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In August, I poured out a bit of my heart about my journey to get healthy. I knew I didn’t want to “diet,” but I needed some fairly drastic changes in my lifestyle. I wanted to be the best version of myself possible. I bet a lot of you feel this way too.
I decided to go see a nutritionist and take control of my body, once and for all. If you are in Austin, go see Carly at Nutritional Wisdom. You will not regret it. At all. Y’all. It has been the best decision I have made in quite some time. She has given me so many tools for success, specific to me and my life.
On September 17th, I started a 10-day detox. I cut out dairy, caffeine, gluten, processed food, alcohol, sugar, and soy. I drank warm lemon water every morning and 4 ounces of pure cranberry juice in the afternoon. I drank almost 100 ounces of water a day. Sounds crazy, right? That is kind of what I thought. I had so many questions?
- How am I going to live without coffee and Diet Dr. Pepper??
- How will I resist the candy jars at work?
- No wine at dinner??
- Am I going to be eating grilled chicken salads every meal?
- No cheese…like, at all?
- All that water. What?
- Pure cranberry is pretty gross. Are you sure about that?
I will be honest, it was NOT easy. The sugar cravings and the caffeine headaches almost had me quitting…and quitting with a smile on my face. But, I kept at it, and…wait for it…I honestly feel better today than I have in years. Sounds dramatic, but it is true. I am sleeping so much better, and I have lost that mid-afternoon sluggish feeling that I had almost daily. I am already down almost 4 pounds in fat. Already, 4 pounds! To top all of this off, I never felt deprived. Never. I did have a glass or two of wine over the 10-days (I blame our dear friends’ wedding for that!), but all in all, I just made better daily food decisions. It is paying off, big time.
Thank goodness, I didn’t quit.
So, where does this leave me now? Carly set up a custom “maintenance” plan for me, but here is the gist of what I will be doing. It is not rocket science, but it does make a lot of sense. Cut back on carbs, sugar, and foreign substances, and add in lots of the green stuff.
Every day:
- Keep a food diary.
- Warm lemon water in the mornings.
- Take high-quality vitamins and supplements.
- 96 ounces of water a day.
- No caffeine. This is what I dreaded the most, and after a few days, it was the easiest to kick.
- No dairy.
- No gluten.
- Limited grains. I
- No processed food.
- East 2 snacks a day
- Stop eating 2 hours before bed
- Make room for two treats a week. This can be ANYTHING…extra wine, a piece of cake, some cheese, etc. Since this is NOT a diet, you have to make some room for a treat every now and then.
Now, since I have listed everything I CAN’T eat, this is what will fill my plate:
- Eggs
- Bacon, pork sausage, chicken sausage
- All the veggies I want (but going light on the beets, carrots, peas, and sweet potatoes)
- Avocados
- 2 servings of fruit a day
- Chicken
- Fish, shrimp
- Beef
- Limited amounts of corn, brown rice, oatmeal, and quinoa.
- Hummus
- Olives
- Nuts
- Olive oil
- Coconut oil
- Butter
- Salad dressings
- Salsa
- One glass of red wine every other day. Seriously, it is okay. Everything in moderation.
- And those two treats a week. Necessary in my book.
I am excited about making progress and keeping this up! Although this may look a bit like a form of the paleo diet, it more resembles a Mediterranean diet. My goals are to fuel my body with the good stuff, and I want to go light on the bad stuff.
Join me in my journey! I would love to hear your success stories.
Wish me luck!
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