day, feeling fine, albeit low energy.
During the fasting phase, I am supposed to drink lemon water boiled with a pinch of cayenne pepper and a tablespoon of local maple syrup. This is considered "The Master Cleanse." Otherwise someone could do a juice fast, but I wanted to be hardcore and do the tea only, especially to limit my sugar intake more than a juice fast would.
The maple syrup I put in my lemon tea is absolutely imperative if this cleansing is effective at all. I'm so glad I learned about this. At the detox workshop, the teacher said our bodies actually start producing toxins after 16 hours without sugar. So the maple syrup in my teas gives me just enough sugar to prevent that from happening. I'll do tea again Wednesday and Thursday. And surely Friday will be a good day.
Come Friday I'll slowly reintroduce some foods back to my diet, but I'll do it in a controlled way. I'll probably stick to mostly raw vegan foods for the first couple weeks. I'll pay attention to how I feel after consuming sugar or wheat or meat or dairy, so I can really evaluate what these toxic food groups are doing to my body when I put them into my clean, detoxified belly.
I weighed 122 this morning, so my winter weight gain is gone after 10 days of elimination. Since I won't have any weight left to lose pretty soon, I'd like to focus more this summer on exercise. Diets make people feel sluggish, but exercise is supposed to make people feel great. Heightened energy levels, endorphin rushes, and physical well being. I'm excited to take it to the next level.
