Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Nineteen

Good evening, folks! :)

I could NOT for the life of me sleep last night. I don't know what the problem was. Super frustrating!

At least I still had energy this morning - even without coffee. My delicious breakfast might have helped:


Egg whites, spinach, onion, and goat cheese... and yeast-free spelt bread with dairy-free margarine.

Lunch and snacks:


Lentil pilaf from Day 1 making a reappearance (I had a couple of servings left in my freezer), carrot sticks and Mary's Crackers with hummus, and plain yogurt with a banana.

After school, I forced myself to go to the gym. But first, I needed a quick snack.


Toast with almond butter and honey! Mmm, I'm addicted.

Then I went to BodyPump. I've only been once before, but I really like it. And I definitely had Jell-O legs after... I could barely make it down the stairs to the locker room. That's a good sign, right?!

I was so ready for dinner when I got home. Leftover chicken tikka and some avocado on mixed greens. Mmmmm.


The end of the detox is fast approaching... just two more days. I am very excited to eat things like fruit and wheat again (and, not going to lie, I've already bought some White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter to make some delicious oatmeal on Thursday).

I'm also nervous. I'm worried I'll have my first non-Joshi item, and a switch will flip and I'll turn into some kind of sugar monster. (Which just goes to show how much I trust myself when it comes to eating!) What if I go crazy and gorge on all the yummy things I couldn't eat during the detox?

Okay, I don't really think that will happen. I think that I'll find things like apples and skim milk lattes huge treats after Joshi. But I am visiting friends in Ottawa over this coming weekend, which makes me slightly nervous (although they read this blog and have permission to hold me accountable for tracking!). I just have to remember that being out of town doesn't mean I can't eat like I do at home! And I'll make sure to pack plenty of healthy bus snacks.

I'm trying to think of ways to incorporate aspects of this detox into my everyday life. I'm thinking I might detox (maybe with some modifications) one week every few months? And keep up the tracking, of course... any other ideas?

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Eighteen

Day Eighteen! Just three more days, baby! It's in the bag. ;)

After last night's party, I slept in this morning... and skipped Zumba. Whoops!

Breakfast was not rice puffs, but millet puffs! With soy milk.


They were okay, but I much prefer rice puffs. The millet puffs were just too small for my liking...

Morning snack of plain yogurt with a banana and honey... and blueberry green tea:


I had a breakfasty kind of lunch. Egg whites with spinach and onion.... and goat cheese again. Soooo good.


I spent my afternoon cleaning. I did a lot of organizing/tidying, vacuuming, and dusting. I'm not an extremely tidy person by nature, but it felt really good to get some of that stuff out of the way.

Afternoon snack! Mary's Crackers and hummus (didn't have the energy to cut up carrot sticks amidst all my cleaning...)


I kept dinner simple too. All microwaved leftovers: chicken tikka, veggies from the Big Carrot deli picked up after my Weight Watchers meeting yesterday, and brown rice.


Delicious! Now I'm watching The Oscars and doing some schoolwork. I foresee a nighttime snack of homemade yeast-free spelt bread with almond butter and honey later...

Good night all!

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Seventeen

Yesterday morning, I pried myself out of my nice, warm bed and faced the cold to get to my Weight Watchers meeting.

Even though I had been down at home on Thursday morning, and I've been following this detox, I had a bad feeling. I just knew that it wasn't going to be a great weigh-in... and I was right.

I was up 0.4 lbs to 202.2! Sigh!!

I was very frustrated at first, and my immediate reaction was to just give up and buy a tub of ice cream or something, since the detox clearly wasn't working. But of course, that wouldn't be very productive.

I reminded myself that no matter what the scale said, I had tracked for two weeks in a row (a feat in and of itself), I worked out 4 times last week (more than usual for me lately), and that's what matters.

Now, in some ways, I feel I've been "abusing" the detox. For example, I'm allowed to have things like rice crackers, almond butter, and honey, but they probably shouldn't be staples (like they have been for me... and honestly, may continue to be). Also, I didn't get much sleep Thursday and Friday, and that always hurts my weigh-ins. Lastly, I could definitely be drinking more water.

So I'll continue on, of course, and I'm confident it will all show up on the scale next week. :)

After returning from my meeting, I made myself a yummy breakfast. Egg whites with onions, spinach and... goat cheese! Yum. I was out of bread so I needed something to make it exciting. ;)

Along with some tea.

Snack of probiotic yogurt with a sliced up banana and honey:


I decided to run out to the grocery store before making my lunch, so I had another snack to hold me over - a rice cake with almond butter.


I decided to make myself really yummy, satisfying meals because I had a party to attend at night, which would be rife with delicious food and alcohol. So, for lunch, I had some delicious veggies from the Big Carrot deli, and I tried sole again.


This time I baked it with some dill and lemon juice. Not bad!

Afternoon snack of rice puffs and soy milk:


For dinner, I made Chicken Tikka again, along with sweet potato fries and some microwaved vegetables. Yum!


Then it was time to get ready for the party!


I'm pleased to say that the party was a total success, detox-wise (and fun-wise!). I drank a lot of water, ate a lot of veggies with hummus and guacamole, and avoided the alcohol/chips/chocolate-covered peanuts. Now, the guacamole had tomato (a Joshi no-no) in it, but I dipped around the tomato (and if I accidentally got a bite of one, I don't think that's a huge disaster). Also, I had some deviled eggs because I figured they were pretty safe. Joshi allows you to eat homemade mayonnaise on the detox so... I just went with it. And they were delicious!

Now, I'm off to try and clean my apartment a bit. I'll be back tonight with Day Eighteen!

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Sixteen

I can barely keep my eyes open while I write this post, so I'll keep it to the point!

Breakfast:


Egg whites with spinach and onion, spelt bread with dairy-free margarine.

At-work snack:


Probiotic yogurt with a banana (I didn't end up eating the sunflower seeds).

Lunch:


The last of the leftover Chickpea Curry! Yum.

This afternoon, I headed to the gym to get an assessment. Before Christmas, I won a session with a personal trainer (which I don't think I ever mentioned on the blog... because I wasn't blogging much at the time). I couldn't afford to buy more sessions, but I've been going back about once a month to meet with the trainer to measure my progress and discuss my workouts (which is free!). It's been great.

Today, my resting heart rate was lower than it's been in the past. In fact, the first time I met with the trainer, it was in the "below average" range, and now, it's in the "excellent" range for my age group!

It's really exciting to find out that something so directly related to my health has improved. I wonder how much is because of the exercise I've been getting, and how much is from the lack of coffee!!

I also held a plank for 1 minute 50 seconds, which is an improvement for me as well! But then she corrected my form slightly and I collapsed after about 10 seconds. Grrr.

As soon as I got home I devoured this bowl of rice puffs and soy milk.


... and then maybe another one.

Then I dozed off on the couch! I roused myself just long enough to get into bed for a proper nap. Last night I hardly slept at all, and it finally hit me. I slept for about an hour and a half, then forced my groggy self out of bed to have some dins. I ended up with kind of a hodge-podge:



Leftover sesame vegetables from yesterday, the last of the roast chicken I bought a few days ago, and some crackers with hummus. It did the trick!

My weigh-in is tomorrow morning, so I will try to keep myself from snacking on crackers & hummus all night... not enough sleep always puts me in a snacking mood.

Tomorrow night I'm attending a party. I really really wish I could drink, but I can't wreck the detox so close to the end! I've warned my friends that I can't drink, and I also volunteered to bring veggies & hummus. I will report back to you sharing tales of my steely willpower, I'm sure! Probably not until Sunday though. ;)

Happy Friday, everyone!

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Fifteen

Down another 2.8 lbs from last Thursday! (On my home scale, that is.) That makes 8.8 pounds total since beginning the detox.

I'm actually looking forward to my weigh-in on Saturday! That's a nice change. :)

I started my day with some hot water and lemon.


For breakfast, I tried something new (well, something I've only tried once before): quinoa flakes!

I used soy milk instead of water. (You cook them just like oatmeal.) I didn't love them, so I added some almond butter and honey... still didn't love it. Oh well!

Then I headed out because I needed a blood test... ugh. It wasn't that bad though, and I'm glad it's over with!

I tried something new for lunch, too. I cooked sole for the first time ever! I very rarely cook fish, and when I do it's usually salmon.


I baked the sole in foil with some Bragg's (gluten-free, preservative-free soy sauce replacement) and sesame oil sprinkled on. I also stir fried some veggies with garlic, ginger, Bragg's, sesame oil, and sesame seeds and had some leftover baked brown rice. Pretty solid lunch!

Tried a new detox snack: honey on a plain rice cake (with pomegranate green tea). Not bad!


Later, I had some sesame rice crackers with hummus.

I liked these rice crackers a little too much. I went a bit over board... to the tune of 9 Points Plus values... and then some! Yikes.

In continuing with the carbs/rice theme, I made some brown rice penne for dinner. In an attempt to be somewhat balanced, I also heated some leftover chicken from the whole roast chicken I bought from the Big Carrot the other day, and I steamed some frozen veggies.

Delicious!

I'm going to do some reading (The Hunger Games), and probably get to bed early. Night all!

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Fourteen

Two weeks down!!

And I am exhausted.

Breakfast was my standard fare - scrambled egg whites with onions and spinach and yeast-free spelt bread with non-dairy margarine.


Detox or no detox, egg whites are a pretty typical breakfast for me. Except I usually don't have them with veggies, I have them with cheese. Hopefully the spinach & onions will stick, post-Joshi!

Today was a great day: I debuted my new haircut at work, I was wearing an outfit that made me feel very put-together, and my make-up looked unusually good for some unknown reason (I'm not exactly a pro with that sort of thing). Plus, you know, I've got this detox glow about me. ;)

I tried to take a picture this morning of how awesome I looked to show you all (um, vain much?) but I was running late.

At work, I got quite a few compliments! One man whom I nod to when I see him in the office, but whose name I don't actually know, simply said "You look... hi!" which I thought was pretty funny. And some of my students mentioned my haircut too, which was really sweet. There's nothing like a new hairdo (and I was long overdue) to boost the old confidence.

But it couldn't have just been the hair - as Joshi says to those completing the maintenance program,

"You may even be tiring of your friends telling you how fabulous you look and how slim and sexy you are!"

I laughed when I read that, because of its utter ridiculousness... but who knows, in a few weeks, I might be at that point...

Anyway, lunch was prepped last night, as usual.


Leftover chickpea curry, carrot sticks, Mary's Crackers, hummus, yogurt with a banana, and sunflower seeds that I never ended up eating.

As soon as I got home, I put together a giant salad. Spinach, some shredded cabbage, leftover roast chicken from The Big Carrot, avocado, and ... goat cheese.


I was worried about putting the avocado and the goat cheese together, but you only live once, right? Turned out well, I think!

I ate the salad quickly because I had to run out... to the gym! I made it to Body Combat tonight! I haven't been in AGES, and it's one of my favourite classes. Lots of kicking and punching. The only problem is, it's a very popular class, so you have to be careful not to kick and punch all the people in your immediate vicinity. (Even the ones who side shuffle in the wrong direction and get all up in your personal roundhouse-kicking space.)

I devoured this as soon as I was home and showered:


Am I abusing the detox by having so much almond butter and honey?? If that's wrong, then I don't wanna be right. I also had some pomegranate green tea. Remember those days (um, two weeks ago) when I was a coffee addict?

My stomach was like a bottomless pit after Body Combat, so there may have been massive amounts of rice puffs and soymilk that were eaten before they could be captured on film. Oops.

I am beyond tired. Good news is, I get to sleep in tomorrow! (You can be jealous.)

Good night, all!

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Thirteen

Maybe I should call it Day 14 instead, in case I have any superstitious readers... or, you know, so I can finish that much sooner. ;)

Almost two-thirds of the way through! One thing that would really help me with this detox is some kind of maidservant. I feel like all of my free time is spent chopping, cooking, packing lunches, and washing dishes. All in the name of health, I suppose!


Breakfast was yummy. Plain yogurt with a banana and honey, and a big mug of blueberry green tea.

Pre-lunch snack:


For lunch, I had leftover chickpea curry. Yum! (Warning: this will probably be tomorrow's lunch as well...)


It seems that I've developed a dangerous habit. Whenever I am passing Chester station on the subway (which is fairly frequently), I feel a need to stop in at the Big Carrot. Today was no exception.


I picked up a roasted chicken, which I will rationalize as being an easy, convenient way to add protein to a meal - I'm thinking lots of salad possibilities here! And yes, on top of the yogurt there is something from the deli... I just couldn't help myself. I also grabbed quinoa flakes to try and attempt granola again in the next few days.

Dinner:


Lemony brown rice penne & some chicken from the Big Carrot, and a spinach salad with avocado and sunflower seeds.

Even though I'm following this detox, I still don't think I'm eating enough veggies. I had a bunch of carrot sticks cut up and ready to eat today, but I never got around to it. Maybe tonight... along with something else...


Can you guess what my nighttime snack is going to be?

I have an early day tomorrow, so I'll keep this short and sweet! Night all!

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Twelve

Good evening!

It was very lovely not having to wake up pre-6 am this morning for my 8:30 class. I woke up at a much more civilized hour, and enjoyed some delicious toast with almond butter and honey:


With pomegranate green tea.

Then it was time to fulfill the vow I made yesterday - spinning class! Yes, I made it! And I also did an upper body workout... despite having to lift weights in a very crowded, somewhat intimidating area. Go me!

Workout: Completed. Hair: Sweaty.

Upon returning home, I needed some lunch. It was a microwaved affair.


Leftover sweet potato fries & goat cheese-stuffed chicken thighs from yesterday, and some microwaved veggies. Yummmmmmm.

I didn't really have any snacks today, I'm noticing now. Just three sizable meals.

Since I had some free time, I decided to try making a big batch of brown rice to use all week. Every time I make rice, it turns out horribly (does anyone else find rice really hard to cook??). Today, I used this baked rice recipe to see if my luck changed (I used dairy-free margarine instead of butter, and vegetable stock instead of water).


It was a success! The top was maybe slightly crunchy in areas, but overall, definitely the best rice I've ever made. I decided to abandon my original dinner plan (a quinoa dish) and focus on my delectable brown rice instead.

I opened up this can of Eden Organics Caribbean Black Beans that I'd bought ages and ages ago to mix in with the rice.


I tried it and... I wasn't a huge fan. They weren't bad, but I just wasn't in the mood. I racked my brain trying to think of some kind of protein to have with my rice, and finally I came up with: Chickpea Curry! I based it largely on this Red Lentil Curry recipe (that I've used many times in the past, as written. It's yummy!)

I started off by sauteing some diced onion in a frying pan with olive oil. Meanwhile, I mixed together about 2 tablespoons of curry paste, a couple of cloves of minced garlic, 1/2 - 1 tbsp curry powder, 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp chili powder, and some fresh ginger.

Note the spilled chili powder in the top left corner.

I threw that in the frying pan with the onions, stirred it for a couple of minutes, and then added a can of (rinsed) chickpeas.


I threw in 2 cups of cooked rice, and it was done!


Oh wait, I lied. Before I served it, I added some chopped up green onion.

According to my calculations, if you divide this into 4 servings, each serving is 9 Points Plus values.

I thoroughly enjoyed it! It was a little spicy, but it wasn't overpowering.

I think I will have one snack this evening - my daily banana (which is unfortunately quite bruised). Have a good night, all! :)

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Eleven

Wow, 11 days in! More than halfway. :)

I want to thank everyone for all the really supportive comments I've gotten. They're really motivating me to see this through to the end of the 21 days. It definitely helps to know that someone is actually reading about it...

Breakfast was scrambled egg whites with onions and spinach... along with some leftover roasted root veggies (not including potatoes, a deadly nightshade) from the Big Carrot. (I was trying to recreate a greasy diner-style breakfast of eggs and homefries. Didn't quite hit the mark.)


Hot water with lemon also made an appearance.

Then, I went to Zumba class with my Mom! It was super fun, as usual. I realized, however, that I haven't worked out since Zumba last Sunday... must improve gym attendance this week.

I hereby vow to go to spinning class (for the first time in AGES) tomorrow morning. I trust you will hold me accountable.

Post-gym snack of rice puffs with soy milk:


I decided today was the day to make some gluten-free, sugar-free granola, using detox-friendly ingredients only. I kind of made up my own recipe that included quinoa flakes, coconut, puffed millet, almond butter, and honey.

I was so excited.

Unfortunately, I burned it slightly. I was going to post the recipe and everything, except it didn't really turn out. Maybe in a few days I'll try again!

I still ate some of the granola (it's only a bit burnt...), mixed into my plain yogurt and banana. Yum!


Before I even got a chance to think about lunch, it was time for dinner (that often happens to me on Sundays...)

Oh. Em. Gee.


I made sweet potato fries (using pre-cut sweet potatoes...) along with chicken thighs stuffed with goat cheese and spinach. I am a happy girl right now. And what makes me even happier is that there are leftovers in my fridge for tomorrow.

Not going to lie though, I made two (very large) portions of sweet potato fries, but I kept picking at them, so tomorrow's portion is much smaller than today's was.

Tonight, I have some schoolwork I want to do, and there may be some kind of midnight snack in store... I have most of the roasted harvest vegetable salad from the Big Carrot burning a hole in my fridge, so I just might have to finish it off. After all, it could go bad, right?!

Everyone who has a holiday tomorrow - enjoy! I know I will.

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Ten (and Liver Flush)

Wow, 10 days down! Almost halfway there. :)

First thing this morning, I headed out to my Weight Watchers meeting, led by the lovely Ashley...

I was down 4.6 lbs! I'll take it!

Funnily enough, my weight this morning (201.8 lbs), was my starting weight when I started going to meetings in November 2009. I lost 20 lbs to reach my 10%, and then slowly gained it back (and then some). I've been fluctuating around this point for awhile.

I think I will take this weight as a fresh start. No more gaining. This detox is a great healthy beginning, and a great motivator to focus in and just do this.

I will start posting my weigh-ins in the sidebar, starting with today's. Note that I reserve the right to quietly take them down without advance warning if it starts to mess with my head though. ;)

Breakfast was small - rice puffs with soy milk.


For lunch, I finished the rest of Friday's Chicken Tikka. I kind of want to eat this every day?


I ate it with a spinach and avocado salad. Yummers!

I decided that today should be a "Me" day. I haven't had a day of fun and relaxing just for me for awhile!

The Me Time began with a haircut and an eyebrow threading. Is it just me, or does getting your eyebrows threaded kind of feel like a bunch of tiny razor blades in your eye region? The results were great though, I think.

Before:

After:

One thing I thought was pretty funny - the hairdresser asked if I was in high school! She thought I was 16 or 17 (I'm 25). To be fair, I was literally crying at the time from the eyebrow threading, which probably did bring out my younger side.

I couldn't resist picking up a treat for dinner (various roasted vegetables) from The Big Carrot's deli counter on my way home, because I knew what I had planned for this evening: Joshi's required liver flush, consisting of the following ingredients:


First I had a yummy snack though. Toast with almond butter and honey! With pomegranate green tea.


Sigh. Those moments before the liver flush were a simpler time.

The good thing about the liver flush is that it required me to dig out what was given to me a week ago. Yes, the item from the bag that I teased you about last weekend! Behold:


A juicer!!! My very kind coworker had a spare juicer sitting around that she brought in for me to use! I have big plans for this thing.

Sadly, its first use was for something that would turn out to be so, so wretched. The dreaded liver cleanse.

I juiced about 300 mL of grapefruit and lemon. Then I threw some ginger and one clove of garlic in. I added the 2 tbsp of olive oil.


Not ready at all for what's to come.


I took one sip, almost gagged, then remembered I forgot to dilute it with 200 mL of water. Surely that would fix it?!

Still recovering from the first sip, but willing to try again:


Blech. I only made it halfway through. Any more and I surely would have been sick.

Sorry, Joshi. I love your Detox and I'm sure your liver flush is very healthy and my liver would love it, but I will not be repeating this two more times (the detox calls for one a week). At least I tried, right?!

For dinner, I had some of the roasted veggies I got at the Carrot, along with some brown rice pasta with goat cheese.


Maybe not the most balanced meal (I don't see much protein there...), but cut me some slack! I had to cleanse my liver today, after all...

My Saturday night will consist of knitting and television. I may look like a 16-year-old, but I definitely act more like a 70-year-old. Night all!