Blog Update!
For those of you not following me on Facebook, as of the Summer of 2019 I've moved to Central WA, to a tiny mountain town of less than 1,000 people.

I will be covering my exploits here in the Cascades, as I try to further reduce my impact on the environment. With the same attitude, just at a higher altitude!

Monday, January 24, 2011

Detox update #2

I am a few days into the fourth week of my detox and I'm not feeling the same sort of crap like I was before. I think increasing my calorie intake helped quite a bit as probably reducing a few other things (see below). As such, I'm holding steady at the same weight as last week, but looking leaner given all the exercise and good eatin'.

Food related stuff
I'm still working a ton of smoothies and juices into my day. I start off with about a half cup of some sort of grain - either oatmeal, brown rice cereal or 5 grain cereal. After my morning walk, I'll have a spinach smoothie. Lunch is generally some sort of sauteed greens with some sort of protein. I'll have a carrot and hummus snack and a wheat and dairy free dinner with a mix of grain, protein and vegetable. I did one day of juice fasting last week and might do another one tomorrow just to go out with a bang.

Other stuff
I've been getting a lot of exercise in, not just my planned aerobic exercise, but also from doing about three hours of gardening over the week. I've been skipping the sweat therapy because of scheduling issues and lots of other things going on.

My third deep tissue massage last week went incredibly well and I think my lumps are finally responding to it. I'm still doing the dry skin brushing and I'm done with my detox foot pads, although I received some more for review that are made with different ingredients. I'm still meditating daily for about 30 minutes and that helps too.

Today, I go in for my second set of body burden toxicity testing (all blood tests). This will be testing for heavy metals, solvents, chlorinated pesticides and a few other things. I'll also be doing two 24-hour urine collections - one for heavy metals testing and the other for phthalates and parabens. I can't wait to see what difference (if any?) I've been able to achieve over the last five months of lifestyle changes.

Anyone else doing some form of the detox? How is it going for you?

14 comments:

Rachel S said...

I've enjoyed reading about your detox endeavors. I half hearted tried some of the ideas, ie 30 minutes cardio, dry brushing and the epsom salt baths. Reading today's blog makes me want to reevaluate my dietary habits. NOt eating much carbs, surgar , caffein anyway so I think this may be my time to go into full flegded Crunchy-detox. But, of course, I'm too shy to ask you any questions if I have them!

THanks for the update. Always good to hear progress! Also, glad to hear that you're feeling better.

Dmarie said...

impressed that you are feeling so much better so quickly. look forward to hearing your lab results. Keep up the good work! (every time I read such posts my own diet gets healthier, at least for that day. hey, one day at a time!)

daniel said...

kids on those pics are so amazing! great post thanks!

Lisa said...

I've been looking forward to this challenge update opportunity because I've had a few thoughts over the course of the week that I wanted to share. The most dominant/persistant, though, is this: aside from my years in the Peace Corps (when the only "high tech" labor saving device I owned was a rag mop), I have never spent more time on my physical self than I have this week! Ever. I am astonished -- and a bit alarmed -- at how much time has been required for the extra care in food shopping/preparation as well as all the added attention to my body (soaks and foot pads and dry brushing and supplements and non-toxic-nothing touching my skin and extra workouts -- I'm not even doing the massage thing which would require more hours still). I "get it" that this is a short-term detox challenge and not a lifestyle change, yet much of it is (or should be) something I aim to include in my life (no way I'm going much longer without cheese, though!).

So my question for any/all of you: does healthy, mindful living have to take up so much of my day? And if so, what can give? ("The hours I spend at work" leap readily to mind, but there is that pesky mortgage...) Your thoughts are welcome!

Anonymous said...

Please let us know what parts of the detox you'll incorporate into your regular routine!

I'm also pretty excited to see what your lab results were. It makes me want to go get mine done, except I'm totally scared of getting blood drawn. Maybe just the urine tests?

Jessica

Adrienne said...

I am *super* curious to find out what your test results are! I sort of think that there's so much crap around us all the time, that even if we do our best not to consume anything bad or use any toxic products on our bodies or in our home, we still can't really reduce our exposure. I'm hoping you prove me wrong!

Nic, SD said...

So, did the footpads become... less black with subsequent wearings?

Melinda said...

I'm going to have a blood panel done at the end of my cleanse, but hadn't thought of having the toxicity tests done. I'm definitely curious to see the results! Are you working with a naturopath, or a regular physician?

I'm at the end of my second week and still feeling good. I'm smaller, though, so that may have something to do with being ok with the lower calories. Though, I've lost a fair amount of weight!

zenglassfusion said...

Can you tell me where you went to get your body burden tests done?

Crunchy Chicken said...

Lisa - I think most of the reason why these things seem time consuming is because you don't normally do them or make time for them. With the food, unless you eat all convenience food, it's just a matter of changing habits and it would get quicker over time.

As for the other things, the baths are something you can do occasionally, the skin brushing doesn't take that long and we all should be exercising at least 30 minutes a day anyway.

It's kind of like brushing and flossing. It takes time and is kind of a pain in the butt, but it's something you work into the day without too much thought.

Crunchy Chicken said...

Shortstylee - I'll let you know which things I keep, although I think it will be most of them. Maybe not with the same frequency, but doing something for a month is pretty habit forming.

Adrienne - I'm hoping to prove you wrong as well, but I'm also prepared (for some of them) to have made no impact at all.

Nic, SD - Nope, still black. I think it's just the stuff inside that's black and not anything involving me :)

Melinda - I'm working with an ND at Bastyr, but the labs are going through Metametrix and Doctor's Data.

Brad K. said...

Lisa,

Perhaps one of the big factors of being toxic is time.

It hadn't occurred to me that meditation would be that big a factor in a detox program - but your comment shed a bit of light for me.

Just the fact of letting schools, community efforts, advertisers, etc. bully us into over-scheduling us means that we don't destress, and thus detoxify naturally. I grew up with tales of farm families doing it all, on 3-4 hours of sleep. At the same time, Paul Harvey was relating research shows the people that live the longest averaged seven hours, 20 minutes of sleep every night, all their lives. Recent reports posit that healthfully we should be heading to nine (9) or ten (10) hours, as adults.

If you are evaluating changes, I would imagine you are exploring products and shopping experiences and stores that are new and unfamiliar. That would change with practice. Plus, with time you might find useful food and other things (like the plant related to cucumbers - the loofa - that grows in the garden. Picked fresh, it is used in Chinese cooking; left to dry out, use it in the shower) in your garden or your neighbors - and available for a trade of time, effort, or produce.

It isn't clear to me that people of Northern European descent shouldn't be ending their day at sunset, and starting at dawn, all year round. That leaves long work days in summer, and a detoxifying restful winter. I haven't figured out how to convince the local school board, or my boss, about that.

Gen O Mommy said...

I'm just wondering why you are doing blood tests for heavy metals verses hair analysis? Who are you doing the tests through? I'm doing a heavy metal/chemical detox as well.
Thanks!

Crunchy Chicken said...

Dani - I'm doing whole blood and 24-hour urine testing for heavy metals because I am doing differential testing, which you can't do with hair.