3 Days . . . of Detox

I am - generally - a Quite Healthy Eater.  I stick to a near-vegetarian diet.  I pay attention to portion size.  I try to build in plenty of fruits and veggies.  And not eat too much sugar.  

Most of the time.

Except for when I don't.

Like . . . over the holidays.  When I start baking cookies.  And stocking up on candy for gingerbread houses.  And hosting parties.  And having my kids back in the house.  And eggnog.  Let's just say . . . once the floodgates of sugar and butter open up?  Well.  I'm All In!

And once you start down the path of butter and sugar and chocolate and cream, well . . . it's hard to turn back.  (At least, it is for me.)  By the time I headed to California with Erin (home of In-and-Out-Burger and some of the best microbrews in the land), I was really feeling the need for a diet-reset!

So when I saw this article in the most recent issue of Cooking Light magazine, I decided I to try the 3-Day Detox.

I've never done any kind of "cleanse" or detox before.  I don't like feeling hungry, and I really don't like green-juice smoothies.  But reading through the recipes in the Cooking Light detox, I thought . . . I could do this!  It looked like a tasty and interesting way to re-set my eating and get out of my sugar-and-butter addiction -- so I could head into the new year with renewed commitment to healthy eating.  And Tom (also tiring of too much sugar) decided to join me.

We launched the 3-Day Detox on Monday this week.

(The premise behind the detox is to add fruit, veggies, and fiber to your diet.)

I am very happy to report . . . this was a simple, effective, tasty detox!  The recipes were really good -- as in . . . some of them will make it into our regular recipe rotation going forward.  We never felt hungry or lacking in any way.  And - best of all - I have a renewed commitment to healthy eating.

And that's what it's all about.

If you're thinking about making a diet reset, this might be the thing for you to try!  My suggestions if you try the Cooking Light 3-Day Detox:

• Plan ahead.  Do your shopping (there's a handy shopping list included in the detox plan) ahead of time, and definitely do the advance prep ahead of time.  (I didn't.  It was a lot of cooking on Monday morning.  If I'd had the time on Sunday night, I would've done it.  But I didn't.)
• The Cooking Light detox plan is worked out for ONE person.  Pay attention to that -- and double the recipes to get servings for two (if you'll be double-detoxing).
• The breakfasts were hardest for us -- and especially for me.  We tend to eat quick-and-light breakfasts before heading to the gym in the mornings -- so we don't like complicated menus.  Plus . . . I don't like breakfast -- and especially if it includes meat and vegetables.  So we played it kind of fast-and-loose here.   (I loved the smoothie recipe, and we used the sweet potato hash as a lunch menu.)

This was a simple, satisfying way to ease back into a healthy eating habit.  The meals were easy to put together -- and really tasty.  Tom was pleasantly surprised and never felt like he was deprived in any way.  In fact, he often remarked that he couldn't believe he was eating "healthy meals."

3 days.

We hit re-set . . . and we're detoxed.

Ready for healthy eating in 2018!

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Be sure to join Carole for more Three on Thursday posts today!

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Bonny]

Dinner tonight was going to be sherried tomato soup and grilled cheese, but I think you've changed my mind with lemon chicken citrus bowls!

[Bridget]

Good for you! It's always nice to try something like this and have it be a success.

[Vicki]

This is great. While I am continuing with Weight Watchers (and it is amazing how frequently my "diet/healthy" recipes get RAVES), I fell HARD off the WW wagon over the past couple of months and have struggled to get back on. I need to SLOW down and FOCUS... and I think I might try this!! Thanks for sharing it.

[Patty]

I've been on a bit of a "reset" myself. The person I live with couldn't handle this unfortunately (grimace with love still there) but congratulations to you and Tom! Good stuff!

[Juliann]

Years ago, there was a magazine- Whole Living. They had a January jumpstart that I have used many times and it is similar kind of reset. It’s pretty amazing how quickly I can fall down that sugar coated rabbit hole. Thanks from the reference

[AsKatKnits]

Hmmm, this is a great idea. And, thanks for the link!

[Debbie]

This sounds like a great idea, thanks for sharing!

[Carole]

Thanks for the idea and the tips. I'm not sure how well this will fit in with our current high interest in making our own cheese, though! hahahaha

[Kym]

🤣🤣🤣
The hardest thing for me in “healthy eating” is the lack of cheese...
XO.
Kym

Sent from my iPhone

[Vera]

Congratulations on the re-set! I clicked the link and some of those recipes look amazingly delicious! Thanks for sharing.

[Jo]

Kudos to you and Tom. If my husband heard the word diet or detox or reset he’d be fleeing into the sunset (or sunrise).

[Cheryl S.]

Thank you for posting that! I've been trying to find some healthy diet/menu plans that will work for us, since DH doesn't eat meat. This will work out great, because I can just cook some fish or shrimp for him in place of the chicken, and the rest is all stuff he will eat.

This one is so much better than the ones I was finding. My dream menu plan:

1. Gives calorie counts (some don't, even when touted for weight loss!)

2. Averages 1500 calories per day (it's easy to add more if needed, but hard to figure out how to cut back ones for 2000 calories)

3. Recipes are appropriately sized (some plans had recipes varying from 1 portion to 10!)

4. Doesn't waste food (many use small amounts of something you have to buy in a package, with the remainder never to be seen again in the meal plan)

5. Makes smart use of leftovers (I like an easy lunch incorporating leftovers from previous day)

6. Gives a shopping list (that's really rare)

And for us specifically,

7. Vegetarian or Pescetarian

This Cooking Light one checks off all the boxes except the last, but that's easy for me to work with.

[Geri]

Hmmm. This isn't doable for me. Hubby not so much. I love a large variety of veggies, quinoa, lentils, all that good stuff. I agree some of the breakfasts wouldn't work for me so well. I'm such a creature of habit when it comes to how I start my mornings!

[Honore´]

This comes just in time... needing to broaden our menu repertoire now that N has been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes...he's doing really well but is beginning to feel a need to broaden his menu selections...and my imagination!
Thanks!
Cheers~

[margene]

I read this in the latest CL and marked several of the recipes as they're just my thing. I LOVE hard boiled eggs (and eat one almost every day), but then, I love breakfast. I'm not sure Smith would go for this diet, it works perfectly for me at least for breakfast and lunch.

[Mary]

Thanks for the heads up, Kym - these recipes look really good!

[Amy]

Sounds like a great 3 day reset! I'm in the midst of my January 3x10 reset (aka another round of the Whole30). It's amazing how quickly these detox/resets can show the impacts of all the excess of the things we know we should be staying away from.