What happens when you take a pre-teen, a teenager, and their 50+ parents off of the diet they have known and loved their whole life? I’m sure you’re familiar with it. The SAD diet (Standard American Diet). Better than that, the Texas SAD diet. Plenty of carbs and sugar for breakfast: donuts, waffles, cereal. Lunches and suppers filled lots of hamburgers, chili, fried chicken and bologna sandwiches. Snacks throughout the day that includes ice cream, chips, cookies. And don’t forget the cokes, sweet tea and coffee.
We quit it all. Just like that. My plan was to follow Dr Hyman’s 10 Day Detox. I stumbled across his book when my sister shared a link to it with me. I guess that’s not really stumbling across it. She was hoping that his plan would help me with my exzema.
Dr. Hyman’s plan isn’t as drastic as some I had come across. We aren’t starving. We aren’t malnourished. We aren’t spending all day in the bathroom. What we are doing is cutting out all caffeine, sugar, carbohydrates and dairy. That leaves fruits, vegetables, lean meats and eggs.
Last Tuesday, after a trip to Sprouts, Sams and HEB for some super healthy food, I had the boys help me take everything out of the fridge, the freezer and the pantry that didn’t follow the plan. Everything. The chips, the cereals, the crackers, the cokes, the ice cream, the cheese, the salad dressings, the butter, the margarine. Everything. They were a little reluctant but interested in what was about to happen. Their dad? Well, let’s just say he was hoping I wouldn’t go through with it.
While I would have liked to, I didn’t throw it all away. I knew that would incite a rebellion before we even got started. All of it went to the fridge and freezer in the garage. I think that’s what is keeping the guys motivated. They are counting down the days until they can start eating what’s out in the garage.
Well, tonight marks the half way point. We, all of us, have successfully followed the plan.
The boys? They don’t love it but they don’t hate it either. They are learning to enjoy foods like grapes and strawberries that they used to pass up for chips and cookies. They are learning to drink water…only…all the time. They are finding out that veges are really delicious and that salmon is an acceptable protein. Eggs are becoming a favorite morning meal although they weren’t too crazy about the detox smoothies I was making.
Danny and I? It’s a little tougher for us. We’ve been on this SAD diet for over 50 years. I have to admit that I’m finding it easier than Danny. One reason is because it was my idea. I had read the book. I wanted to do it so I’m obviously more motivated. I have had some discomfort. I had a pretty serious headache one night and all the next day as well as some muscle aches. The guys would probably tell you I’m kind of grouchy but I’m sticking with it. Danny has found it more difficult but I’m very proud of him. He has always been a coffee drinker…always…and has had some issues going caffeine/sugar free cold turkey but he’s stuck with it. He’s had some pretty difficult detox symptoms: muscle aches, feeling very tired, and a little bit cranky. The second day was very hard but he didn’t quit. He would really rather have a hamburger and fries than chicken and asparagus but he’s making the best of it. He would love to have a cup of coffee but he has not had one in five days.
Even though it has been challenging, there are some things I am loving about the detox. The detox bath is definitely a winner. A warm bath in Epsom salts, baking soda and lavender every night. I have learned to use some things like flax seed and chia seed. I love the fact that for the past 5 days everything that has gone into all of our mouths has been good for us. My exzema is improving. I’ve lost a few pounds. I haven’t checked but I would like to think that my blood sugar has improved.
What will happen after the 10 days are over? I’m not sure. I would love to continue to eat this way, maybe adding some dairy and tea back into the diet. The guys, both the boys and their dad, are counting the days. They are already talking about what they are going to eat Saturday. They are looking forward to going back to the way things were. We’ll see how it goes but for now we are enjoying learning to eat the real food that God gave us.
Good for you! I’ve always been a label reader (my family says I do dramatic label and recipe readings) but then I started following some people who explained what some of the ingredients really are…even some of the ones I can pronounce and that sound harmless. This knowledge has helped me put a lot of things back on the shelf that I used to buy all the time! We try to stay away from processed foods but do cave in more often than we should. But I know we eat way less sugar and grains than we used to and eat more healthful fats. I get Dr. Hyman’s emails. Hope you can continue with the diet so you have a better chance of living a long life unhampered by disease to enjoy seeing all those beautiful grandbabies grow up! I did two different detoxes last year and felt so much better! I have another one to do (hopefully starting in Feb) that I hope will help me stay motivated to finally completely ditch bad things I still crave!
Good for you! It is hard to give up foods you’ve loved all your life, but the results will be worth it.
You go!! I should give it a try!
Awesome! It’s so hard with kids. Matt and I eat fairly healthy all the time. But Reese is a different story. And it’s my fault! Gotta get better at that.
That’s wonderful. I hope you find a way to continue to make a healthy diet work for you. This diet sounds very much like the diet we eat. :D