My eating habits are by no means perfect and sometimes I get myself into a chocolate fixation mode – where I buy or eat chocolate and then crave more and keep buying it for a week or two. Trouble is, once I’ve got it in my possession I cannot stop thinking about it – usually those Cadbury Dairy Milk Marvellous Creations. And then that’s it. I could eat healthy all day and after dinner I head straight to chocolate and break off several squares… and sometimes, depending on how ‘hungry’ a day it is, I’ll be back for more.
These phases drive me mad – sugar is addictive and never was there more evidence of that than in those moments. If you can just surpass that craving then you’d never get into the sticky… gooey, milky, chocolatey mess in the first place. But, I’m also a firm believer that in general, especially if you are around or near your goal weight, that those times of treating yourself should happen. Never make yourself miserable. Overall eating heathily will always make you feel way better than not, so there is no point upsetting that balance and making yourself sad because you NEVER have a moment of indulgence. Give in, on the odd occasion, you deserve it.
However, the fixation mode I mentioned above is not moderation and it’s not going to help me get or maintain toned abs! Following a heap of training for the 100km walk, and carb loading, plus a minor chocolate fixation mode I realised in panic I was attending a wedding in a few days. I had a dress I’d been really hoping to fit into and I wasn’t convinced with recent behaviour this would happen. I had a back up choice I liked as much but for a goal it was nice to stick to attempting for the other dress.
So I decided it was time to step up the detox and squeeze it into a one dayer that went as follows.
One Day Juice Cleanse
The rule was – no solids, liquids only. The key was balancing out fruit and veg (fruit has heaps of sugar so needs to be had in moderation… for me with my sweet tooth it’s always a fave) and also keeping very well hydrated – literally fill up on good old h20! You can adjust the timings to suit your day.
Start of the day, 7am – before you eat anything
Half a lemon, squeezed with warm water. Tablespoon of Clorophyll (either alone or in your drinking water). I tend to have these two detox goodies every few days, especially after a weekend where you’ve been indulging.)
Breakfast 7.30am
In a smoothie – Oatmeal (quick oats), almond milk, teaspoon of honey, 1/4 cup of LSA meal and a fruit of choice (I have strawberries (3 or 4) or banana usually, but sometimes blueberries – plus sprinkle of cinnamon) and if you like, sprinkle of protein powder of choice (in particular if you are training hard – for muscle recovery).
Green tea of choice.
9am
Make sure you’ve had at least 500mls of water on top of what you’ve already drunk.
10am
1 litre of water by now.
10.30am
Veggie juice – I had beetroot, apple, carrot, and cucumber. You can either buy freshly made from a juice bar or if you have a juice maker do it yourself.
11.30am
Green tea
Noon
2 litres of water by now.
Lunchtime
Soup – I didn’t have any time that week to make my own, which I actually prefer to do. I usually boil down a roast chicken carcass to make stock and then use the stock with lots of root veggies (swede/turnip/sweet potato/parsnip/carrot etc) some celery, onion and seasoning – boil then simmer for an hour or so, then blend.
On this occasion I bought a vegetable and quinoa organic, fresh soup (not tinned). [Pictured]
2pm
2.5 litres of water minimum – hopefully, you’ll have actually drunk 3
3pm
Time for an afternoon snack – another veggie juice. Spinach, kale, apple and ginger.
4pm
Green tea of choice
5pm
3 litres of water minimum.
6.30pm
Finish up your soup
7pm
If you’re one for dessert cravings, now is a great time to have a fruit smoothie. I had watermelon, strawberries, bananas and kiwi fruit.
8pm
3.5 litres
9pm
Camomile tea and at least 4 litres of water by bedtime.
This should leave you feeling so energised, refreshed and get rid of any bloating. It’ll also make your insides sing from the rafters! All that goodness and no stodge getting in the way. It’s not something you’d want to do every day but it certainly is a way to quickly cleanse and relieve your body. What do you guys do when you need/want to cleanse? Any other tips or pointers – things you find do or don’t work?
And yes, I got into my dress – yippee! Plus I felt energised all weekend.
pocketdownunder 