My Nutritional Detox Challenge Results: 2019

It was back in January 2019 when my sister Verónica and I went to a health seminar.

We picked up the instructions packet for a 4 Week Detox Challenge.

My sister said, “Here! Take one! You like Challenges”.

I look back at what I would now call, THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE!!!

This was the most challenging detox I have ever done so far, but the one with THE BEST results. AND one that, for me, qualifies to continue doing as a lifestyle change! It definitely was not easy but it was simple!

In sharing my results, I hope it motivates you to see why I want to continue this healthy approach of eating and how rewarding it can be.

My Reasons For Trying This 4 Week Detox Challenge

• I always wanted to lose my last 10 pounds I have been trying for 5+ years. But I had my doubts.

• I wanted to reduce my Total Cholesterol levels. In February of 2017, I had a 205 Total Cholesterol, with a slight reduction in 2018.

• I was looking to reduce the pain in my left knee. This was the most important one for me since I am a runner.

• I felt like I needed this challenge so I could learn and recommend it to the people I love and care about that are in pain and take medication constantly.

• Last but not least, I wanted to do it with my sister, to encourage her and have fun at the same time.

I am thankful I don’t take medication of any kind, but it is highly recommended to consult with your doctor if you ever think about trying a change in your diet and habits like this one. Eventually, medications will need to be adjusted or eliminated. HOW COOL IS THAT!!

What Did I Eat During The Challenge?

Basically, I focused on cooking double portions every night, one for that night and one for lunch the next day. I chose to eat a lot of greens, salads and some beans.

Cooking with absolutely no sugar (of any kind), no salt (of any kind), no oil. Not even for sprinkling on salads. Instead, I used a lot of lemon, balsamic vinegar and herbs like oregano, basil, dill, turmeric, ginger, etc.

It’s important to make sure that your balsamic vinegar is real and authentic and aged enough (12 years preferred). Make sure it has no artificial coloring or flavoring added, like the one I had in my fridge bought from Walmart a while back. I ended up throwing it away. Read your labels!

I eliminated heavily processed food but included some pasta and meatless chicken strips (which I didn’t like too much). The pasta is made with brown rice and quinoa. I also ate brown rice with no salt or oils added. I seasoned it with herbs. It was pretty good. I intend to eat rice this way from now on.

So to be clear, I went from eating

– 2 eggs with spinach, sourdough toast with almond butter, and a slice of avocado every day for breakfast

– to a bowl of oatmeal, rolled oats or steel cut, and quinoa with smashed banana, raisins and to season it, 2 to 3 clove buds. I topped it with cinnamon or used Cinnamon Essential Oil and fresh berries. On the side, I made a big glass of Berries and Greens Smoothie. I love to add a few drops of Wild Orange Essential Oil to the smoothie for extra flavor, and also Spirulina for an added boost to my stem cells.

What Did I Drink During The Challenge?

Water.

Drinking lots of purified water as soon as I wake up. One tall glass with either Lemon or Grapefruit Essential Oil.  Sometimes just plain water or with lemon juice.

When I felt cold, I drank hot water with Ginger Essential Oil. or a caffeine-free tea.

This is something new to me. Drinking water, about 12 ounces, before each meal. I think this did the trick for losing so much weight.
For a snack, I made some fresh pure carrot, orange, and pineapple juice, mmm… so delicious! Highly recommended.

I found that I didn’t really need to snack that much. I was not feeling hungry, but I ate anyways some cut veggies, like celery sticks, carrots, or baby cucumbers.

Apples and pears were on the list of snacks as well and I also added some oranges to the choices.

This juicer I have is the best I could ever find. It literally squeezes all the juice from the fruit and veggies, leaving plain pulp out. It’s going to be a year since I got it and compared to my old one, there is considerably less pulp to waste. It is so powerful and quick. Easy to clean and it doesn’t need veggies or fruits to be cut really small. The juicer has a wide chute.

What Did I NOT Eat or Drink?

I completely eliminated animals from my diet. Yes, all animals of any kind. I never felt so light and clear-minded. My gut was thanking me every single morning and sometimes 2, 3 and 4 times during the day (lots of gut cleansing!)

I stayed away from oils, even avocados, olives, nuts and seeds. Of course, my essential oils don’t count in this category as I take them as pure squeezed and distilled essences coming straight from different parts of a plant and that are 100% Pure Therapeutic Grade. In other words, they are medicinal to me.

I eliminated eggs (hard to do), dairy (not too hard as I was already 90% dairy-free before).

I eliminated alcoholic beverages like beer and wine (a little hard to do because my surroundings and environment are full of these).

Speaking of beverages, I cut coffee and caffeinated teas out of my daily routine, and to me, leaving coffee cold turkey was very hard. I definitely missed my cup in the morning and afternoon. The good thing is that I plan to go back and drink Organic Coffee, the one I have been drinking for quite a while and I love the aroma and taste. It is free of pesticides and nasty fertilizers. I highly recommend it.

I cut out all desserts made with sugar or alternatives and instead I roasted pears with sprinkled cinnamon made in the toaster over or I used some apples too. So sweet and delicious!

I found out that I pretty much can make this sweet treat, of course very sporadic, maybe once or twice a week, with any kind of fruit and I even tried sweet potatoes cut in wedges or thinly sliced that turned out like chips.

Again, no oils needed whatsoever and of course no sugar. It is sweet enough!

How Did I Feel?

I totally experienced caffeine-free detoxification with a headache for about 3 days. The headache was manageable and so I was able to perform my normal activities except exercising much. And, no, I am not replacing coffee with decaffeinated coffee. Decaf is highly processed and defeats the purpose of the whole detox in my point of view.

I felt frustrated the first week because being the mom of the house, I am in charge of cooking for all, but not all are following the same routine and diet. No salt in food is extremely difficult to get all family members to buy into, so I ended up cooking twice or sometimes dividing the food one with salt and one without it. Good news, by the second week and on I was used to it and wasn’t that bad. Besides, I love cooking anyways.

To support each other, I created a Facebook group and invited a few friends and family to join and encouraged everyone to try the detox with us. The group will still be active and we will continue sharing our experiences as we continue this journey of plant-based eating even after the detox challenge is finished. In the group, you will find the grocery list and complete details of the plan. Plus a lot more information and details.

To be honest, I started to feel bored of eating the same types of foods for 4 weeks and I understand the program is designed that way to help it be “doable”. Most of us are full time moms with full time jobs and a house, husband, pet, etc to take care of.

To resolve my boredom of eating the same foods, I started adding other vegetables not mentioned in the plan’s grocery list, like butternut squash. I roasted it and made my favorite soup with beans. My intention is to gather many, many sources of plant-based recipes and have them handy for reference after I am done with the detox challenge.

Did I Follow A Certain Schedule?

Yes! I think this was another trick for my weight loss success. I pretty much followed an 8/16 routine. 8 hours for eating and 16 hours fasting. Here is the routine:

eating = in an 8 hour window

fasting = in a 16 hour window

To be more specific, I tried most of the days of each week these hours:

sleep – 10pm

wake up – 6am

*********

eating window – from 10am to 6pm (8 hours)

fasting window – from 6pm to 10am (16 hours)

What Are My Plans After The Detox Challenge Is Complete?

Simple and straight forward: 90% plant-based with no added sugar, or oils to cooked food and minimal sea salt and table salt.

I am definitely adding some avocados, olives, and a small amount of nuts and seeds to maintain my weight.

Cage-free eggs a few times a week, grass-fed meat and wild-caught fish to cover the final 10% of my whole diet.

Organic Coffee – yes

Beer and wine – yes in lower amounts

Water – tall glass with a Citrus Essential Oil before each meal

EXERCISE – this one is going to be on TOP of my list. My focus is to build muscle now. I will incorporate my 22-minute workout and run 2 – 3 times a week.

And Now… My Results Of the 4 Week Detox Challenge in 2019:

Weight = Lost a total of 14 pounds from 130 to 116 from 1/27/2019 to 2/23/2019

Cholesterol = Down from 205 (2/16/2017) to 194 (2/6/2018) to 172 (2/15/2019)

Knee Pain = 100% gone and about 5% pain after a run for a day or two and then, no pain.

NOTE: I ran twice during the detox challenge. After the first one I experienced knee pain for a couple of days but the second time I ran, which was the last day of the detox, I experienced ZERO pain, nothing, not a single percentage. I am so very grateful for this.

In Conclusion

At the end of the day, it is so gratifying to see these kinds of results! Honestly, I was not looking to lose that many pounds because I basically had given up trying to lose my last 10 pounds and to lower my cholesterol. I started to think it was not doable, but IT IS VERY DOABLE!!!

There is no knee pain to complain about. I feel lighter, energized (without a single drop of coffee) and so happy that I completed this challenge and now I am able to share it with a lot of people.

If you are looking for something that is going to change your life completely and finally lose the weight you have been wanting to lose for so long and feel pain free, clean and light, full of energy, comment below and let me know. I’d be glad to chat for a few minutes and give you some direction and more tips TO GET THIS DONE! I want to help.

What do you think about this challenge? Would you try it? Have you tried it before and was not successful? What would you change about it? Do you think the results are worth the little frustration?

Comment below with your answers and let me know how I can help.

With Love,

Patty