Today marks the kick off of my 28 day wellness challenge. Inspired by a friend taking on the same task I decided to give it a go as well. It’s basically whole food cleanse to rid the body of toxins* but not the kind of cleanse where you practically starve yourself. Don’t get me wrong, I think it will still be a challenge, but the fridge is stocked with leafy greens, fruits, nuts, berries and I threw in a little patchouli and incense for good measure. When in Rome… The program is pretty well laid out on Martha’s Whole Living website with recipes and grocery lists for practical planning. I’m hoping to make it the whole 28 days, but we’ll see.
Wish me luck!
Wish me luck!
I also thought I’d let you in on our latest TV obsession that I kept hearing about all over the internet called DownTown Alley. DownTown Alley? Ooooh, that has a rather dangerous and edgy sound to it. Well, between the both of us, B and I misheard/misread the actual title, Downton Abbey, and unwittingly came up with this completely ridiculous (not to mention completely opposite!) title DownTown Alley…we’ve been laughing about it all weekend. Now I don’t think we’ll ever be able to call the show by it’s proper name. Either way we devoured season one this past weekend and can’t wait to start season 2. Are you a fan?
*Like my husband I’m not sure I fully believe all this toxin talk, but there seems to be plenty written about the benefits of avoiding sugar, dairy and gluten so I consider this my personal experiment with this type of diet. If you have any experience with this type of diet I’m all ears!
This blog post couldn't have come at a better time! I've been thinking of getting rid of the toxins in my body. I got diagnosed with hypothyroidism a couple of months ago and I've noticed that when I eat certain foods it affects me. I was never a health guru with the gluten free stuff,etc. I always ate healthy and excersised. But now I feel like I need to do certain things in my diet to help me. Now this blog post is another sign. Thanks for sharing and good luck these next 28 days.
I have nothing to add about toxins, but good luck! It can't hurt to experiment. As for Downton Abbey, LOVE IT!!! Season 2 is very different, as it takes place during WWI, but it's awesome too. I've already seen the whole thing.
Yeah, it's amazing how addictive Downton Abbey is. Brilliant. Season 2 is awesome too. If you're watching it on PBS, a few of the scenes are shortened slightly, including a Matthew and Mary scene (how dare they!) in the first hour, so I definitely recommend getting the unedited UK version DVDs when they come out. Sorry, I can't comment on eating healthy. Sigh. Love your blog, btw.
Good luck with the cleanse! It sounds way more reasonable than most of the detox/cleanse things I heard about. I'm going to have to try some of those recipes for sure, even if I can't do the whole diet.
I could write a book about the sugar, dairy, gluten free way of eating. Like Heather, it started out with me being diagnosed with hypothyroidism. I always eat healthy and exercise and I couldn't understand why I was gaining weight and feeling so badly. Even after I was finally at the right levels of medication, I still felt awful. My Naturopath (who works with an MD) told me we needed to start looking at my diet. She told me I had to do it for no less than three weeks. Reason? Week one, you feel yuck and cannot wait to eat sugar, dairy and gluten again. Week two, you start to feel better and it's not so bad, but you still cannot wait to eat the "good" stuff again. Week three, you feel really good and the "good" stuff doesn't sound so good anymore. I lost ten pounds, the joint pain I was having was gone and my stomach didn't hurt every evening anymore. I usually had gas in the evenings and now, it's gone! I have stuck to this way of eating for over a year and I feel great! I recently had all my lab tests done and was thrilled that my calcium and my bone density were normal. I always thought you NEEDED dairy. When I do have dairy, the gas comes back. When I eat sugar, I feel tired and run down. When I eat gluten, my face gets puffy, I gain two-three ponds overnight and my joints start hurting again. When I started doing research about gluten it was amazing what I found. One tidbit I'll give you is that Europe and Austraila will NOT import our wheat because it is so genetically modified! Makes us all wonder why? Good Luck! You WILL feel better!
I'm so excited to hear how your cleanse goes! I might have to give it a go also!
I totally thought it was Downtown Abbey also!!! I watched the couple episodes this weekend. Loving it!
I meant to say the FIRST couple episodes!
i purposely call it downtown abbey with a cockney accent. it sounds like 1960s london grit. and i simply love the show and costumes.
Thank you for sharing the detox plan!! I've been thinking for the past week or so that I need to make some huge changes in my eating to get huge changes in my body. So I'm starting detox tonight 🙂
I just think I may add in chicken for week 1. I can't see myself getting enough protein from nuts to cover the week, but we'll see how it goes. My achilles heel is the bread and sugars– I love me a little sweet bite at night, and this will effectively clean that up.
I can't wait to hear how yours goes. I may blog on mine. We'll see if I have the time to track it online.
I devoured the first season of Downton Abbey a few weeks ago!
You brave girl to do the cleanse! Can't wait to hear about it.
I just became obsessed with Downton Abbey before the new season started…Love it!!
woo hoo! Yummy yummy 🙂
mmmm… that smoothie looks good. I'm thirsty! good luck to ya~ I'll be good ol' calorie countin' this time around. Maybe I'll try the "detox" next!
SUCH a fan! It's so funny you had heard it as Down Town Alley because I wrote about the show on my blog and kept referencing it as DowntTown Abbey. While we were watching it my husbands like, "uhhh…I think it's DownTON Abbey.
Oh.
So good! I love it so very much.
Sounds interesting – I'll be interested to see how it goes for you! I've already been eating gluten free but I could use a good cleanse 🙂