The author recommends a 4 day cleanse that is meant to help detox the liver and give it some rest, help with digestion, maintain balanced blood sugar over this period, and rid the body of excess estrogen. I was hesitant to try it, because I've realized that my eating and my thoughts about food have are somewhat disordered, and anytime I restrict anything, I spend the next months in cycles of semi-binging and restricting to make up for the binges. However, I told myself that I needed to go into this with a different mindset. I needed to look at it as a rest for my body. A reward for doing its best to keep up with all I throw at it. It's not deprivation. It's medicine. So, I went shopping for all the organic produce and the few other items I needed, prepped a few of the meals for the 4 days ahead of time, and the cleanse started yesterday morning. So far, I feel like I'm learning a lot during this time. Here are a few things I've noticed.
1. Now that I'm chewing my food 15-30 times per bite, I realize how fast I usually eat. It used to take me 1/3 of the time to eat double the amount of food. No wonder I often feel unsatisfied even if I really liked what I ate.
2. I tend to want to eat whether I'm hungry or not from about 2pm on. I realized that I'd probably not even been allowing myself to really get hungry.
3. Being hungry isn't going to kill me. It's unpleasant, but it does pass. In the past, I've either flipped out and inhaled food as soon as I could get it when I got to the point of real, stomach growling hunger, or if I was in a "restrictive" phase, I'd take that as a challenge and a sign that I was on the "right" path. I'm hoping this cleanse will help me get in touch with my body and teach me that hunger doesn't need to have so much power one way or the other.
4. Today with far fewer calories than I usually consume, I was able to do some pretty heavy cleaning, some pilates, and wash the dog without a nap. I think this tells me that what I normally eat is not fueling my body as efficiently, since I usually get worn out and often have to take naps. (Especially at this point in my LP.)
5. Although I'm not sure why, I have a very hard time eating in a quiet space and not doing anything else or allowing distractions. It is BORING, and I struggle with it so much. This is something I need to improve upon. There is no way I'll ever be satisfied with my meals if I inhale them in front of the TV or while reading or playing on my Ipad.
So, while I'm glad to be halfway through this cleanse, I think it's good that it has given me some insight into my feelings and ideas about food. It's also really nice to wake up less bloated, to be less gassy and fatigued, and to not feel guilty or disappointed in my food choices and their effects on my body. I think I'll even make some of the dishes from the cleanse regularly, which is funny since they didn't sound that appealing or satisfying to me before doing it. Tomorrow, I get to add avocado to my lunch, and I can't wait! I'd rather have that than meat any day, and I think it will be nice to have something different. I'm also hoping posting all this on my blog will be helpful in keeping me accountable while helping me remember how beneficial this has been should I need to do it again in the future.
Friday, May 24, 2013
The Cleanse
About a week ago, a good friend of mine sent me a Facebook message telling me that she'd seen a book that I might be interested in. It is about hormones, how they all tie together, and how to correct imbalances through diet and lifestyle. At first glance, I thought, "I already know about my hormones. They are screwed up. And I know that eating better would probably help me lose weight, which would help my hormone balance, but I'm tired of depriving myself and not seeing any results." But, as I gave it another look and checked out the Amazon reviews and Youtube videos, I realized that the author suffered from PCOS and reversed it by the approach she outlines in the book. She seemed to know a hell of a lot about hormones and how they work. So, I ordered it. This is it:
The author recommends a 4 day cleanse that is meant to help detox the liver and give it some rest, help with digestion, maintain balanced blood sugar over this period, and rid the body of excess estrogen. I was hesitant to try it, because I've realized that my eating and my thoughts about food have are somewhat disordered, and anytime I restrict anything, I spend the next months in cycles of semi-binging and restricting to make up for the binges. However, I told myself that I needed to go into this with a different mindset. I needed to look at it as a rest for my body. A reward for doing its best to keep up with all I throw at it. It's not deprivation. It's medicine. So, I went shopping for all the organic produce and the few other items I needed, prepped a few of the meals for the 4 days ahead of time, and the cleanse started yesterday morning. So far, I feel like I'm learning a lot during this time. Here are a few things I've noticed.
1. Now that I'm chewing my food 15-30 times per bite, I realize how fast I usually eat. It used to take me 1/3 of the time to eat double the amount of food. No wonder I often feel unsatisfied even if I really liked what I ate.
2. I tend to want to eat whether I'm hungry or not from about 2pm on. I realized that I'd probably not even been allowing myself to really get hungry.
3. Being hungry isn't going to kill me. It's unpleasant, but it does pass. In the past, I've either flipped out and inhaled food as soon as I could get it when I got to the point of real, stomach growling hunger, or if I was in a "restrictive" phase, I'd take that as a challenge and a sign that I was on the "right" path. I'm hoping this cleanse will help me get in touch with my body and teach me that hunger doesn't need to have so much power one way or the other.
4. Today with far fewer calories than I usually consume, I was able to do some pretty heavy cleaning, some pilates, and wash the dog without a nap. I think this tells me that what I normally eat is not fueling my body as efficiently, since I usually get worn out and often have to take naps. (Especially at this point in my LP.)
5. Although I'm not sure why, I have a very hard time eating in a quiet space and not doing anything else or allowing distractions. It is BORING, and I struggle with it so much. This is something I need to improve upon. There is no way I'll ever be satisfied with my meals if I inhale them in front of the TV or while reading or playing on my Ipad.
So, while I'm glad to be halfway through this cleanse, I think it's good that it has given me some insight into my feelings and ideas about food. It's also really nice to wake up less bloated, to be less gassy and fatigued, and to not feel guilty or disappointed in my food choices and their effects on my body. I think I'll even make some of the dishes from the cleanse regularly, which is funny since they didn't sound that appealing or satisfying to me before doing it. Tomorrow, I get to add avocado to my lunch, and I can't wait! I'd rather have that than meat any day, and I think it will be nice to have something different. I'm also hoping posting all this on my blog will be helpful in keeping me accountable while helping me remember how beneficial this has been should I need to do it again in the future.
The author recommends a 4 day cleanse that is meant to help detox the liver and give it some rest, help with digestion, maintain balanced blood sugar over this period, and rid the body of excess estrogen. I was hesitant to try it, because I've realized that my eating and my thoughts about food have are somewhat disordered, and anytime I restrict anything, I spend the next months in cycles of semi-binging and restricting to make up for the binges. However, I told myself that I needed to go into this with a different mindset. I needed to look at it as a rest for my body. A reward for doing its best to keep up with all I throw at it. It's not deprivation. It's medicine. So, I went shopping for all the organic produce and the few other items I needed, prepped a few of the meals for the 4 days ahead of time, and the cleanse started yesterday morning. So far, I feel like I'm learning a lot during this time. Here are a few things I've noticed.
1. Now that I'm chewing my food 15-30 times per bite, I realize how fast I usually eat. It used to take me 1/3 of the time to eat double the amount of food. No wonder I often feel unsatisfied even if I really liked what I ate.
2. I tend to want to eat whether I'm hungry or not from about 2pm on. I realized that I'd probably not even been allowing myself to really get hungry.
3. Being hungry isn't going to kill me. It's unpleasant, but it does pass. In the past, I've either flipped out and inhaled food as soon as I could get it when I got to the point of real, stomach growling hunger, or if I was in a "restrictive" phase, I'd take that as a challenge and a sign that I was on the "right" path. I'm hoping this cleanse will help me get in touch with my body and teach me that hunger doesn't need to have so much power one way or the other.
4. Today with far fewer calories than I usually consume, I was able to do some pretty heavy cleaning, some pilates, and wash the dog without a nap. I think this tells me that what I normally eat is not fueling my body as efficiently, since I usually get worn out and often have to take naps. (Especially at this point in my LP.)
5. Although I'm not sure why, I have a very hard time eating in a quiet space and not doing anything else or allowing distractions. It is BORING, and I struggle with it so much. This is something I need to improve upon. There is no way I'll ever be satisfied with my meals if I inhale them in front of the TV or while reading or playing on my Ipad.
So, while I'm glad to be halfway through this cleanse, I think it's good that it has given me some insight into my feelings and ideas about food. It's also really nice to wake up less bloated, to be less gassy and fatigued, and to not feel guilty or disappointed in my food choices and their effects on my body. I think I'll even make some of the dishes from the cleanse regularly, which is funny since they didn't sound that appealing or satisfying to me before doing it. Tomorrow, I get to add avocado to my lunch, and I can't wait! I'd rather have that than meat any day, and I think it will be nice to have something different. I'm also hoping posting all this on my blog will be helpful in keeping me accountable while helping me remember how beneficial this has been should I need to do it again in the future.
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Food is such a powerful thing! Amazing how crappy or wonderful it can make you feel. I agree with you that Food IS medicine! Sounds like you are feeling good from this cleanse. So is there no meat during the 4 days? Sounds like a very interesting read. Thanks for sharing Farra!
ReplyDeleteYou can eat fish on three of the days as part of lunch, but I only ate it the first day and found that I felt more satisfied with lentils when I tried them instead on the second day. I think I'm the only person on the planet who does not feel "full" from lean protein.
ReplyDeleteIt took me a long while to be full from lean protein. It only happened on Atkins after a few weeks of really getting the carbs out of my system and only then things likes eggs, fish, etc filled me up. I know this cleanse is hard, but I am so proud of you for giving it 110% and taking control of yourself. I know it's hard to do. *hugs*
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