This is the first diet I’ve ever been on. As a 23 year old girl, even I find that hard to believe. I guess it makes sense- I’m not overweight and would rather keep 10 extra pounds on my body than give up all the foods I love (which happen to be ice cream and steaks). However, my clothes don’t fit me right now and there’s no way I’m going to buy a new wardrobe.
About a week ago I decided I was going to take action. I was going to invent my own version of a “detox diet”. I didn’t want to subsist on drinking a mixture of water and maple syrup. I didn’t want to eat cabbage soup for a week straight. I wanted to eat well. It seems so obvious that it feels silly even saying this. I had just started drinking Kombucha tea (the Synergy kind from Whole Foods- I swear I’m not affiliated with either) out of mere curiousity. I started drinking it at first because I heard it tasted disgusting but was really good for you. Somehow it started to grow on me and now I actually crave it. Among other things, Kombucha supports “digestion, metabolism, appetite control, and weight control” (this is off of the label and it hasn’t been FDA approved, so take that for what its worth.) I decided I’d test these claims by combining Kombucha with my own version of a “diet” and a little bit of exercise. Regard my week long detox rules:
1) Nothing too processed. This meant a week of eggs, meats, fruits/veggies, whole grain wheats, baguettes, and nice cheese. Hardly a sacrifice and I found good deals on filet mignon on Trader Joe’s, so it wasn’t too hard on the wallet either. Many canned foods have way too much sodium in them anyway. For work lunches, I usually prepare a meal the night before so that I can run out the door in the morning.
2) No candy or sweets or unnecessary snacks. This sounds the most like a traditional diet tip but I decided to cut out most sugars because I wanted to see if it would clear my skin. The verdict is still out on that but it definitely helped me lose weight. After the first few days, I stopped craving sugars. I did let myself have one of my roommate’s homemade snickerdoodle cookies because I knew exactly what was inside. If I was hungry between meals, I waited 15 minutes to assess that I actually was hungry. If so, I chose to snack on almonds or Terra Nova Sweets and Beets chips.
3) No caffeine or alcohol. This was more for the cleansing aspect of the diet. Could be hard for a lot of people, but if you tell yourself that something is only for one week, it becomes easier to do. Then continue into a second week, etc. Slowly you’ll permanently change your habits because you’ll feel so darn good about your progress. (Alcohol is going to be reintroduced into my diet shortly, however.)
4) Lots of water and Kombucha. I had about a bottle of Kombucha a day, though I’m trying to cut back to half a bottle a day to save some money. It really does make you less hungry (though I’m definitely not starving myself.)
5) Adding exercise back to your life. This week I did Carmen Electra’s Fit to Strip DVD, went for a run across the Williamsburg bridge, walked 3 miles roundtrip during my lunch break to get to my favorite deli, and joined the neighborhood gym so that I could lift weights- only $6 a month!
It’s been a week and I’ve lost 8 pounds. It wasn’t completely effortless but it was extremely easy. I feel good. My clothes fit me better. I know I’ve lost mainly water weight (which is good- who wants to be needlessly bloated?) but eventually it will become fat loss since I’m exercising again and cutting out a lot of excess calories. My body doesn’t crave anything because it’s getting everything it needs. I originally wanted to do my diet for just one week, but now I really want to see how I’ll look and feel by bathing suit season. This might be the first year ever that I’m looking forward to it!
