21DSD Day 11

You guys! I’m over halfway done with this detox!

that deserves a high five

I’m not gonna lie, this has been harder than I thought it would be, and for different reasons than I was expecting. I know I talked about this last week, but I didn’t really realize how much I rely on fruit for snacks and breakfast, and taking that away resulted in several days of just not eating enough. I also was a huge bitch the first 5 days, partly due to PMS but mostly due to low blood sugar as I tried to figure out how to eat. Also, my skin has not been clearing up the way I hoped it would, and I’m kind of starting to get desperate! I’m trying to remind myself that if skin problems are internal, it will take more than a week for it to clear up (and that the zits that are healing now probably started forming before the detox even started), but I am going to be pretty sad if I do this whole thing and still end up with a huge zit on my chin at my wedding!

Apart from the skin dilemma, overall this week has been a lot better so far. With the introduction of paleo mayo and therefore tuna salad, and my discovery this morning that 3 tbsp coconut flour 2 tbsp coconut milk 2 eggs = amazing fluffy pancakes, things are definitely looking up.

On days 6 and 7, I had to admit that I was seriously considering making myself a fruit salad and switching the sugar detox to a Whole30. As someone who doesn’t experience sugar cravings even when I can eat all the sugar I want, I haven’t really experienced any dramatic benefits to this detox yet. I’m not falling asleep or waking up any easier (except for that one fluke day last week). I have been sleeping really well through the night but uninterrupted sleep is pretty common for me so that’s not a huge change. I am a little less bloated than I was coming into the detox, but seeing as I’d eaten sushi, nachos, and half of a pie within the 72 hours leading up to the detox, that’s no surprise.

But now that I’m over halfway done, I’ve decided to stick with it and follow through to the end. A few people I’ve talked to who have done the detox before say that they didn’t feel the majority of benefits until the 3rd week, which seems like kind of a long time to wait to me, but I guess in the scheme of re-setting your gut is pretty minimal.

I’m not going to list every single thing I’ve eaten since my last post, but here are the highlights:

Coconut flour pancakes: 3 tbsp coconut flour; 2 tbsp canned coconut milk; 2 eggs; a splash of vanilla if you’re feeling fancy.

Tuna salad: ~1/2 cup paleo mayo; 3 cans tuna; 1 stalk celery, diced; 4 green onions, diced; 2 avocados, diced; juice from 1/2 a lemon; salt; pepper; paprika.

Lots of hardboiled eggs

A big slab of baked salmon sprinkled with smoked paprika and garlic powder, broccoli, and mashed sweet potatoes.

Some less-than-stellar shredded BBQ beef from the slow cooker that we WAY overcooked. Yay real life.

Green apple coconut milk cinnamon every. single. day.

Oh! We also ordered pho for takeout this weekend and after making sure the broth ingredients were all approved, I made my own zucchini noodles with my spiral slicer and added them to the broth along with the other goodies that came with the pho from the restaurant (like bean sprouts, mint leaves, and chicken). I think the zucchini noodles were actually tastier than the rice noodles! Win/win!

How is the detox going for you guys? Are you seeing any benefits yet or still waiting patiently?