After my two weeks juice detox in October, I felt amazing, but as soon I had some junk food, I got addicted again and I’ve gained back some of the weight that I lost.
I’m still 8 kg (17.6 lb) lighter than I was before I started the detox, but I don’t feel very good because I’ve gained a little under 3 kg (5.7 lb) and it shows a lot.
I went back home to Italy for Christmas and I stuffed myself with all sort of delicious Italian food, plus I’ve been very naughty at work, eating lots of leftovers that weren’t vegan (saying to myself that they would end up in the bin if I didn’t as a justification) and I felt pretty sick and bloated.
I kept smoking big times and drinking alcohol when out and my body is pretty upset.
Finally, I’ve decided to read Dr. Fuhrman’s book ‘Eat for life’ that really opened my eyes on the damages that I’m causing to my body and it gave a good kick to start eating healthily again and cut down on cigarettes and alcohol.
A friend of mine who is struggling with the Dukan diet (a gross diet, but she’s sure it’s good for her and I really don’t want to argue about it) had this genius idea of doing our diets together to keep ourselves motivated and we agreed in a set of rules to follow.
The rules:
10 consecutive days of good days = one star and £10 into treat fund.
4 stars = a pampering treat (i.e massage or nails or new item of clothing, or anything wonderful worth £40)
Allowances each day:
1 x minor naughty food (depending on your diet’s rules)
3 x cigarettes
3 x units of alcohol
Reasons you will fail and both of us will have to start back at ‘day 1’:
If you go over your allowances limit.
You do not do 10 minutes of cardio exercise per day (UNLESS you had a very strenuous day at work).
You have anything off your major naughty list.
We’re sending daily emails to each others with our weight and what we have eaten during the day.
I feel so much more motivated to follow the rules, because I know that if I don’t, I will get her punished with me!
My lists of forbidden, restricted and unlimited food are based on the book, with some little exceptions (for examples I’m allowed a little bit of salt and oil)
Here they are
Major naughty list
Any processed food (like snacks, crisps, ready meals, soft drinks and so on, while canned veggies, beans and fruit are allowed, but the fruit should be in its juice, not syrup, and only occasionally)
White rice, white pasta and white bread
Dairy products (on their own and as part of something else)
Eggs (on their own and as part of something else)
Sugar
Coffee
Fruit juice
Limited list (any food consumed in excess of the daily allowance will be calculated as a major naughty thing)
3 teaspoons of oil max per day
1 cup serving of cooked whole grains and/or starchy vegetables like potatoes, pumpkins and carrots (carrots are ok if raw) and/or cereals
30 grams of nuts and seeds
1 tablespoon of ground flaxseeds
2 tablespoons of dried fruit
60 grams of avocado
Minor naughty list
150 calories worth of anything on my major naughty list other than not vegan things
Brown bread, whole meal pasta
Salt (I can use it, but not too much of it!)
Soy sauce
Umeboshi vinegar/paste
Unlimited list (yay!)
Raw veggies - goal: 1 lb (450 grams) daily, or just have a salad before every meal
Cooked veggies and mushrooms - goal: 1 lb (450 grams) daily
Beans, legumes, bean sprouts and tofu - goal: 1 cup daily
Fresh fruit - at least 4 daily
The ten minutes cardio workout that we’re doing daily is on youtube, you can find it
here
