Detox?

verapamil

I work at a pharmacy that also sells nutrition supplements and 1 of our companies provided all the employees a 21 day detox kit. I was super excited to start but stopped after the 1st day when I started earlier this week and I restarted again today and, again, already want to quit. On the plan you are supposed to drink 2-3 shakes (mine were each with 1 cup of frozen fruit and half of a banana) and for the first 11 days only eat vegetables and either 1 cup of lentils or 1/2 cup of brown rice per day. (From days 12-21 you can eat fish and chicken but that doesnt matter to me because I'm a vegetarian).

My main issue is whether this is a healthy thing to do. The 2 days I've done it, after logging everything I ate, I was only up to 600 something calories and 800 something today (and today I cheated and had a granola bar). The more I think about it, losing weight by starving myself for 21 days but then gaining back 2x as much after, doesn't sound like a good plan to me. I just don't know what else I can eat to so I can get over at least 1200 (or closer than 800) and still stay on the detox. Any ideas that 1) basically vegan because on detox I can't have cheese or eggs, only veggies and rice/lentils and 2)don't involve alot of cooking skill since I'm not a great cook??

Basically I just want some opinions on whether this is a good thing for me or if I should just stick with counting my calories like I have been and if any other vegetarians (almost vegan) had done a detox and had good results (since there's not much as much to detox as a meat eater).

Sorry for the rambling post but I'm confused on what I want to do and what would be better in the end for me. Any opinions would be great :-)

Martha_VH

I would say just stick to counting calories. That does not sound good to me at all, I'd be sooo hungry.

I have a great curry recipe that is vegan friendly. It does involve cooking, but I thought it was worth it! Let me know if you're interested in the recipe.

Panda86

Yeah, that doesn't sound healthy to me. Here's the thing- don't do any "diet" you can't stick to. If you don't plan on eating like that forever, don't do it. Because yes, you will lose weight, and then you will think you can go right back to eating "normal" and then you will gain. Stick to the healthy route, because that loss will stick. That's my two cents!

PaxtonCrawford

I'm pretty sure there's zero science behind any of these "detox" systems. People starve themselves, lose some weight, and (in some instances) feel better, so they think it works. Check out this article: http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/detox-diets-purging-myths

verapamil

Thanks so much everyone! I've been thinking that I shouldn't let myself feel pressured to do something that, in the end, I don't think is good for me. I think I am just going to keep counting calories and try to eat less bread/ pasta (my weakness) and eat more unprocessed food. It's sooo nice to have a place to go to ask questions like these and get such quick responses. Thanks again.

And Martha- I would love that receipe. Curry is yummy!