My 2-Day Detox Plan plus Expert Advice

I’ve been feeling a bit yuck for a month now – I was eating too much protein, not exercising (due to injured hamstring) and just really eating too much, albeit the right things…

Soo, I decided that I need a detox!

Nothing hectic like starving myself for a week, no, I decided to just get back to basics, do a bit of a system ‘reset’ and get back into a healthy routine.

My 2-Day Detox Guidelines:

{Normal low carb / Paleo / banting guidelines still apply too, plus these:}
No meat
No dairy
No sweeteners
No alcohol {and I’ve decided to cut this out for a few weeks}
Nothing cooked
Lots of water
Lots of veggies
Natural fibre supplement in the evenings

This is what I ate:

Day 1:
‘Breakfast’
2 bulletproof coffees {black filter coffee with 1 tsp coconut oil + 1 tsp butter}
30 g raw macadamia nuts

‘Lunch’
Detox shake {ice, 1/2 avocado, handful baby spinach, 1 cup cucumber, small green apple, 1 celery stalk – blitz it all up in a blender}

‘Dinner’
30 g raw almonds
Raw mixed veg salad {baby spinach, avocado, cherry tomatoes, pine nuts, pumpkin seeds, olive oil}
Fibre supplement

Day 2:
‘Breakfast’
2 bulletproof coffees {black filter coffee with 1 tsp coconut oil + 1 tsp butter}

‘Lunch’
Black Rooibos tea
Leftover raw mixed veg salad

‘Dinner’
30 g raw macadamia nuts
30 g raw almonds
Fibre supplement

{I wasn’t hungry at all that day!}

The verdict:

I felt lighter and less bloated.
My stomach looked less bloated {happy dance!} and I just felt more healthy.

The expert opinion by K, from Peeled Welness:

“The good news: our bodies are naturally designed to cleanse themselves on an ongoing basis. We don’t need to do anything to rid our bodies of ‘toxic build up’, despite what many fad diets would like us to believe.

The bad news: a lot of what we eat isn’t what we were naturally designed to eat. We live in a world laden in processed foods and modified ingredients. Because of this, our bodies have to work much harder to keep up with their daily self-purifying.

This is where the benefits of eating whole foods comes into play. The reason that eating an extremely veggie-centered diet for a few days helps us feel detoxified is because we’re allowing our bodies to not have to work as hard. There isn’t much ‘detoxing’ required by our organs when we’re only putting good quality, REAL food in.

Not only that, but veggies are full of fiber! Fiber = calorie-free material that our bodies can’t digest. Think of fiber like a brillo scrubbing pad cleaning out your insides as it travels through. It helps push everything out! It’s super important to drink plenty of fluids when you’re increasing your fiber intake, otherwise you could get ‘backed up’ from sudden fiber overload. I actually spent one summer working in a supplement store, and unfortunately most detox supplements (like psyllium husk) are simply varying forms of fiber. No magic pills here! These also tend to be overly expensive, considering science has not proven that supplements taken in pill form work the same way as whole foods do in our body.

The reason you feel better after doing a ‘detox’ is partially because you’re proud that you’ve been making healthy food choices, kind of like how I always think my stomach is flatter after 1 hard workout. You also feel lighter because you may have helped reset your digestive health back to how it is supposed to function. Really, the impact of doing something like this depends on what your ‘normal’ eating habits look like.”

So perhaps a lot of my detoxifying effects were all in my head – however, I still see it as a benefit and a good ‘reset’ – it just made me feel tons better and allowed me to get back on track and eating more greens.

“By switching to fiber-rich veggies, it is nearly impossible to overeat; you’d be too full! On the same token, eating veggies raw or cooked doesn’t make much difference unless you have a stomach sensitivity. There is actually benefit to mixing up raw/cooked produce, since different nutrients are present depending on the way they are prepared!”

I felt ‘cleaner’, more pure, eating raw veggies…

“Moral of the story:
Focusing on eating more whole-food fiber in the form of vegetables and eliminating processed foods can give our body a natural detoxifying boost because it allows it to not have to work so hard. Be sure to drink plenty of water whenever you increase fiber intake to avoid discomfort. As always, make sure you’re still getting enough protein and healthy fats. Drastically eliminating dietary elements can actually throw our bodies into starvation mode, which actually slows down metabolism.
My recommendation: cutting back on breads and cheeses while increasing water & vegetables can help you feel slimmer to jump start a healthy lifestyle, but drastic calorie elimination or specialty dietary supplements or ‘cleanses’ are unnecessary to achieve your goals.”

The days following my ‘cleanse’, I gently eased back into my normal eating habits, slowly introducing back the protein and dairy.
I’ve also since been paying closer attention to the amount of protein I eat, vs. fats and carbs and I focus on not overeating and just to eat until I’m no longer hungry.

I’ve decided to do a 2-Day Detox like this one every month, as it has really helped me to just refocus and reset.
{Kind of like a spring clean for your home, you know?}

Have you ever done a detox? Which ones have worked for you and which ones were a bit crazy..?
I’d love to know!
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