Saturday, August 27, 2011

Detox: A Retrospective

Tonight's non-detox dinner: organic filet with foie gras, steamed broccoli, sauteed zuchini and asparagus, raw cherry tomatoes and whole wheat bread. I ate like half of this. 

I made it through just about five days out of the seven I intended to do. To be frank, during that time, I didn't necessarily feel "cleaner" or more energetic. Not in the least. There is a strong chance that I wasn't consuming enough; while I had bought tons of fruits and veggies, I never expected to be so hungry. On the plus side, I consumed ridiculous amounts of produce and water. I'm rather proud of myself to have made it through the workweek despite an invitation to a new bar opening and my coworker's feasting on gourmet pizza.

Ultimately, I feel like I did good for my body. I fueled it with ridiculously good organic food while staying away from chemicals, refined carbs, wheat, refined sugar, caffeine and pesticides. I forgot to mention in my posts, but I also avoided any facial makeup like tinted moisturizer or blush during this time so that nothing clogged my pores. 

I could foresee myself doing this once a year to give my body a break from the moderate amount of other junk I put in it. Next time though, I'm going to do a bit of meal planning so that I have enough snacks and such to make it through the day. 

Best part of the detox: Green smoothies! I'm hooked on making them in the mornings now.
Worst part of the detox: No coffee. I didn't even touch decaf. It's my number one comfort food and was sorely missed. No wonder I broke the detox with it!

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Detox: Day 5- Crash and Burn

As outlined, I'm forgoing alcohol, caffeine from coffee, sugar, dairy, wheat, non-oceanic animal protein and eggs for seven days. Essentially, I'm sticking to (solely organic) produce, grains and legumes.


Even the start to the day was horrid. I woke up ravenously hungry and found myself dreading going to my mother's yesterday evening and not having pizza with her and my sister. I got through the day just fine at work (if you don't count an allergy-headache), but it was the drive home that brought an end to my detox. An amalgamation of the onset of allergies in the late afternoon, a subsequent near-migraine headache due to allergies, gnawing hunger and bad traffic were too much for me to handle. I pulled off the freeway, grabbed some coffee (caffeine being the quickest thing to end headaches), called my mom and broke down crying out of frustration, exhaustion and hunger. I ended up watching the freeway inch along while drinking iced coffee and contemplating the detox. 


My thoughts on the experiment are mixed and I plan on doing a whole post dedicated just to it. I'm happy I made it through five out of seven days and don't consider it a loss by any means. I'm currently enjoying a half decaf/half regular iced coffee and couldn't be happier to have it back. :-)

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Detox: Day 4 More than half way through...

As outlined, I'm forgoing alcohol, caffeine from coffee, sugar, dairy, wheat, non-oceanic animal protein and eggs for seven days. Essentially, I'm sticking to (solely organic) produce, grains and legumes.


I can't believe I have successfully gotten through four days already! Yay! Today was an easy peasy day with some light hunger in the morning and light hunger on the drive home, but no cravings whatsoever. My coworkers may been testing my willpower with ordering gourmet pizza, but even the scent of fresh baked crust only caused a twinge of desire.

On the slightly disappointing side, I was invited to an industry event this evening for a new restaurant that has been opened a couple months. A girlfriend and I checked it out a week ago and loved it! They are opening up a bar on the second floor and the event was this evening. There was no way my willpower could resist half-price cocktails by one of the leading LA mixologists, nor the apps and sweets being offered. Instead, I came home from working late and will be crashing early tonight.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Detox: Day 3 Did-not-hit-the-wall Day

As outlined, I'm forgoing alcohol, caffeine from coffee, sugar, dairy, wheat, non-oceanic animal protein and eggs for seven days. Essentially, I'm sticking to (solely organic) produce, grains and legumes.

The title is a reference to an acquaintance who told me that he always hits the wall on Day 3 of any juice fast/detox/eating healthy. Not that I thought I was jinxed, but, I internally constantly worry when I'm going to lose  my self-control and not be able to make it through a measly seven days.

That said, today was the easiest in terms of temptation. Mainly, I think, because I actually had some sort of non-homemade dish at every meal. I substantially ate more calories today (16 hour day away from home) than any previous day as well as likely the least greens. Which makes me sad. I actually feel rather deprived of salads at the moment and will be sure to pack one for lunch tomorrow. After four meals of my Mediterranean Quinoa, I have one serving left and am ready to retire it for dinner tomorrow.

On the downside, I felt intensely thirsty and unusually warm all day. I also had a headache during the latter part of the evening; enough so to distract me enough on my way home that I missed my freeway merge and had to backtrack. Fail! I think I may have been dehydrated, but I can't figure out how that could have happened just from not drinking water during a three hour class.

Breakfast: Rain Forest smoothie from Renovo- pineapple, fresh orange juice, fresh almond milk, green superfoods and protein. Jesuseffingchrist, this was amazing. Possibly the best green smoothie I have ever had. I got to watch them actually juice and blend all this crap (I wasn't paying attention during the green part and missed out on what they toss in!)

Mid-morning snack: Banana with a sprinkling of crushed raw almonds

Lunch: mediterranean quinoa with sea critters (again) and also a cup of creamless broccoli soup a coworker had gotten with her lunch, but offered to me because she wasn't in the mood for soup.

Dinner: seared ahi tuna and Israeli cous cous from Whole Foods- I grabbed this after my class let out late at 9:45pm. I still had a headache and thought some fuel would help. The seared ahi was considerably larger portions than I expected and I only ended up eating one meaty slice. The Israeli cous cous was a disappointment: I didn't realize upon first glance that it had cranberries in it. I basically ate around them and enjoyed the organic grain (there was also mint and some other herb I couldn't identify).

I opted not to eat dessert last night... however I am munching on frozen grapes at the moment. Now, excuse me while I go pass out.

Odd fact: I am in a wine class and we don't actually drink the wines... we spit them out. Which works out well in line with my detox. I got all the benefits and savoring that I get out of wine without actually drinking alcohol.



Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Detox: Day 2

As outlined, I'm forgoing alcohol, caffeine from coffee, sugar, dairy, wheat, non-oceanic animal protein and eggs for seven days. Essentially, I'm sticking to organic produce, grains and legumes.

Today was super easy up until the drive home. It seems like this is going to be the most crucial part of the day for me in a make-it-or-break-it sense. I felt full throughout my day at work and energy levels never flagged. I didn't even have a cup of green tea for trace caffeine! However, the moment I was trapped in my car for the drive home, all I could think about was the fact that I was going to have the same meal for the third time in 24 hours. In addition, I came to the conclusion that choosing to do this while my boyfriend is out of town may not have been the best idea. He is a slim guy and can take or leave eating dinner. Hence, I often feel slightly guilty when I make myself a meal and he chooses not to eat. With him gone for this week, the drive home turned into a "I wish I could go here tonight..." internal monologue. Contemplation was put into high-end places I have gift cards for; one of which being a sleek sushi place right on my drive home. Their sashimi plate would still fit into the detox...

Monday, August 15, 2011

Detox: Day 1

As outlined, I'm forgoing alcohol, caffeine from coffee, sugar, dairy, wheat, non-oceanic animal protein and eggs for seven days. Essentially, I'm sticking to organic produce, grains and legumes.

I got through today much easier than anticipated. Don't get me wrong, I spent a majority of the day on the slightly hungry side and nearly pulled over to grab some food on the drive home. However, there was no way I was failing on my first day.

Breakfast- green smoothie: strawberries, kale, cucumber, lime, crushed flax seed and a little organic unsweetened almond milk for liquid base. I had some difficulties blending this, but it tasted great!

Mid-Morning Snack- banana

Lunch- A very weird yet delicious salad: spinach, cucumber, zucchini, grape tomato, avocado, homemade hummus and raw cashews. All together. In one bowl. Mmmm.

Mid-Afternoon Snack- frozen grapes

Dinner- mediterranean quinoa with sea critters: quinoa, olive oil, garlic, zucchini, grape tomato, basil, oregano, garbanzo beans, calamari, scallops and shrimp.


I can't begin to describe how delicious my dinner was!


Odd fact: While I rarely eat cucumber, I realized I consumed half of a cucumber between my breakfast and lunch.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Back In Action & Healthy Detox

Please see below post as to why I've been non-existent. I think I've finally adjusted to being gone from the house 13 hours a day.

Part of the premise of AestheticLA is not only to improve one's self from the outside in (my obsession with skin creams, masks, etc) or cover up flaws, but to go about it the holistic way as well. I believe strongly in the concept that what you put into your body is reflected externally. A diet high in refined carbs, sugar and processed meats is only going to pack on the pounds and lead to unhealthy skin. That said, I've lost 30 pounds since the beginning of the year by ditching dieting and attempting to eat healthier. I've been contemplating stepping up the clean/healthy eating for a couple months now; much research has been put into juicing, detoxes, fasts and "clean" eating (seriously, clean eating is just healthy eating). Ultimately, I've decided on the following path:

-cutting out daily caffeine permanently (I only drink a cup or so either daily or semi daily. I like the taste!)
-striving for a healthy diet (no refined carbs, no animal protein that isn't organic/grass-fed/chemical-free, minimal amounts of cheese)
-limiting alcohol (not a huge drinker, but I am a fan of wine)

This past week I've diminished my coffee intake by moving towards half decaf/half coffee. I definitely got head aches the first day or so. Starting tomorrow, I'm going for a healthy food week-long detox which entails:

-no alcohol, caffeine from coffee (green tea allowed), sugar, dairy, wheat, non-fish animal protein and eggs

Mainly, I plan on sticking to a primarily vegetarian diet that is rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes, quinoa, brown rice, healthy oils, nuts and seeds. I am debating the healthy detox culminating to a finale of a 3-day juice detox after. 

I'm really curious as to how this will effect my skin, under-eye circles and stress-related scalp problems!