I made it! Wowza did this 7-day detox require a ton of willpower. There were so many moments (usually at night) where I thought to myself “just one little nibble of chocolate” and then had to remind myself why I was doing this. It feels so great to say I did this, but I’m not gonna lie — it felt even better to bite into a warm chocolate chip cookie at Helen’s tonight. She made Jacques Torres’ famous recipe for our pasta party, and based on how many I ate this evening, I should never ever make the recipe myself because I could not control myself around them. It’s weird how, after saying no to temptation for a full week, all of my willpower faded so quickly. Definitely the next thing I need to work on.
But cookie-binging aside, as I mentioned on day 6 early this morning, there are definitely parts of the detox I’d like to continue. Drinking warm water with lemon first thing in the morning was great, and I liked dry brushing my body before showering (though most mornings I shower at the gym so that’s not usually feasible). I’d also like to continue to limit my meat and chicken intake, and rely more on fish, lentils and beans for protein. Also, while giving it up completely isn’t going to happen any time soon, I will try to keep my dairy, gluten, alcohol and especially sugar consumption to a minimum — more blueberries, less chocolate for dessert.
One of my big questions going into the detox was cost. A frequent criticism of cleanses and detoxes is that they are very expensive — all-juice cleanses from specific companies can easily cost hundreds of dollars for a few days’ worth of meals, and juicing on your own requires a) buying a juicer and b) buying a ton of vegetables to make juices with. I added up my total expenditures on food for the week* and it came out to ~$75, which is a bit higher than my usual average of $60. Of course, 9 of those dollars went towards the Organic Avenue juice I bought on Wednesday, which was completely unnecessary and a very rare occurrence. Granted these are both pretty large sums to pay for a single person’s food for only 5 days (I spend an absurd amount of money on food), but the detox itself wasn’t significantly more expensive than my regular diet. If I had stuck to more basic vegetarian staples, such as beans and lentils, I could have saved some money — ditto if I had planned ahead enough for my weekly lunch.
Bottom line: the detox was definitely worth it, if only because I proved to myself that no matter how difficult it got, I could do something if I set my mind to it. More importantly, I learned that while it’s extremely hard, I can say no to sugar — that’s something I need to work even further on now.
Thank you again for all of your support! Could not have done this without everyone’s encouragement.
Also in the 7-Day Detox:
7-Day Detox: Kickoff
7-Day Detox: Day 1 + Quinoa with Green Beans and Shallots
7-Day Detox: Day 2
7-Day Detox: Day 3
7-Day Detox: Day 4 + Alice Waters’ Ratatouille
7-Day Detox: Day 5
7-Day Detox: Day 6
Wow, really impressed how well you stuck to the plan. I was really good up until the weekend (couldn’t resist some gelato when out with friends, and of course babi’s goat meat curry). So I’m retrying it this week with maa, we’re doing pretty well. Maa said it was good cause she didn’t snack after coming home from work, which is her vice, and we ate fruit after dinner instead of mishti. It’s only been a week, but we’ll keep you updated!
Congrats! What a feat 🙂
“Drinking warm water with lemon first thing in the morning was great, and I liked dry brushing my body before showering (though most mornings I shower at the gym so that’s not usually feasible). I’d also like to continue to limit my meat and chicken intake, and rely more on fish, lentils and beans for protein. Also, while giving it up completely isn’t going to happen any time soon, I will try to keep my dairy, gluten, alcohol and especially sugar consumption to a minimum — more blueberries, less chocolate for dessert.” — could not agree more! I’m also trying to work on these things. What is dry brushing, though? It sounds a tad painful.
Thanks! Dry brushing is using a bristle brush (preferably all-natural) to gently brush your skin before showering. I don’t do it too often because I usually work out in the mornings, but it feels kind of nice — just make sure your brush bristles aren’t too prickly and that you use gentle strokes to brush.