A Much Overdue Detox

What a wonderful holiday! It is my one holiday where my husband's family and my family celebrate at our house. We make the usual deep-fried turkey brined by Dad and then a couple of roasted turkey breasts. Everyone brings the amazing assortment of sides and then we follow that with pies, apple crisp and bread pudding.

Mom sleeps over so that we can marathon shop on Friday. We woke up and did the Kempro P90x followed by Ad Ripper. As the instructor, Tony, is saying "I'm 45 going on 46" my mom is yelling out "Yeah, well I'm 62 going on 63!" She is awesome! We then joined the "crazies
Saturday I got myself ready to go for a 12 mile run with little expectations since it was cold and windy, but ended up being a great run with good mile splits. I think I have figured out that I can't stop and take a mid-walk at mile 5 - just need to keep running. Had some good beer and quality time with my friend Tanya on Saturday night.

At Amy's bridal shower on Sunday, after a couple glasses of prosecco, I decided that I needed a much overdue detox. Even though the scale says an extra 4-5 lbs since the half - it feels like 10...As they say misery loves company so I recruited Erica, Michelle, Christine and Tanya to join in the fun for the week.
We decided we should do a Tuesday start so we could food shop. To make this more motivating for myself, I decided to post recipes from each day of the detox. I will preface this with the fact that Sat may have a little cheating since there is a holiday party...This is very hard to do over the holiday season, but something is better than nothing. My liver was asking for a little break. I do actually get excited about a challenge and it really makes me feel good and less bloated as I do today.

So here is the basics of my detox....
It is a meat-free, alcohol and caffeine-free, somewhat dairy-free, and gluten-free diet for a week or for me 8 days since I will be taking a partial cheat day on Saturday.

1. No caffeine or alcohol - the caffeine ironically is the hardest and I do my best but sometimes I need a green tea to get me through
2. Veggies - any kind - sweet potatoes (not white potatoes)
3. Fruit (not melons or grapes - too high in sugar)
4. Beans - all kinds...
5. Nuts and seeds but in moderation (NO Peanuts)
6. Rice and Rice products
7. Tofu/Soy products (you can do soy cheese, faux meat)
8. Corn and corn products (cornmeal and polenta)
9. Millet
10. Quinoa
11. Buckwheat (just make sure wheat free)
12. Rice milk, soy milk
13. Herbs/spices
14. Egg Whites
15. Greek yogurt fat free - my only dairy - more for the probiotic effect.
16. Limit - olive oil
17. Vinegar, hot sauce, tamari, soy sauce,
18. Agave, honey or stevia for sweetner
19. Avoid Oranges/Orange Juice if you get migraines or headaches

And so it begins, I am going to start creating my menu for the week later on.

I guess I have to finish that half opened bottle of red tonight....and maybe a three course meat dinner...just kidding...or not...