Detox Diet Plan that Works!

I finally found a detox plan that works.  And a plan I’ve been able to stick to.

If you want to lose weight, ladies and gentlemen, just listen here.

Ever since I got to college, I’ve been trying to lose weight.  All through high school I was 110lbs, tiny, athletic, in shape – mostly due to all the sports I played.  Once college hit and I stopped the sports, the weight piled on.  I got huge for my little frame.  But it was so hard for me to lose weight because I never had to exercise or diet before.  I never had to watch what I ate.  I got up to 150 and was freaking out about how heavy I was.  I started to diet and lost about 10 lbs.  But I always gained it back.  I tired the atkins diet, weight watchers, I tried numerous exercises, went to the gym regularly but never got the results I wanted.  Then I got sick and dropped loads of weight.  I was down to 135 when I met Jared, and sick as a dog.

I slowly gained the weight back after that and by the time I got pregnant with Lyla I was at 165.  No matter what I did, exercise-wise or how healthy I ate, I never lost weight.  But I never went up in weight either.  I was always around 160. It was frustrating for me because I shouldn’t be this heavy.  I’m too short for all this extra weight.

Then comes pregnancy.  I loved being pregnant. I ate whatever I wanted whenever I wanted it.  By the time I got to the hospital to deliver I was tipping just over 200 lbs (and I can’t believe I am admitting to this!).  Granted most of that was water weight and when I got home after giving birth, I was already 25lbs lighter.  But I still had a long way to go.  I wasn’t really dieting but I wanted to lose the rest of the weight.  Finally I got some motivation after the holidays because we’re going on a family cruise in June.  I didn’t want to be a big, fat whale on the ship.  So I got myself in gear.  I started getting up at the crack of dawn to burn 500 calories on the treadmill daily.  I ate healthy, watched my calorie intake, and lessened my portions.  After 2 months, I lost 5 lbs.  Ugh!  It was so frustrating.  I was working so hard and not seeing any rewards as usual. 

A few weeks ago I came across this blog and the first thing I went to was “weight loss”.   There was this woman brave enough to post not only her weight but photos of her in her underwear.  And she explained how she lost so much weight in such a short time.  I thought about it, I read her post about 50 times and then decided I was doing it.  I had dinner with friends that night and the next day it was on.  I explained what I was doing to Jared, breaking my chef of a husband’s heart.  But I needed to do this for me.  I was sick of being overweight and I wanted to look better, feel better, and be fit for my daughter.  And I do want to have more kids but I didn’t care that I could lose weight and gain some back.

After 2 days of my plan, I lost a lb.  And every 2 days I started weighing myself and another lb gone.  I figured if I kept this up for the next 2 months before my cruise, I could potentially lose 30 lbs – which would be amazing.

It’s been 2 weeks and I’m down 6 lbs.  I had a little speed bump (aka Lyla’s birthday party) where I went a little off course, but picked myself right back up and am still losing.  And even though it’s only 6 lbs, I feel so good about myself.  I fit into all my post preggo pants, I’m swimming in most of my tops, and I can’t wait until my clothes fall off of me – and I can go shopping for smaller clothes!  So that’s 11 lbs total lost since the beginning of the year.  But I have a ways to go.  My goal is to get back in the 130s again by the summer and maybe even 120s by this fall.  If I keep up what I’m doing, I know I can reach my goal.

So what am I doing?  Clean eating.  I’m eating only foods that are natural to our body.  Basically I’m eating fruits, vegetables, lean meats (chicken, turkey, white fish).  I’m not eating any sugar (unless it’s natural from fruit), no carbs, no artificial flavorings, and no processed food.

The only things I’m allowing myself outside of this are olive oil and a touch of vinegar for dressing.  I also will have a small tsp of peanut butter every few days with my apple or just to eat.  I’m also allowing myself skim milk which is my lover and I could never go without – the only dairy I’m getting.

My daily intake looks like this:

Breakfast:  banana, hot tea just plain

Lunch:  salad with grilled chicken, tomatos, peppers, onions, whatever other veggies or fruits I want in it, with black pepper, olive oil and vinegar

Dinner:  Jared’s famous roasted veggies (see recipe below), fish or chicken.

For snacks and in between meals I’ve been having fruit, fruit, and more fruit.  I bought a huge bag of clementines and eat at least 5 a day.  I have a plum at night or mixed berry salad.

And water, water, and more water – which I always do anyways.

Lucky for me, if I like something I can eat it every day.  I like variety but am just as happy having the same salad daily since it tastes so good. 

It’s not easy, especially with my house filled up with leftover cake, candy, and junk.  And even more so since I’m feeding Lyla the same as usual.  She doesn’t need a clean diet just yet!  But it does break my heart that every day she can have cheerios and I can’t! 

This is a temporary way of eating for me until I get back to my goal weight.  I know I can keep at my goal weight once I get there.  I will introduce other foods slowly but have accepted that I need to eat healthy for the rest of my life.  If I want to cheat and have a snickers bar or cookie, that’s okay.  But I need to get on my treadmill and burn the calories that day.  So this will be my plan.

As for exercising, I was doing the treadmill daily.  Now I’m trying to go it at least every other day and burn a minimum of 500 calories with each work out.  I’m also going for walks with Lyla during the day.

So there it is.  The detox plan that does work.  But if you think about it, it’s natural.  We all should be eating like this to begin with.  All the prepackaged food we can get every day is easy.  But it’s also so unhealthy for us.  So why grab an easy lunch of something not fresh when you can have something fresh and natural that will make you feel better and probably tastes better?

But don’t get me wrong..if I want to go have a sloppy burger once I get to my goal weight, I will.  Life is no fun if you can’t have the good stuff every once in a while.  It’s all about control. 

I can do it.

I’ll keep you all posted on my progress and will post photos when I’m done. 

Jared’s famous roasted veggies recipe (updated - can't believe I forgot the onion and garlic!)

You can use any veggies you want really for this but this is my favorite combination.  We usually add potatos (regular and/or sweet) but with my eating I’m keeping away from those for now)

Take your fresh veggies:

Brussel sprouts – bottoms cut off and cut a criss-cross in the base

Parsnips – the more the better – yum!! – peel and cut in to small sticks

Carrots – peel and cut into small sticks

Green beans – cut off ends

Broccoli and or Cauliflower - cut
Onion - cubed

When your veggies are ready, put them all in a bowl.  Add crushed garlic, fresh rosemary, ground pepper, and olive oil.  If you’re not dieting, Jared adds a dash of honey too!

Mix the veggies up then add to a baking pan.  We use our toaster oven and line the small pan with foil for just the two of us. But you can also use the big oven and line a big pan with foil too – easier cleanup!

Put the veggies in at 400 degrees for an hour or so.  I usually cook until my parsnips are crispy and brussels are soft.  You can lower the temp if you don’t want them crispy.

The aroma will smell up your whole house and the veggies are to die for.  They all taste amazingly delicious.  This is the best way to eat veggies really; especially parsnips which are my all time favorite.  And they are so healthy!  I’ve pretty much had these almost every day the last few weeks and I’m losing weight.