Detox advice

Abi_bug04

Hello everyone,

I had a couple of bad months since a vacation in June (and just couldn't seem to find my footing). I ended up sabotaging my progress so far, and gained back more than half of what I had lost since January. I have decided that a detox will be a great way to kick-start my system, after which I will start incorporating eating all foods in moderation, rather than excess.

I have decided to cut out meat, dairy, oils, sugar, salt, caffeine, preservatives and complex carbohydrates; and plan on limiting myself to eat only fruits, vegetables, minimal nuts, and small amounts of starch (such as sweet potatoes)- and ofcourse, drinking plenty of fluids. I plan on doing this for five days (today is my first day).

For those of you who have experience with things like this: I was wondering if you might have any suggestions, meal ideas, tips or any overall advice during this process. I think my biggest issue will be the mental hurdle that I can't use my obvious sources of protein, and that much of my food will be lacking flavor.

Thanks in advance for your help!

nomeejerome

Your body does not need a kickstart, your mind, maybe, but detox? Nope. There is no reason to cut out all of those items, only to return to them once your 5 days is over, and put back on the water weight that you lost from cutting them out of your intake.

Abi_bug04

I am mostly doing it for my mind. I need to add some strict discipline into my diet for a few days, and then slowly start to incorporate those foods into my diet again. I think starting off like this will make me feel better about myself (mentally as well as physically), before I can get back to slowly eating my trigger foods.

JesterMFP

Honestly, I don't think it's a good idea. Your body's pretty good at detoxing by itself (assuming you're not talking about detoxing from drugs). You don't need to "kick-start" anything, just start. I get that mentally you might want that push, but I can't help thinking that being super-restrictive all at once is just going to make you crave the things you have restricted. Why don't you just start again logging your food and hitting your calorie goal, and gradually make whatever changes you want to make over the long-term. What you plan to do just smacks of the classic "I'm going on a diet" mentality, and I'm not sure that's the most successful way to go about things.

Abi_bug04

The reason I want to do it this way, is because, even while logging in and hitting my calorie goal, I have lots of trouble sticking to macros- and manage to fit fast food, etc. easily into my goals. Now I know that the occasional cheeseburger is warranted once in a while, but I find myself eating things like that every single day (and just running to negate the calories). So if I'm eating chicken strips and cheeseburgers (and running 5 miles)- I wouldn't consider that healthy. I am doing this to convince myself that my body can function just as efficiently without those high calorie, high fat meals, and that I really don't need them as much as I thought I did.

I really appreciate the concern, and the advice though- but this is something that I want to do for myself.

BarackMeLikeAHurricane

Call your doctor. If you have an addiction to alcohol or benzodiazepines, going through a medical detox is highly recommended. Addiction to other substances can be aided by inpatient detox, but isn't medically necessary.

explosivedonut

I'm confused, you are cutting out sugar and complex carbs... but eating fruits and veggies (including yams)? Fruits and veggies are complex carbs and sugar. You don't need a detox. Unless your kidneys are terrible, there is no need. You don't need to convince your body to not eat the burgers, you need to convince yourself that you don't want it. A little bit of self-discipline will do you better than a detox.

bakingforlife

I think its ok to limit those thing s your still eating food good food ..put herbs.on your food to spice it up...this dose give your a good mental start but also your intestines dont have to work so hard ......

TribeHokie

new detox thread??!




and so I don't get yelled at for just coming in here to post a gif, whether or not you need to detox and whether or not it "works", in any case just make sure that what you are doing is good for you (enough macros) and sustainable. If there are doubts about it meeting either criteria you may want to rethink or adjust your plan.

Edit: because you did also ask for advice on meal ideas. You're cutting out a lot of what I would use to make food delicious, but in general spices are your friend. Does hummus fit in to your plan? Hot sauce? Any sort of sauce? Vinegar? Find flavorings that you like so that you don't get bored just eating broccoli and apples all the time.

Mr_Knight

Running 5 miles negates one Big Mac.

If these foods are a very strong a draw for you, incorporate them into your plan, and then stick to the plan. After doing it for a while, you can make a conscious choice on whether to keep those foods in the plan, or swap them out for something more desirable.

But in all cases, it's going to require sticking to a plan.

Hexahedra

If you're having a tough time limiting fast food, perhaps your 'detox' can be a week without fast food whatsoever. That should prove to yourself mentally that life doesn't end when you stop eating McDonald's.

JesterMFP

The reason I want to do it this way, is because, even while logging in and hitting my calorie goal, I have lots of trouble sticking to macros- and manage to fit fast food, etc. easily into my goals. Now I know that the occasional cheeseburger is warranted once in a while, but I find myself eating things like that every single day (and just running to negate the calories). So if I'm eating chicken strips and cheeseburgers (and running 5 miles)- I wouldn't consider that healthy. I am doing this to convince myself that my body can function just as efficiently without those high calorie, high fat meals, and that I really don't need them as much as I thought I did.

I really appreciate the concern, and the advice though- but this is something that I want to do for myself.

Ok, I can see the argument for cutting out (or down) the fast food, especially if you find it triggering or something. But why then extend that to all meat, dairy, oils, sugars AND complex carbohydrates? Just seems unnecessarily limiting. Carbs and fats are not bad for you, and your body actually needs fats in particular to function properly. If you're running, then it would probably appreciate a decent amount of carbs too. But hey, good luck.