Lessons From My 10-Day Detox Challenge

My journey to even healthier eating really got started in late 2011 when I discovered Mark Sisson’s Primal Blueprint. Mark taught me that a healthy approach to life is as a lifestyle not a collection of programs. Since then I have found several others who have what seem to me to be logical, down-to-earth approaches to diet, exercise, and sleeping. Dr Mark Hyman is one such person.

When Dr Hyman announced his 10-Day Detox Challenge I signed up. I felt I already ate a pretty toxic-free diet but knew I’d learn something new. And I did! The foods he had us ban from our diets weren’t that much different from the foods I tend to avoid anyway — sugar, grains, legumes, and dairy. He also had us avoid high-glycemic and starchy foods. Ok, that’s a bit different so I was curious to see what difference that would make.

Ten days of clean eating gave me more energy and better, deeper sleep. I already had a 30-minute per day exercise program and lots of walking so that wasn’t a stretch for me. The lesson was that during the three-day class I attended in the middle of the Challenge I wasn’t able to do my exercise program and that’s when I appreciated the value and wisdom of exercise in living a healthy life. Without the exercise I was a bit stiffer and less focused. With the exercise I had better focus and clarity and limberness. Those little annoying body “issues” were absent during my 10 days.

When you participate in a Challenge like this one you tend to be thinking about food in a different way so food is on your mind more. Not in the the starved-human way but in the what-eating-habits-are-others-following-right-now way. I’m aware of how much sugar people eat in general but I was hyper aware of it during the class I attended. The amount of sugary drinks, bread-centric foods, and unhealthy snacks consumed was astounding! And then there was the ice cream social with whipped cream, hot fudge and caramel sauces, sprinkles, nuts, and even cherries. The smell of the sugary treats made my brain sit up and demand to have some while my taste buds were shuddering at the thought of that stuff in my mouth. The taste buds won, fortunately. Toxic food really does play a big role in our lives.

That experience was underlined when this thought came across my computer screen to get me to think a bit more on the subject:

When we remove diversion of food, we open ourselves up to an opportunity for deeper healing. Feelings that were covered up by food come to the surface and we deal with the root causes behind them.

Food became an adventure for me. It brought my husband and me together for dinner together every night, something we’d slipped away from because of busy schedules. We found fun ways to prepare the foods we love that were on the approved foods list in new ways to make them more interesting. And I found several new, delicious smoothy recipes for my breakfasts.

Day Eleven. I went on a food binge! I was eating “approved” foods, but in mass quantities. I recognized a pattern I have, two actually. When I restrict myself when doing diets or challenges I “reward” myself at the end with a feast. And that feast is consumed in my chain-eating style; as I swallow one bite the next one goes in. Not good.

I also learned that I can’t eat sweet foods, even sweetened with dates, because that short-circuits my control. Sweet foods are a bad idea for me, at least for now. I’ll be curious to learn if down the road that goes away as I continue to eat non-toxic foods.

Because I slipped on Day 11 I’m repeating the 10-Day Detox Plan and then going on to the Transition phase. It’s going to be fun and interesting.

Even if you think you eat and exercise healthfully and are healthy, I challenge you to do a 10-Day Detox Challenge of your own so you can witness first hand how your body feels. Then you can decide for yourself how you want your lifestyle to look and feel.

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