About a year ago I set out on a path of deliberate wellness.
By that I mean that, besides embracing nutrition (see post from April 23, 2013) and exercise, I committed to making medical
appointments I had put off and dutifully reporting for various screenings and
tests I had been too frightened to schedule. I wouldn’t recommend it for stress
relief, but no one needed to tell me it was the smart thing to do.
I began with a “wellness visit” to my physician, followed by
lab work (blood analysis) and a series of appointments with specialists. In the
last 12 months I’ve had a mammogram, a hearing test, an eye test, a
colonoscopy, and screenings by a gynecologist and a dermatologist.
My reports were good, but my nutrition and exercise programs
had become inconsistent. I had slowly gained weight over a period of months and
couldn’t seem to lose it. With spring on the horizon—yes, yes, superficial
reason—I knew I had to jump-start my weight loss.
After reading about the 10-Day Detox Diet, I ordered the
best-selling book by Mark Hyman, M.D. I knew that Dr. Hyman’s program would be
an extension of my previous forages into nutrition, but I did not realize it
also encompassed exercise and relaxation.
The 10-Day Detox diet is meant to address food addiction,
reboot the body, and result in reduced insulin levels. Weight loss is an
advertised benefit. As I write this, I’m completing the diet a few pounds
lighter than when I began it March 6. Here’s the scoop:
Weigh and Measure.
The first thing I did every morning was to strip down and weigh myself. I had not
stepped on the scale at home in many moons (so to speak), but the weighing was
helpful, not traumatic. How else would I see my progress? Ditto the daily
measuring, except that my plastic tape measure was v-e-r-y cold against my
skin.
Exercise. The
second order of the day was 30 minutes of exercise. I chose brisk walking and
took the opportunity to try out my mid-weight long underwear from REI, purchased
for hiking. It was cold and often still dark when I walked out my front door. The
first day I lasted 15 minutes before coming inside to do floor exercises. After
that I walked every morning. I loved it. A couple of times I witnessed gorgeous
sunrises over our lake. The ducks were black silhouettes as they slept. I did
have to pack my pockets with tissues, as my nose and eyes ran constantly in the
wind. I learned that I can walk in 36-degree weather much more comfortably than
I can in 20-degree weather. Occasionally I would pretend I was on the
Appalachian trail, noting that if I were on the AT I would not be going back to
my nice, warm house anytime soon.
Food. Yes,
finally it’s time to eat! I especially loved my morning shakes. All of the
meals except luncheon salads were made from recipes. For the uninitiated, this
means that you have to cook before
you can eat. With the exception of some recipes that provided leftovers, I
spent a great deal of time chopping and mixing and watching bits of asparagus
and cauliflower ping off the cabinets or roll across the kitchen floor. Yes,
all fresh ingredients; nothing packaged. Let’s just say that I considered
getting on the delivery route for a produce truck. I also spent a great deal of
time cleaning up after myself. In addition to the food, I took vitamin
supplements. One, I ordered online. The picture on the box showed a fine powder
to be dissolved in drinking water, but this stuff couldn’t have been broken up with
a ray-gun. I ended up putting it in my food and hoping it would melt.
Relaxation. One
of the recommended stress-breakers is a bath with certain ingredients (e.g.,
lavender oil) added to the water. I bought the products but had to give up
after two nights and an aching back. My bathtub has to be the worst tub ever
made. Who in the h--- would design a tub that prohibits leaning back unless one
is a contortionist? Hmmm. Oh, could it be Sa-tan? Same one who designed the
U-Scan-It machines at the grocery store.
So there you have it. I’m glad I embraced the 10-Day Detox
Diet, and I'll continue the parts of it that worked for me: the weighing and
measuring, the morning walks, and many of the recipes. In fact, I’ve ordered
Dr. Hyman’s cookbook. I feel good and finally can put my mom jeans in the
regular laundry rotation in favor of items I previously could not wear. Yippee!
What am I writing? Besides this, you mean. For the last week
and a half, I’ve been journaling my way through the diet. That’s a part of the
program, too.
