Today I want to reflect on the last 2 weeks of our detox and share how it helped us and our plans moving forward.
I actually started a week earlier than Chris by going gluten, sugar, and dairy free. I was seriously addicted to carbs and sugar so having an extra week to wean myself off that stuff was majorly helpful! Today marks 3 weeks and I am feeling so much better. It was amazing to have Chris do it with me. It made all the food prep and meals so much easier having both of us eating the same things. Chris went to a conference on Friday/Saturday last week during our detox and they had hot pretzels, cookies, soda, and lots of other snacks that weren’t on the detox. He passed them all up. I was so proud! It is great that I am married to a man that supports me so much by giving up cookies and hot pretzels to stick to a detox with me :). What a keeper!
I asked Chris to write up his thoughts on the detox. Here they are:
“FREEDOM! The detox is over. The first three days were the hardest. I really struggled with craving sugar. The menu from the detox often left me feeling like I needed to eat a larger than normal volume of food to feel “full”. I’ll attribute the some of the urge to eat more to the abnormal stress coming my way from work. I’ll eat pretty much anything unless we are talking about breakfast. My preferred breakfast menu consisted of some kind of vegetable scramble and some hot tea. By 10:00am it was time for a hand full of peanuts and a piece of fruit. My favorite lunches included potato salad along with a cabbage or lettuce wrap. Dinners ranged from soups or chili (my favorite) to a standard meat and two vegetables. In Noelle’s pursuit to help me cope with my biscuit addiction she tried and tweaked multiple recipes and created a very good biscuit. During the detox I felt mentally sharper. I think my brain glazed over from all of the post-holiday sugar. After getting out of the 3 day grumpiness the detox wasn’t a big deal. Noelle did a wonderful job planning and preparing the menu”.
For me, the detox helped me in many ways! I am sleeping better, my skin has color again, I have had stable blood sugar with consistent energy throughout the day, I don’t feel as cold, and feel very satisfied after eating. These are all wonderful things, however I am still struggling with poor digestion, constipation and acne.
The detox has shown me that I have some health issues I need to work through. I have talked before about how busy I was last year, and how I felt burned out by the end of the year. I have been chronically stressed and sleep deprived for a really long time. Now that I have replenished my sleep deficit and improved my diet I realize how much I pushed myself past my limits for the last couple of years and my health has suffered for it. I also realized that 3 weeks of healthy eating isn’t going to fix everything. My biggest complaint is my poor digestion. I have a tendency to get constipated, bloated, and I likely have leaky gut and poor nutrient absorption. In the last years I was too busy to even think about trying to change my diet to heal my gut. But, this year things are different. With a lighter class schedule, getting enough sleep and reducing my commitments I finally feel like I have the margin in my life to implement some new things. I have been so used to just surviving that this is a welcome change.
To find healing I think I need to stick to a grain free, refined sugar free, caffeine free (it gives me heart palpitations!), and dairy free diet for a time until I improve my digestion. I also plan to incorporate some supplements to support digestive healing but I haven’t figured out my exact plan yet. I know I will be eating a lot of healthy fats, fermented foods, and broth which are all really nourishing and healing to the digestive system. I also plan to use herbs and other natural supplements and I will post with details once I have it figured out. I am not trying to fix everything all at once, but hopefully as I add in supplements, maintain a good diet and healthy sleep habits, over time I will be able to figure out what my body needs to find healing my body and rebuild my nutrient stores. This journey will probably take me months, but I am finally ready to commit to the change that will help me find healing.
Another thing I want to do is address imbalances in my emotional and spiritual life. I have been thinking for a long time about wanting to establish a morning routine with prayer, scripture reading and journaling. January was my month to get into a new habit and routine of healthy eating. February will be my month to establish a morning routine that helps me to start the day connected to God, more in tune with my emotions, and ready to respond to the days events with grace and compassion. I am writing up my plan and will post on Friday about the details!
These are the things on my mind tonight as I reflect over the last couple of weeks and how I want to do things moving forward. Finding balance and investing in my health and well-being feels really good.