Final words from a detoxee

So the detox is over, what an experience. Something I believe that will change my dietary habits for life.

I thought to help sum up this blog, I will give you the meals that were eaten, just to give some ideas on what is detox friendly and what isn't. Halfway through the detox I thought it probably would have been great to keep a food diary, but it was a bit late for that now!

Breakfasts:

• Spelt toast with avocado, hommus, olive oil and cracked pepper
• Muesli with yoghurt and banana
• Berry porridge with soy milk
• Dr. Karg crispbread (100% spelt and 100% delicious) with avocado or hommus
• Fruit: apple, pear, mandarin, banana
• Protein smoothies - soy milk with either (or mix of) berries, yoghurt, banana, raw chocolate, agave syrup, LSA and chia seeds

Lunches:

• Dr. Karg crispbread with tuna, hommus, avocado and olive oil
• Leftover salads (see below to what salads I made) with hard-boiled eggs or tuna
• Homemade soups - I made a huge batch of soup in the first week (sorry I didn't take any photos to blog it!). I made two soups - Vegetable (sweet potato, carrot, cauliflower, cabbage, onion, zucchini, celery) with lentils and beans and Mushroom (swiss brown mushrooms, onion, carrot, celery and parsley). Both were made with a vegetable stock base. For those who haven't made soup before, this doesn't even require a recipe. Just bung all the ingredients together in a pot with stock, allow to boil then simmer. Once all the vegies are tender, whizz it up with a blender. Too easy and cheap meals a plenty!
• Soft boiled eggs on spelt toast
• Fruit

Dinners:

• Chicken or turkey: grilled in thai marinade
• Chicken crockpot in soy & honey (Thank you for dinner Sal!)
• Chicken pizza (on spelt base) with vegetables
• Pasta with tomato, bean, onion and grated vegetable (zucchini, carrot and capsicum) sauce
• Omelette with mushrooms, onion and capsicum
• Calamari cooked in chilli, pepper, Chinese 5-spice and salt
•  Fish: Cooked plenty of fish! So what did I cook and how?
• Salmon: thai marinaded; cooked in soy, ginger & garlic; homemade parmesan-less pesto (spinach, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil, basil) & breadcrumbs (spelt bread)
•  Barramundi: Nut-crusted, fish curry (I used my vegie soup as a curry base, then added the fish, coconut cream, chilli, garam marsala and vegies to make a mild curry); lime juice & cracked pepper

• Most meals had a side dish of steamed or roasted vegetables, or a salad. I grew up with lifeless salads which had no heart, so have taken to making my own with a bit of love and a lot of flavour (no strong dressings needed on these!)
• Rainbow salad: Spinach, rocket and kale with sundried tomatoes, grated beetroot and lightly fried sweet potato cubes, red onion and broccoli. Drizzle of olive oil and cracked pepper. (pictured below)
• Quinoa salad: Quinoa with grated carrot, capsicum, onion, cucumber and corn. Drizzled with olive oil and black pepper.
• Simple salad: Spinach and rocket with sliced carrot, capsicum, diced onion and sundried tomatoes. Drizzled with splash of balsamic vinegar and olive oil.
• Rocket & quinoa salad: Recipe is on a previous blog entry.
• Random salad: Small amount of quinoa with chopped kale, lemon juice and sundried tomatoes. Drizzle of olive oil.

Rainbow salad: its pretty badass full of flavour.

Snacks:

• Popcorn with salt and pepper (pepper is awesome on popcorn!!)
• Fruit
• Raw nut mix: almonds, walnuts, cashews, macadamias
• Soy milk with raw chocolate drinking chocolate
• Conscious chocolate blocks yummmmmmmmmmm

Drinks:

• Water (naturally) and heaps of it!!
• Herbal teas: chamomile, licorice, rooibos, peppermint, detox blend (nettle, fennel, caraway, dandelion leaf), green tea, lemon balm, dandelion root
• Juices: we each had a juice every day. Some days we couldn't buy fresh, so we had Emma & Toms juices, which although are pre-packaged, they are the freshest packaged juice you can get. If you look at the use by date, its always a week or two away due to the lack of preservatives, rather than other juices which give you 3 years to drink your juice! On days we bought fresh / made our own, we had a mix of apple, orange, celery, mint, carrot, beetroot and lemon. Its amazing how a fresh juice can give you the same awake buzz as the morning coffee usually does!

Eating out:

So we ate out a couple of times. We're human, but still very conscious of the detox! 

• Gopals: I went out with my bestie Sim to a Hare Krishna restaurant in the city for a vegetarian feast. We both had a beetroot salad, lentil something and tofu curry. Sim had to eat my buttery custard dessert, damn!
• Lentil as Anything: I had a beetroot curry here. Very tasty!!
• Blue Chillies Restaurant: Happy 30th Erin! Jarod had assam fish curry with tamarind & lemongrass, while I had king prawns wrapped in crispy rice noodles in a thick pineapple & chilli sauce... yum!! 
• Nostralis wholemeal pizza: A vegetarian pizza shop. I had a mushroom pizza with soy cheese and Jarod had a mexican pizza. It was nice, but not as good as my usual pizza :)
• Soulfood cafe: I had satay tofy roti wrap (delish!!!) and Jarod had the lentil burger. Really good!
• Oriental teahouse: Prawn and vegetable dumplings
• Korean food houses: Korean restaurants have this awesome thing called Bi bim bab (Which I call Bim Bam Bop because its easier to say), which is a mix of rice, assorted vegetables and a choice of tofu or meat, topped with a fried egg and served in a hot stone bowl. The bowl crispifies the rice and cooks the vegies.

A friend of mine gave me this wekbsite: http://www.veganeasy.org/Victoria which lists vegan friendly restaurants in Victoria. Fantastic website and the places on here look awesome!

An epiblog moment.

Monday was the unofficial last day of the detox, however Jarod was in Malaysia until Tuesday, so I wanted to wait for him to get back so we could celebrate together. I did however, cook mushrooms in butter on Monday night. My god, it was liquid gold. Oh butter, how I missed your salty goodness! It was a pure blissful food experience, like I had never tasted before! This blissful butter moment only lasted for that first bite unfortunately, each additional bite was just like eating normally again. Damn!

To celebrate the first night off the detox, I opened a bottle of Rekorderlig winter cider which had been waiting patiently in my fridge for a month. I felt the joys of dizzy drunkness after one sip. ONE SIP. My poor re-virginised liver just couldn't hack it. And it tasted so alcoholic!! This didn't stop me enjoying the rest of it though! By the end it was my old friend again. Foodwise, we made a household favourite, nachos with homemade salsa (blended tomatoes, garlic, coriander, basil, capsicum and onion) with sour cream. This is my soul food, or at least it was... The sour cream tasted like a glob of tasteless fat in my mouth and didn't give me any love. The globs of cheese stuck to the nachos provided no love either. Have my taste buds changed so much?? Very unfulfilling!! :(

I feel a little like I'm in detox Stockholm Syndrome - I feel wrong deviating from the detox diet! Who knows what my new dietary habits will now entail. The idea of eating red meat still urks me and now sour cream wants nothing to do with me. Maybe I needed to do this diet to wipe off some of the remainders of my junk food diet. On a positive note, I am happy with my weight again, which is something I haven't been happy with for the past 8 months. I still haven't weighed myself, but I don't need to - I can fit into my old clothes again and I feel good about how I look. This means more to me than a number on scales.

So this is the end of the blog. I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it! I hope some of you out there are feeling inspired even to make small changes in a diet, try a new recipe or switch your skin care brand. One month is really just a small fraction of your life, and may even end up giving you more life to live through dietary changes.

Thank you and good luck on your own journey.

xxoo

How to avoid REtoxing

I'm in the last days of the detox!! I made it! I survived!

The biggest challenge? Socialising. I went to a 30th birthday a bit over a week ago and it was a dinner out. I had to scan the menu carefully to make sure there were things we could eat, then unable to toast the birthday buddy with a glass of champagne felt wrong! To conquer any bad food thoughts, I smelt my friends duck dish (asking someone if they minded if I sniffed their duck seemed really dirty) and then endured the comments of "oh WOW, this is the best chocolate cake EVER!!!" without getting to try it was saddening!

I went to another 30th (tis the season!) last night and had to pass on the large amounts of alcohol and the platters of food being passed around. My beautiful friend made sure there was a plate with carrot and celery sticks so I would be able to eat. Bless you Nara :)

The biggest win? Finding a loophole in what to eat. Raw cocoa is good for you and packed full of antioxidants. Its the sugar and dairy thats added to chocolate which makes it not so good (which is why you should eat dark chocolate over milk chocolate!) So here is no point taking out an antioxidant rich food out of a diet for a detox, right??

There is a chocolate brand that is sold at my uni (also available at the Queen Victoria Market) called Conscious Chocolate (http://consciouschocolate.com.au/) This is vegan chocolate - raw cocoa, organic, handmade, dairy & soy free and no added sugar. This IS the best chocolate I have ever tasted and at $6.00 for a block of 6 squares, it would want to be!!. I would sacrifice a goat for this chocolate, if it asked me to. If you get to try it, I would recommend the orange or the mint flavours. Both have had essential oils added to them and are truly orgasmic. That small block is all you need!! This soul food saw us both through to the end.

I'm not worthy! I'm not worthy!

The only thing left now is to make sure I don't REtox my body. Unfortunately, living in 2011, we are exposed to so much crap in our air, food and water.. I learnt recently that DDT (a highly toxic insecticide which has been found to be carcinogenic and linked to conditions including Parkinson's and asthma) has been found in the lungs of polar bears living in the Arctic. Thats just lovely, isn't it?

You would be surprised how many chemicals we are exposed to just by our personal care products and cosmetics. People now check labels of food items in the supermarkets to see what they contain, but do they look at cosmetics? Here is some information I researched in this area on what harmful contaminants can be found in our everyday products...

But I’m not eating these products!

You may not be eating them, but your skin is your largest organ. Some medicinal creams use the process of dermal absorption for its effect – these drugs do not need to be swallowed for their effect. The skin has pores which absorb products placed on it. In a warm shower, your skins acts like a sponge as your pores open up. Using shampoos and shower gels with toxins get absorbed straight into your blood stream.

These products can be quite dangerous and affect your health by poisoning you slowly. The effect of slower poisoning affects everyone differently. Some people have dramatic reactions, such as asthma, or skin rashes, whilst others may suffer from invisible reactions such as unexplained illnesses, degenerative diseases and even brain dysfunction (ie. Confusion and lack of concentration).

Common chemicals found in skin care and cosmetics:

N  Sodium Lauryl Sulfate & Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate: These ingredients (commonly known as SLS) are commonly found in toothpastes and other personal care products such as liquid soaps, cleansers and shampoo. They are used as detergents and foaming agents and are so strong they are also used as commercial engine degreasers. It is a well known skin irritant and has been linked with mouth ulcers and canker sores.

N  Parabens (methylparaben and ethylparaben): these prevent the growth of bacteria growth, however they kill more than just bacteria. Parabens are known carcinogens and are highly toxic – they are known to be irritating to the skin, eyes and respiratory tract.

N  Mercury: The preservative thimerosol, found in some mascaras, is a mercury-containing product. Mercury is associated with a number of health concerns, including allergies, skin irritation and neurological damage.

N  Formaldehyde: Formaldehyde is added to cosmetics as a preservative to maintain shelf life of products and reduce bacteria growth. Studies have connected formaldehyde exposure to conditions such as asthma, skin irritation and hair loss. 

N  DEA (Diethanolamine): DEA is added to shampoos to help them lather and maintain a rich consistency. By itelf DEA is not considered harmful, however when it reacts with other ingredients in cosmetics it is known to cause nitrosodiethanolamine (NDEA). NDEA is readily absorbed through the skin and has been linked with stomach, oesophagus, liver and bladder cancers.

N  Talc: Talc can be found in eye shadows, foundations, loose bronzing powders and talcum powder. Its biology is similar to asbestos, as small fibers from talc rock mining are inhaled and are difficult to remove from the body. It remains as an unregulated substance to this day, despite the fact it has been linked with both lung and ovarian cancers.

Unfortunately, these products can smell good and feel great to use on your body, but this feeling is mainly due to the chemical ingredients and the toxicity. When switching to a natural alternative product, you may not get the same fragrance or ‘great’ feeling, however your body will get used to the quality of your new product and it may even find it better to use. More importantly – your body will thank you for it long term.

What can you do?

ü  Change your personal care products to natural alternatives which are free from chemicals

ü  Read the labels on your products.

ü  Stay informed about these chemicals and tell your family and friends – you will be rewarded by seeing their long and healthy lives.

ü  Look for products which are labelled SLS Free, Paraben Free and importantly, Not Tested on Animals.

Heres some great alternative product brands you can try, which will be a lot nicer to your body. All products listed are SLS free and not tested on animals:

Skin Care:

“ Alchemy & Akin Products: http://www.purist.com/

“ Botani: http://www.botani.com.au/

“ CE Natural Essentials: http://www.cenatural.com.au/

“ Dr. Hauschka: http://www.drhauschka.com.au/

“ EVOHE: http://www.evohe.com.au/

“ Jurlique: http://www.jurlique.com.au/

“ Kosmea: http://www.kosmea.com.au/

“ KORA Organics: http://www.koraorganics.com/

“ Melrose: http://www.melrosehealth.com.au/

“ Moo goo: http://www.moogoo.com.au/

“ Perfect Potion: http://www.perfectpotion.com.au/

“ Sukin: http://www.sukinorganics.com.au/

“ Weleda: http://www.weleda.co.nz/

“ Wotnot: http://www.wotnot.com.au/

“ Yes to: http://www.yestocarrots.com/

Cosmetics:

“ Couleur Caramel: http://www.nakedbeauty.com.au/

“ DNM Cosmetics: http://www.dnm-cosmetics.com.au/

“ Nude by Nature: http://www.nudebynature.com.au/

“ Synergie minerals: http://www.synergieminerals.com/

There are many chemical free products available, it is not limited to the above lists. Check your local health food store, chemist or Priceline store for more products. Always remember to check the label!

There is no way I can stop the current environment toxins from getting into my body (unless I lived in a cave on the Moon). But I will do what I can to minimise my exposure. I would much rather die from old age after living along & fruitful life, rather than getting Alzheimer's thanks to the aluminium in my deodorant, or contracting cancer from a lifetime use of body wash. 

For references to this information, please do not hesitate to contact me :)

Apologies for slackness - heres this past weeks news!

I've been ignoring my blog writing lately and I apologise to you, my readers, for this. On the positive side, my ignoring has not been due to sickness or being in a hospital due to detoxing! Life just hasn't stopped for a while.

So whats been doings? From a detox perspective, we are in our final week of detoxing and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I can't wait to smash through junk food again. And alcohol. We went to a 30th on Friday night and a glass of wine would have been really fun! And I've got another 30th this Saturday night... another drink worthy event. Tonight the weather is beautiful and summer-like... perfect for a rekorderlig cider (my favourite drinkage of the moment). Emotionally, this past week has taken its toll. I feel a lot more on edge and the cravings to eat my old junkie friends (especially garlic bread) have gotten worse. The fact that I can eat chicken and eggs again has helped a bit with this.

The thought of eating beef surprisingly disgusts me - can I go back to a steak again?? Beef is one of the highest sources of iron in diets (second to kangaroo).  Before the detox I know my iron levels were low. I'm not suffering from anemia, but they were borderline "normal". There have been days where I have felt a bit out of it, dizzy and looked pale (signs of anemia) so have been supplementing myself with iron supplements which has been helping.

On a lighter note (excuse the pun), I am fitting into pants which I haven't been able to wear for the past 6 months. And that feels amazing. My usual exercise consists of:

• Running: 3 times a week (I usually run and sprint for 3km, walk for 600m)
• Pilates: 4 times a week (this is the mat exercises to help with my core strength. Its a 20 minute session and is fantastic to do while watching TV)
• Yoga: once a week (This is hatha yoga which is good for muscle toning and stretching, but this yoga also heals me spiritually. The teacher discusses yoga philosophy during class to leave you feeling positive)
• Zumba: twice a week (I do a 45 minute dance session from my xbox)

This week I have been doing bikram yoga, which run for exactly 90 minutes and consists of a set series of 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises. Did I mention this is also done in a 40 degree room which you are not allowed to leave?? You are drenched in sweat after a session, so its great for a detox. This form of yoga is not for everyone. In fact, last year I was doing it regularly and injured a muscle, got an inner ear infection and nearly passed out in class. My amazing friend Luci is doing a 30 day bikram challenge (bikram every day for 30 days) and encouraged me to give it another go. I've enjoyed my 2 sessions this week, I feel lighter and refreshed, but I'm not about to sign up for a 30 day challenge!

I've been told I'm being a bit slack with recipes on my blog and for this again, I apologise! Heres a couple which I've enjoyed...

The daily juice

I've had to have a juice every day and when I don't buy them I make them. This is my regular juice and fits perfectly into a glass! It doesn't look pretty, but isn't it more about the taste??

Juice in this order (trust me, if you don't, you'll lose some of the flavours)

• 1 celery stalk
• 1 carrot
• handful of fresh mint
• 1 apple
• 1 orange
• 1/2 lemon (if desired)

Thai marinade

pictured with quinoa salad

This has been tried and tasted on salmon, chicken and turkey. Easy to make, tastes awesome. This recipe makes enough marinade to coat 2 pieces of meat.

Combine these in your marinade bowl:

• 1 stalk lemon grass, end roughly chopped
• 2-3 Tbs olive oil
• 1 fresh red chilli, de-seeded if desired
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 4cm piece of ginger, grated (grate finely if you can)
• 1/4 cup chopped coriander
• 2 Tbs fish sauce
• 2 tsp brown sugar

Once mixed well, coat this in your meat and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Cook it bitch.

Home made cheeseless pizza

We are pizza lovers, so we couldn't go a month without a slice of round food heaven. We bought a wholemeal spelt base (to avoid wheat and a processed base), then layered it with the following...

• Organic tomato paste
• chicken slices, which had been pre cooked in pepper, salt and chilli
• raw zucchini zlices
• diced onion and capsicum, lightly cooked (until onion softened) then spread on top
• egg which had been scrambled and slightly cooked (so its not uber gooey)
• fresh basil (put on top of the pizza half way through cooking. Slight fail, as it crispified straight away. I would put it on fresh at the end.)

Cook for 15 minutes, or until the crust goes crunchy and the top looks heated through. Garnish with cracked pepper and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Very tasty, the cheese wasn't missed!

So thats it for now. I promise my next entry will be a bit sooner. :)

Oily issues...

I guess I've been overusing my psychic powers - my face has felt nostalgic for teenagedom and decide to give me an outbreak of pimples. There are 4 of those really nasty, painful ones too! grrr! This is the reason why you don't undergo a detox coming up to a big event. My body is getting rid of built up nasties and excreting it via the skin, so I know the reason for my pimple plague. I'm  not using any pimple creams, as I don't need to dry out my skin and lather it in chemicals (I don't want to REtox my body!), but I'm making sure I keep my face clean using a chemical free cleanser and drinking lots of water to help flush my skin.

As this entry is about oily issues, I thought this would be a good time to bring up cooking oils. It is usually recommended by TV to use olive oil over other oils (vegetable oil, sunflower oil) as it has been shown to reduce cholesterol levels and the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). While it is fantastic to put on salads and on foods after cooking, olive oil is not a heat stable oil and loses its health benefits when heated and can convert to trans fats - a harmful by-product which can increase the risk of CVD, obesity, diabetes, cancer and even Alzheimer's. 

Saturated fats are heat stable (solid at room temperature) and are less likely to convert to trans fats.A safe and healthy alternative to use is coconut oil, so below is some information about it from a handout I made...

What is coconut oil?

Coconut oil is a highly aromatic saturated fat which can be used for cooking. It is mainly used in parts of Asia (such as Malaysia and Vietnam) and India and adds a slight coconut taste to cooking. 

What are the health benefits of coconut oil?

Cholesterol lowering

Coconut oil contains lauric acid, which contains the ability to assist in cholesterol management. There have been mixed results in coconut oils  activity with cholesterol levels: some studies indicate that it lowers LDL cholesterol and oxidation in the body, while others indicate that the negative effects of saturated fats suggest that it should not be consumed regularly. Coconut oil has been found to decrease cholesterol in studies performed in its countries of origin, leading to theories that it may be due to the storage methods or lowered deterioration of the oil.

Anti fungal properties

Coconut has been found to have antimicrobial properties, with studies showing that it has the ability to kill fungal infections including Candida albicans (Thrush). It also has been shown to have moderate anti-inflammatory and pain relief properties in animal studies.

Weight loss / thyroid assistance

Some websites claim that coconut oil may have properties which assist weight management due to an effect up on the thyroid. This property cannot be substantiated, as there has been no research found to backup this claim.

Antioxidant

Coconut oil has been found to lower oxidation effects in the body, making it a good antioxidant. It has been found that extra virgin coconut oil contains more antioxidants, so buy extra virgin (unless you really don't like a coconutty flavour)

What do I look for if I’m going to buy it?

Coconut oil can be found in all good health food stores. Extra virgin Coconut oil is extracted via a wet process, and coconut oil is extracted via a dry process. Buy either virgin or extra virgin - Extra virgin will give you a slight coconut taste, while virgin has no coconut taste.  

Organic coconut oils will not contain genetically-modified coconut or have previous pesticide use, so the healthier option would be to buy an organic brand.

Storage:  Keep your coconut oil jar in a cool place, as it can melt with heat (tip: keep it in the fridge in summertime!).

How to use: Use it just the same as you would butter in a fry pan. Coconut oil will melt pretty quickly and if using extra virgin coconut oil, your kitchen will smell amazing, especially if you cook it up with onions! 

This information has been created from referenced material, which can be available upon request.

Theres more to a detox than just the diet changes!

Nearing the end of the second week and feelin fine! I'm not experiencing any negative effects of brain fog or zombieness, but cravings have been creeping in from time to time, but I don't consider that a terribly bad thing. Its if I act upon it before the detox is over, THEN its bad! My largest craving for some reason has been garlic bread...

That warm, oozy buttery goodness, combined with herbs and garlic on a crunchy bread roll. Damn, that sounds good. Jarod has been craving spaghetti bolognese, so maybe a trip to a good Italian restaurant may be the place to celebrate the end of the month!

Theres more to a detox than just the diet changes...
A detox isn't just about diet, that only plays a role in the overall well-being and detoxification of your body. Once the toxins are being flushed and moved in the body, they need to get out. If they don't get removed properly, people can suffer from nausea, headaches, skin disorders (acne, eczema) and immune deficiencies (frequent colds).

So how do you get these toxins out?
Our bodies contain what is known as the lymphatic system, which is found throughout the body and is made up of thin tubes and bean-shaped nodes. Picture it like a fluid filter, removing unwanted elements (bacteria, foreign substances) from our blood then destroying them with white blood cells (lymphocytes).

Often when we get sick or suffer from allergies you may notice the glands under your jaw swell up – this can be the sign of an infection as your lymphocytes are out in force. Other organs involved in your lymphatics include the thymus, spleen and tonsils (which is why they often got swollen and removed as a child!).

Ways to help our lymphatic system perform at its best...

• Drink plenty of water to flush out the liver and lymph. Aim for 2 litres a day, but for some people this can be very hard if they are used to drinking 2 glasses a day. Start small - aim to drink 1 extra glass a day for a week, then add an additional glass every week until you reach 8 glasses. You could also flavour your water with fresh lemon, orange or mint for a subtle flavour. Don't go for the vitamin/nutrient waters... they have a similar sugar content to a can of coke.
• Massage - lymmphatic drainage massage is designed especially for this. You may find the day after the massage you feel 'not quite right', or a bit sick, which is due to the movement of stagnant lymph.
• Exercise!!! Your lymphatic system is linked with your heart, so to get it moving, get your heart moving too! Just 30 minutes each day... walk, cycle, jog, run, aerobics, pilates, zumba, sex, whatever!
• Sweat it up baby - exercise is fantastic, and sweating up a storm is the icing on the cake. Your sweat contains the toxins your body wants to remove so sweat regularly to remove it. Saunas or bikram yoga (a 90 minute session done in 40 degrees Celsius heat) are great for this, but be sure to restore your body with water and electrolytes after an intense sweat session. Coconut water is good for you, is very hydrating and contains electrolytes - much healthier than powerade or gatorade!
• Don't use anti-perspirants - sure, this makes us acceptable in social situations, but if you don't sweat out what your body wants to remove, where is it going to go? So the body sweats more to compensate, so you use more anti-perspirant... and the cycle continues. I'll admit it. Growing up, I was a sweaty kid. Very embarrassing as a high school teenage girl and I was very self conscious about it. I was sure everyone could see the sweat hordes growing under my arms. The sweating didn't slow down either once I was in my 20s. I stopped using anti-perspirants a couple of years ago (except on special occasions, like my wedding day!) and found now that my sweating has decreased dramatically. It wasn't an overnight change, as my body still had to remove all the excess toxins. I still use deodorants, but choose aluminium free ones to reduce my body's exposure to toxic metals. Health food stores and some supermarkets stock aluminium free deodorants. Check the label - it will specify if they are aluminium free.

Just remember, once you start getting your lymph moving, your body will be removing the built up gunk, so your skin may get oily, pimply or you may get skin conditions such as eczema. In other words, don't detox your body just before a huge event where you need to look your best, just in case! Shower regularly, clean your body to remove the excess sweat and finish off by gently massaging a body lotion or moisturiser into your skin (go as chemical free as possible - I will blog about chemical free skin care products soon).

Did Richard Simmons have the right idea all along??

hmm, maybe not in those shorts.

Dining out on a detox

 

The picture above is a 100% accurate portrayal of how the past week has felt. I have become a 1950s housewife, chained to the kitchen, looking like a young Elizabeth Taylor in a funky retro top, while Jarod shines up his car. I have no regrets about all the work I put into cooking yummy meals, but I need a night off!

A detox definitely limits your abilities to eat out, but after a while, the smell of grease emanating from fish and chip shops isn't all that appetising. Jarod and I managed to get out of the house on Sunday and get down to the Queen Victoria Market for some tasty food from Invita Cafe...

Tofu & beetroot burger with salad

Corn cakes with guacamole, salsa and salad

Some people may think that this food is going to be bland, because its healthy, and healthy food has no taste, right? Wrong! If you take junk food out of your life, your taste buds will thank you by making real food taste amazing, and giving you nutrients at the same time. Culinary spices like turmeric, coriander, rosemary, pepper, ginger, garlic and chilli add life to food so try adding them to a meal instead of salt.

So its one week down in the detox and I can report only minor bad effects. The past few days I have felt very foggy in the brain, very forgetful (I was halfway through a mandarin and left it in the kitchen, only to see it sitting there 20 minutes later wondering where I went!). Today the fog has cleared and I'm feeling back to my normal self again. As far as good effects go, Jarod has already lost 1kg (without exercising much) and I feel like I have lost weight around my abdomen (not game enough to look at the scales yet!).

To finish up this post, heres a recipe for an easy salad we made Friday night:

Rocket & quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) salad 

• 3/4 cup of washed, uncooked quinoa (cook in a rice cooker in a ratio of 2:1 water:quinoa, or boil in water for 15 minutes, or until quinoa is soft)
• 150g of washed rocket leaves
• 1 can of corn (drained and washed)
• 1 capsicum, grated
• 1/2 zucchini, grated
• 1 carrot, grated
• 1/2 red onion, grated
• handful of sundried tomatoes

Combine, with a squeeze of 1/2 a lemon or lime, and a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Season with cracked pepper.

Makes a bowl big enough to serve 4, and will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.

The salad, pictured with grilled turkey breasts in a thai marinade

Enter the zombie

Yesterday I was a zombie.

There is no other way to explain it. The 3rd night of the detox involved an almost sleepless night with a brain that would not shut up. I have never had that many ideas flying through my head at once, none of which involved a moment of genius or epiphanies. They were just those really random thoughts about things that happened, things that were going to happen (according to my brain) and about my present state of mind, with my brain asking casually, "hey, you're still awake! cool! lets chat!" And to add icing on top of his mix of insanity, I started to feel nauseous. That nausea you feel when you're not sure whether to get up and stand near the toilet just in case, or just lie there and try and ignore it. It didn't go away either! 

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), they believe that the energy in each organ of our bodies have a 2 hour peak period and people who have symptoms repeatedly occur at the same time should check their organ clock. 

 When I was nauseous, I knew what time it was without even having to look at the clock (but I did look just to check). It was 3.02am. Coincidence that the liver is between 1am and 3am?

I somehow managed to function through my naturopathic student clinic without seeming too zombie-like (it helped not having to be the leading practitioner for the consults I was in), but the rest of the day was a write-off. Home on the couch to watch The Sound of Music with some detox comfort food...

spelt crackers with hommus, avocado, tuna, lime juice & cracked pepper

Back to my old non-zombie again today. I'm going to miss my Friday night pizza tonight... and the AFL grand final tomorrow, oh dear god, I'll have to watch it sober! Wheres the humanity???