Three Week Detox Update

I swear, it sounds like I'm in rehab or something...

Okay, so three weeks down and how am I feeling?

Freakin' fantastic.  No joke.  I slept for 7 hours straight last night.  SEVEN.  Let's see, Saturday was my son's birthday so it's been, um about 10+ years....

Last week was my "special" week so while my face isn't entirely clear, compared to more recent past "special" weeks, it's quite nice.  And no cramps.  And, well, without getting too detailed, let's just say it was normal.  Which hasn't been the case since I turned 40.  Enough on that.

I also lost 3 pounds last week.

That has NEVER happened.  I always gain 2-5 pounds that magically disappear.

So, in total, I'm down about 11 pounds.  In three weeks.  That's what I lost in the 6 months before joining Weight Watchers and the 6 months I was in Weight Watchers.  I gained 5 doing Crossfit this summer (but didn't change my size).  

And did I mention I'm about a size and half smaller than I was the last time was at this weight?

I had a friend a few years back who weighed the same that I did (it was before I had my daughter- so about 8 years ago).  She was in a 6.  I was in a 14.  I was stunned.  I can squeeze back into 14's (it's not pretty) but I'm 25 pounds heavier.

Screw the scale.

I put on a t-shirt that I'm wearing in my cover photo on Facebook.  The sleeves that were tight in the picture are now loose-- well, they are normal.  That was 2 months ago.  I wore a skirt Thursday that was almost falling off. I joked with my parents that I kinda hoped it would- an embarrassing story with great bragging rights!

I'm looking at my summer clothes that will go into storage in a few weeks and thinking maybe I should just donate them?

In the book it mentions not cheating during the 30 days.  After that, it's not restrictive whatsoever.  For celebrations, they encourage you to partake.  Since I'm already sold on the lifestyle (did I mention how soft my skin is in the past 10 minutes??!?!), I thought why not try a little piece of cake with 1 scoop of ice cream?  It was my son's birthday.  It was a small piece and a small scoop.  Next week, I was going to "test" it for a day, why not this week?

I almost puked.

No kidding.

It hit my stomach like a rock.  And let's just say, it has not been nice to be around me today, I'm a tad... um... flatulent.

Looks like dairy is out for me for the long run. To be honest, I already knew this before I started.  I just didn't realize how bad it was making me feel until I took it out.

Goodbye ice cream!  You would think I would be sad, but considering how bad one little scoop made me feel, I'm fine with it.  I'm still bloated 24 hours later.

So, to recap, I have increased my caloric content and reduced my workout time and my supposed calories burned.  I switched from a cardio focused workout to a weight lifting/cardio burst interval workout.  I feel energetic.  I am more alert.  I am sleeping more soundly.  My skin is changing.  I'm not hungry late at night.  And I have lost 11 pounds.

I'm not sure if this will get all my weight off, but I have to say, getting my hormones working normally and building muscle-- I'm not sure how it won't? I should end up at my natural weight within 6 months, based on everything I've read.  The weight loss will slow, without a doubt.  I will get bored with eating clean, I'm sure.   After years of measuring, weighing, tracking, aerobicizing, spinning, etc, etc, this feels like the Rosetta Stone for me.  Whatever was going on with my body, this has definitely started to correct it.

It won't be easy.  It's not like I'm not working at it.  I sweat at the gym (i just accidentally typed "swear"- that, too!).  Except for the cake and ice cream, I've stuck with it.

And it is working for me.  It might not work for you.  Your blood sugar may be completely fine.  Mine was still testing normal-- for the average pool of Americans, but not for me- it had crept up over the years.  You may be fine with dairy.  I very clearly, am not.  I'm interested to see what happens when I try to eat grains- I have a feeling I'll be fine, but who knows? Maybe not.  I certainly didn't expect such an immediate reaction to dairy after less than 3 weeks of not having any.  And it was a BIG reaction.  I certainly had a headache and nausea when I cut out grains- maybe it is an issue?

This is my experiment on me.  I'm not a doctor in the least.  I simply know that traditional diets didn't work and were demoralizing ("Well you MUST be doing something wrong...."  or "Sure, you track what you eat....").  I'm a smart girl.  I kept looking.  I knew there were no more calories to cut from my diet ("just eat 200 calories less a day"--- sure, and then what?)  I had no idea I would have this type of result so quickly.  

All I can say is you would have to feel like I do to understand why it is not hard to stick with this.  It's the best I've felt in 15 years.

Three weeks ago I would have told you this was about the scale.

It's truly not any more.  I realize that my obesity was a symptom, not the disease.  I am so grateful that I had friends that shared this with me.

But you can't wing it.  You can't sorta try it.  You have to read the book and do it if you want the results.

And I have no clue if it will work for you.  I've had a lot of emails about this.  I'm not an expert.  Get the book. If it makes sense to you, give it a try.  If you don't exercise and eat fast food 5-6 times a week, this probably is going to be too much.  If you've seriously tried everything, this might be it.  Or not.

Read the book.  Check out the website.  If you've got 30 days, try it. 

Whole 9- "It Starts With Food"

I'll give a final wrap up next week and then you keep posted from time to time on how I'm doing!  I also have another blog that focuses on weight loss which I have a link to on this site.

Thank you to everyone for your support!!!