30 Day Detox – Week 1 Summary

So the first work week is down and we have to look back and see what went well, what didn’t go well and where we are with this 30 day detox challenge.

I do not know if writing a daily recap is going to be entirely plausible.  With Lisa in the midst of 2011 planning and my entering the end of the month billing cycle, things will get really busy very fast.  I am sure we will give our very best to get a post up every day so keep checking in.

Onto this week. People have asked us if it is tough, and in all honesty it’s a yes and no answer. Of course there will be tough times that tempt and tease us but for the most part it has been good. At the beginning, we went through a few days of feeling like garbage. This was just the toxins being scrubbed from our system and after three days, today seems to have been one of the best days with almost no sluggishness, lots of energy and regularity (if you catch my drift).  Even though our energy levels were up, we did have a few curve-balls thrown at us.  To start this morning we woke up a bit later than our usual 5AM call and were a bit behind so we had to improvise breakfast. Thankfully because of good planning we had a couple of boiled eggs in the fridge ready to go along with a piece of fruit. When we got to work I went to the backseat to get my laptop and lunch and I discovered that I had left my lunch, which was carefully prepared the night before, sitting on the counter at home! Well shit…

The first part of the day sped by and it was noon before I knew it and my boss and I were hungry so we ran out to get something. I knew there would be no problem with this as there are enough salad bars around. I ended up with veggie chili and a small salad that was packed with extra yummies. The chili was packed with beans and veggies and the best part is that Soup it Up makes everything themselves.  It was probably a little higher in sodium than I have been used to but it was better than eating too little.

The real screwball for both of us came at Beer Cart.  Now for those of you who do not work in advertising there is this wonderful occasion that takes place at 4PM on the nose every Friday (Noon on half Fridays). A pile of beer and snacks are on display in the lunch room for everyone to enjoy. Well with the restriction of  no gluten, no dairy and no booze there was not much we were going to eat there. To add insult to injury poor Lisa was charged with the task of planning beer cart this week and had to buy all the chips and candy! She showed tremendous will-power and I for one am so PROUD of her!

We had dinner at home tonight and it was a yummy brown rice pasta made with the chicken we bought this week and all organic Ontario-grown zucchini, tomatoes, broccoli, onions and garlic. It turned out phenomenal. Take a look!

Dinner from tonight.

Like I have said, this week has been tough but we are starting to see the benefits showing already. Lisa’s lungs are doing well and we are feeling better. There has also been a nice little by-product of weight loss. This has never been about weight loss, just about healthy lifestyle and cleaning out our toxins, but it turns out I have lost 6.5 lbs this week. Very pleasant surprise!

As always, take care. Also we always welcome comments so please leave them, we love to hear from our readers :D.

~Ira

Challenge Day 1

As the day closes on the first day of our challenge I feel accomplished, empowered and full of pride.

The day really started off easy, we had a great breakfast of fruit and nuts.  It was quite literally a giant bowl of fruit with some nuts mixed in.  It wasn’t absolutely ideal (we were missing protein) but we will learn as we go.  We are reading a lot about foods that will help us detox down to a cellular level and it is fantastic because it is heavy in foods we love, like green leafy vegetables.

Lunch was a delicious tomato based chicken stew with onions served over a serving of quinoa, with it an apple and veggie pack (packages I make in the morning of cucumber, radish and carrots.)  We have also worked in snacks along the way to ensure we don’t stray and today was delicious Ontario watermelon slices, some almonds and lots and lots of water!

Dinner is the time where I was faced with my very first challenge.  In the afternoon my bosses and I had to go up to the north Outrider office as the CEO and his team of the America’s were in.  After the presentations were done our VP brought in dinner for us and boy was it tempting.  But with some forward planning and her help I was able to eat gluten, dairy and processed free.  The meal that was being brought in was BURRITOS!  But I had a wonderful steak salad with beans and romaine and avocado.  The portion was perfect and the taste was spot on.

That is pretty much it. Overall it was a solid, good day.  It was the perfect start to what the next month is.  Plans for tomorrow include a run in the morning, shopping for some seeds and proteins after work and hopefully getting an air popper for pop corn at night.
Gotta run, have a tray of chicken breast with potatoes in the oven that needs to come out.

PS.

I wanted to echo what Lisa said in her previous post.  This is a lifestyle, health conscious decision.  We have researched and thought this out, the only thing we are restricting are things that either over half the planet doesn’t eat (dairy) or the disgusting processed things that the entire world should not eat.  We are doing this for our health and our lives.

~Ira