It’s Party Time! Okay, not quite.
I am standing by my claim in my last post that this probably was the dumbest thing that I have done in a long time.
First of all, it was just too many days. Two to three weeks would have sufficed, but I always have to be extra and over the top with everything.
Secondly, the timing was just bad. Too many parties and functions and this demotivated me towards the ends. I will be honest, the detox probably ended on day 34. I kept trudging along anyway…
Thirdly, Ya’ll were all in my business and truthfully that was too much pressure. It energized and stressed me out at the same time
The cardiologist’s diet: If it tastes good, spit it out.” ~Unknown
Benefits of the detox
In regards to eating, the good days far outweighed the bad ones. My work-out regimen was stellar during this period, actually the best that it’s ever been.
I learned a lot about myself, better ways to work out and random things that really don’t have anything to do with working out. So here goes:
- Kept me from sabotaging my progress: I was more conscious of what I ate during a season where there are parties galore. I probably went to 10 major functions while this was going on. When these things happen, it desensitizes you to eating healthy and you can really go for broke. I didn’t go for broke and made sure I got back on track the next day.
- Support from friends: At some point, my friends that read this blog or are on Facebook kept asking me “What day are you on?” or pass by my desk at work and say “Is that on the detox?” I didn’t even know some of these folks were reading my stuff. That was very encouraging. YA’LL NEED TO SUBSCRIBE TO MY BLOG AND STOP PLAYING! But thank you. This was the best part of the whole thing.
- If you drink too much have some Gatorade handy: Every now and then I have a glass of wine, but Memorial Day Weekend was quite eventful. The host of the party that I went to was one of those guys that automatically fills your glass when it gets low. He made some kind of tasty concoction of green apple something that had grapes, apple slices and kiwi in it–I was deceived into thinking it was infused water with food coloring in it. Ok, I know you didn’t buy that but it was nice to try. I ignored the recipe that he gave us to avoid getting a hang-over (Advil, Gatorade, a multi-vitamin and lots of water) because I didn’t anticipate one. I didn’t get a hang-over, but I was immensely dehydrated for about four days and couldn’t go to spin class all week (which totally ticked me off and threw my eating off for that week). I spent that week drinking electrolyte and coconut water to get my body back.
- Helped me to develop strategies to reach my goals: When things went wrong, I ended up talking to various people to figure out how to fix them and was educated on various topics. I learned how to decide which spin class I need to take to build my muscle, how to schedule my strength training and spinning (i.e not doing legs prior to spinning), what ab exercises go with the work-out I’m doing (upper body vs lower), and the best time to do ab exercises (right after intense cardio).
- Routines and consistency count: The weeks that I prepped for the whole day really did correlate in success in working out and minimal or no cheating (or as one of the trainers calls ‘snack sneaking’). Read the “how to beat cheating” section on this post.
- Allowed me to stop taking myself so seriously. My trainer and I got into a few spats about my eating. Basically I told him that in general I have better eating habits than most people I know.
Additionally, I said that life is short and when I spend time with my friends I’m going to enjoy myself and get back on the stick the next day. Chill out!
It’s not that some people have willpower and some don’t. It’s that some people are ready to change and others are not.” ~James Gordon
What’s Next?
Will I do it again? Most definitely…but it won’t be more than 21 days. I’m going back to the regimen that I was doing before: clean eating during the week and 1-2 cheat meals on the weekend. This is just realistic, especially since this is a permanent lifestyle change for me.
The summer will be great because I always do my best with eating, water consumption and working out early in the day–you know since I’m off for the summer (no hate necessary for the non-educators reading this). My focus will be on bulking, shredding and ab work.
So, I hope you learned some things and got a few laughs at my expense. I still anticipate on getting in that bikini this season, and more importantly, looking good in it.
Be encouraged and thanks for reading!
Your comments are WELCOMED!