My good friend & fitspiration, Nikki Torres of Pretty Darn Fit & I were randomly talking about our New Year’s plan as early as November of last year. One topic that came up was detox & how it’s something we can do at the start of the year. I didn’t take it seriously up until after the holidays when I felt heavy & sluggish with all the sugar, alcohol & carbs I’ve consumed (hashtag no regrets) that my daily workout cannot burn. To be honest, I was scared to do it because the first time I did juice cleanse back in 2014 was a struggle simply because I was totally unprepared to shift from a diet of eat-whatever-i-want to juice.
WHY I DID DETOX
The main reason why I was sold to the idea of doing detox on the third week of January was because I wanted to rid my body (particularly my gut of toxins & junk I’ve accumulated over the holidays. My PCOS medicine has helped alleviate my cystic acne but it made me jiggly & jelly on most parts (goodbye gains) and has made me twice the serial snacker that I am (which means welcome back puson). I don’t want to blame my medicine entirely so I know I had to do something about it (stop munching on snacks) so detox came to mind.
WHAT IS DETOX?
When we hear the words DETOX or CLEANSE, automatically most of us would associate it as a quick way to lose weight. While this may (or may not) be true for those who swear by it, cleansing or detoxing only removes water weight and as fast as it can do it, it can easily come back once you’re done with the cleanse or detox.
Detox simply means removing toxins from your body. If you’re so accustomed to eating sweets, junk food or fast food on a regular basis, removing these from your diet is a way of detoxing. It doesn’t necessarily mean you should go on a juice cleanse right away. So say, if you’re used to eating white rice & white bread every meal for every single day, removing these is another way of detoxing (since white rice & white bread is both high in sugar).
Anyhow, I opened up my Instagram stories so some of you can ask me a question and here were some of it. Now before you start, please take time to read the article below that my roomie, Nikki wrote to help guide you on your detox journey.
I honestly never thought I’d do well in the 4 days I was on detox. Mentally, I have already anticipated I’d have hunger pangs, lightheadedness & overall have no energy to get through the days. But surprisingly if there’s anything amazing about it, it’s the level of energy I had plus endurance too!
WHAT HELPED ME WITH MY DETOX
A concrete guide & support from someone who knows how to do it. Yes friends, it pays to have someone check up on you and ask you how you are during your detox. Thankfully I have Nikki who created a guide for me on how I should go about it. She was also checking up on me every day to see how I was doing. This is one of the major things that made my detox easy.
Preparing meals ahead. Stress is one factor that can hinder you from going about your detox. If preparing the meals or juices you need to consume gives you stress then the whole process won’t be as easy. I could’ve made my own juices since I have a slow juicer and Nikki gave me a guideline but given I am a hands on mom who shuffles back and forth for school drop off & pickup, I know I wouldn’t have enough time to efficiently prepare all my meals which eventually would leave me frustrated. So I ordered my juices from Pure Nectar. They have one of the best tasting juices I’ve ever had. Best part? They deliver and they have a guideline that’s perfect for first timers.
Schedule it at your most convenient time or just go ahead & commit to it. I wanted to do the detox as early as January 2. But then I started my 30-Day Challenge that day and wanted to wait at least a week to see how my body is taking it. As much as possible I wanted to schedule it on a week that’s light and easy. But we all know that if we wait for a week like that, it’s never gonna happen. I was supposed to do a 5 Day Detox but that Friday, I was supposed to have dinner with my co-parents. Still technically, I was on an almost 5-Day Detox.
WHAT’S MY DETOX
Since I eat everything (save for the food I’m intolerant to like soy, almond, milk) I have to strip off protein, dairy & nuts and just consume only veggies & fruits. Sounds easy right? Oh and did I mention I can’t also have any caffeinated drink? Yes, that means I had to give up coffee too. I can give up everything else except coffee so this was something I found challenging.
MY 4 DAY DETOX
Day 0. The day before my detox, my roomie told me that I should prepare my gut. This means I have to eat food that are easy to absorb. So I only had congee for dinner.
Day 1. I went about my usual day. Woke up early to prepare my kids for school, went to the gym and lifted weights, picked my kidstoo up, took a 30-minute nap (it’s important to nap during detox) in between school pickup, tutored my kids, prepared dinner and went to bed. No struggle as I ease in on my detox. I was certain I’ll be hungry but for some reason the juices filled me & the added serving of fruits satisfied me during breakfast & lunch.
Day 2. Almost the same with Day 1. I went about my day, even went to Facial Care to have my facial. Nikki’s guideline mentioned that I should just do easy/light workouts like Pilates & yoga. Thankfully my Tuesdays are really for Pilates. I was scared I won’t survive the class but surprised that I did. Surprised at myself too for not having any hunger pangs. Truth be told, I was full with the juices of Pure Nectar along with the Kaffir shots I took. Though everything still feels the same, my bowel movement was waaaay better (okay TMI). Let’s just say that on Day 2 my body naturally released toxins. Heeheehee. This is why some would really suggest one should stay home when doing detox.
Day 3. I guess this was the most challenging day for me because I felt lightheaded the moment I woke up though it was manageable. I don’t know why but maybe it was my body’s way of still adjusting. Either way, I felt relaxed. So relaxed that during Nikki’s yoga class this morning I almost fell asleep during savasana!
Day 4. Aaaah the last day! Attended Pilates in the morning and I felt the burn in muscles. Like everything was on fire! Maybe because I exerted more effort and have less energy to give? Anyhow, also had a meeting & an event that day. While I was very, very tempted to order a cup of coffee & eat my fave food, I ended up bringing my juices along with me. Sayang naman if I don’t finish eh it’s already the last day. Though physically I feel fine (managed to take a 30-minute nap after Pilates and before my meeting so I felt recharged!) it was my brain that’s a little bit slow. I had a challenging time comprehending & I had no patience trying to compose thoughts. I just let my mind wander & my thoughts flow– I didn’t suppress it nor did I overthink & wrote things down. I just let it be (so sorry to those who emailed me that day and I wasn’t able to reply–wasn’t in the right state of mind! heehee).
Day 5. Technically it’s Day 0 again I think? Did the same morning routine except this time I went to The Upperdeck and ran a fasted (didn’t eat nor drink anything) 6km. I can’t believe I have enough endurance that morning. I was even gunning for 10km but I remembered I have another workout that evening. On this day I felt energised, light and overall happy.
My Roomie mentioned I should still stick to food that are easy to disgest so my gut can slowly ease in.
I went on about my day come Friday. I didn’t feel lightheaded, but after my 6km run, I felt tired and so I took my usual 30-minute nap. That night, I had my first cup of black coffee in 5 days. It gave me enough energy to do my second workout for the day–you can read about it here http://gojackiego.com/week-3-of-2019/. Overall, I’m so proud of myself for finishing my 4 Day Detox strong!
For those of you who are interested to try, I asked my Roomie, Nikki to answer a few questions you threw at me. Read her answers below.
FOR THOSE DOING DETOX FOR THE FIRST TIME
Start by eating more whole grains, some seeds and nuts during the day and cutting out processed food, getting enough sleep and managing stress for 1-3 months prior to detox. This will help you get through the detox with ease. When you don’t have enough Life Force (or energy), the detox becomes a struggle. Sometimes even something as simple as eating only a whole food, plant-based diet for a week can already cleanse the body.
HOW LONG AND HOW INTENSE SHOULD DETOX BE?
Consuming only low sugar, whole fruits and supplementing with cold-pressed green juices that have little to no fruit for 3-5 days is a good start. The BEST advice I could give is to think of detox as a whole, not just from food. We get intoxicated when we go outside (noise, pollution, other peoples energy), work (stress), go online (unwanted simulation) so think of it as spring cleaning–you have to set aside time for it.
WHY SHOULD YOU DETOX?
It is inevitable that we get stressed, acquire toxins from food, our environment and products we use. What goes in must come out.
Our bodies work well with a steady cycle, rhythm or pattern. Making detoxification a part of one of the many, many cycles and rhythms our bodies follow makes a huge impact on wellbeing and longevity. The cycle is Life Force enhancement > Detox. Repeat. Every cycle, you aim to gain more Life Force and a deeper cleanse. You can do it every 6 months as part of your wellness regimen.
DETOX DONE RIGHT
A detox done correctly rests vital organs. A short cleanse may reset the liver (depending on how much toxins it needs to flush out) but a longer cleanse (10-15 days) can reset others such as your kidneys. Giving your body that much needed reset, flooding it with all the nutrients it needs with less energy required to digest can encourage healing–whether in the gut, the liver and others. Gut healing = better skin too!
So true what Nikki said on the last part, gut healing gives better skin. My skin has drastically improved this January. Minimal bumps on my cheeks and less acne popping out. I love how I’m slowly getting used to making healthier food choices and eating clean too. Like my palette has changed & prefer veggies & fruits more than processed food. Yay! I’ll try harder in the next coming months to nourish my body with food that can fuel it to be at its best. But don’t get me wrong, I’ll still have my fair share of indulgence (chips, chocolates, fast food) on weekends.
Thank you again to my Roomie for helping me through this healing journey! I guess I’ll be doing this again in 6 months, so I’ll probably update this post again come June!
If you’re interested to get started on your detox journey, get in touch with Nikki because she’s a qualified holistic wellness & lifestyle coach. Email her through nikki@prettydarnfit.com
I guess I should start doing this as well!!!
Yes! You can try and do it. It’ll help reset your digestion.
I guess that I need to start as well detoxifying since summer is now in the air. Thank you for the tips and sharing your daily activities to stay fit and healthy.