Healthy for 4 days

Every year for Thanksgiving, I take a trip to Northern California, where most of my family has migrated. Though the real purpose of the trip is for all of us to hang out, which is an unfortunate rarity in our adult lives, the majority of our activities are scheduled around meals. Basically what this does is turn me into a “social eater,” and I wind up stuffing myself a few times a day, even if I’m not hungry. In my family’s defense, most of them are either vegetarian, vegan, or eating “raw” most of the time, but too much food is still too much food.  After finishing a desert sampler platter of pumpkin pie, pecan pie, pumpkin cheesecake, and cranberry crisp, my wife and I decided it was time to cleanse our bodies.

After taking an awful redeye flight Saturday night, and using Sunday to get re-adjusted to Eastern Standard Time, we decided that Monday would be Day 1. Our cleanse would consist of nothing but fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. We would cut out all meat, salt, sugar, coffee, dairy, alcohol, etc, in hopes of ridding our bodies of all things unnatural, and maybe shedding a few pounds.  Since we were expecting out of town guests for the following weekend, we decided on a 5 day cleanse and went at it.

Details:

For breakfast every morning we ate oatmeal, sweetened with a little cinnamon.  It was a departure from our normal “healthy cereal with non-fat, lactose free or soy milk,” and proved to be an easy transition.  Still not sure if there was any real advantage to the switch, but we wanted to do no dairy, so that’s what we did.

For lunch we both had salad with Annie’s Goddess Dressing.  This is basically the most delicious dressing ever made, and has what doctors refer to as “good fat,” with lots of flavor.  I love salad as  much or more than the next man, but by day 4 the mere thought of it made me want eat rat poison.

For snacks, we would eat different organic fruits provided by our local grocery store.  This was no problem, and we managed to stay full all day.

For dinner….well, here was the problem.  Because we didn’t actually map out a plan for dinners, we wound up eating very bland and boring stuff.  One day was couscous with steamed vegetables, the next day quinoa with steamed vegetables, the next day was brown rice and sweet potatoes.  On Wednesday morning I weighed myself like I did on the first Monday, and I had lost 7 lbs in 48 hours.  I felt like there was a purpose to all of this, and then came Thursday night.

As we pondered what to eat for dinner, we discussed how we had both enjoyed the initial weight loss (my 7 her 2) and that was inspiring.  But as we dreamed of the food we had been all but ignoring, that we would inevitably be sampling both Friday and Saturday nights, our eyes got bigger.  As I considered ordering some of my “normal food” I got excited, almost hyperactive.  It was as if I just found out that I had won the mega millions.  So at that point, the “mini-cleanse” was over, and we ordered wonderfully gluttonous burritos.

Looking Back:

I could stand to lose a few lbs, I mean who couldn’t?  I liked the fact that I dropped 7 lbs in 2 days, but I’m sure most if not all of the weight was water weight.  I definitely felt more rested through out the cleanse.  I slept very well every night, and almost never woke up.  In addition, I felt great all day without any coffee, which I normally only indulge in once or twice a week.  Also, my digestive system thanked me for what I was and was not eating and that too was a big plus.

So was it worth it?

All of these things I just mentioned were great, and I was glad I did it.  Does this mean a lifestyle change, HELL NO.  What I learned was that, I do not like to deny myself of one of my greatest pleasures: eating the food I love.  I’ve managed to get my regular eating routine to a point where it’s not that bad.  I grew up in a house that got increasingly healthier as time went on, so I’m not the guy that eats McDonald’s 2 or 3 times a day.  In fact, I never eat McDonald’s.  My breakfasts are pretty healthy, my lunches are usually turkey on whole wheat, with mustard, and normally we make fish, turkey burgers, pasta with red sauce or boneless chicken breast at home.  Even if we make our own hamburgers, we are able to control the amount of oil we use, and choose olive oil or Pam over Wesson.  But like most others, we do indulge from time to time, and eat out, drink alcohol, or order hamburgers from the local Irish Pub.

As I’ve gotten older, eating has become increasingly pleasurable.  As kids and young adults, we eat to get full, and often times eat what’s quick and cheap.  As adults the healthier you eat, the more it costs.  During our “cleanse” we spent an average of $40 a day on dinner, aside from the groceries that we had at home.  The salads I got were $8-$10, and the organic fruit was $3 or $4 every time I wanted a snack.  That’s a lot of money, and far more than we spend on a normal day.  I applaud all of you that spend a majority of your income on making sure to stick to a healthy regiment, but that’s not for me.  There is nothing I love more then a juicy steak, a slice of pizza, or a frozen candy bar, but these are not things I eat on a regular basis.  However, the fact that I can eat any of these, whenever I want to is enough.  Once I decide I can’t have them just for the sake of sticking to “a plan,” it becomes a problem, and the stress outweights the benefits.  So the point is, I applaud all that eat extremely healthy and deny yourselves all pleasurable foods, but this is not a life that I choose to lead.  To deny yourselfs the right to eat these foods are morally wrong in my opinion (unless it is a health issue of course). Let us all eat, drink, and be merry, but hopefully be able to balance our diets so that we don’t turn in to fattys.