Monday 24 February 2014

Detox Results!!!


Through out January and February I embarked on a Detox! I am not going to lie at first it was tough, very tough. Check out my update posts below

Not the 1st January Detox | Details
Week 1 Update| Not the 1st January Detox
Half Way update | Not the 1st January Detox
Not the 1st January Detox | Things keeping me going

But, I am very pleased to say my detox ended on the 4th February and here are my results

Overall experience
Detox, in particular caffeine and sugar withdrawl are not for the faint hearted. My head literally felt like there was a little army of men inside it with hammers. However, once the pounding headaches and wee trips every 45 minutes subsided around day 6-8, I really started to feel the benefit of not having those 2 devils in my life.  

As time went on my enegy levels improved massively. The biggest thing for me was having a constant energy level throughout the day, rather than feeling like I could fall asleep by 3pm. This actually improved my confidence too, I knew I could book meetings for later in the day and that I would still be raring to go.

At no point did I feel hungry. And I never felt like I was depriving myself.

I had a few remarks from people toward week 3 and 4 that I had lost weight and I could feel my jeans felt looser.



Results
I didn't actually weigh myself before and after because I did not want this detox to be about loosing weight. However, I definitely lost weight, perhaps as much as a jean size. My stomach is flatter, my love handles are a lot smaller and over all I look a lot healther.

My skin is also a lot better, I literally have had no spots or any redness on my skin. Thumbs up there.

Verdict
I absolutely loved how the detox left me feeling.  It changed the way I think about certain foods. In particular white bread, sugarry treats muffins cakes etc and caffeine. It is now 3 weeks since I officially finished my detox and I still haven't had any caffeine. And you know what? I don't want it because I know how much better I feel without it.  I have decided that this is now a way of life for me and I will be eating what ever I like at weekends but stick to the no added sugar, no white refined carbs during the week.

I also realised something else HUGE.  For years I had a very bad habbit of popping to costa or starbucks and grabbing a coffee and a muffin when I was hungry, instead of getting something healthy and nutritional. So when I couldn't have either of those things it foced me to get something else, like a salad and mint tea, that actually gave me energy.  I never even realised what I was doing... feeding my hunger with a coffee? how bad it that!

Tips 
  • Choose a time to detox when you actually have a chance of succeeding. For example. if I had decided to do this over Christmas or when on holiday I just wouldn't have completed it and then felt bad about myself. 
  • Get prepared. Have a plan and get healthy food supplies in ready. 
  • Expect that it is going to be difficult.
  • Decide what you will be having instead of coffee, it's half the battle. I decided that I would be having peppermint tea when I went to starbucks instead of a laté and thats what I had, there was no indecision.
  •  Frozen blueberries and grapes were a lifesaver for me. A great snack.
  • Protein/smoothie shakes of some sort are a great meal replacement (I chose Arbonne vanilla and chocolate protein because it's vegan and has no nasties)

I am so much happier with my body now, I had put on a bit of weight and it is all gone now. I am also a lot more confident, weather it is because I am proud of myself for sticking to the detox for a whole 30 days or because I have more energy, I'm just really chuffed with myself. 
 I would absolutely recommend doing it!!!



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18 comments:

  1. Looking fab misses, I've been try to healthy eat so I totally empathise with you about having sore heads constantly!

    Well done!

    Natalie xx

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  2. oh golly yes they were bad!! :-) well done u too x

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  3. Inspiration!! I need to take a leaf out of your book :)

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  4. Such a great post. I love your blog it's such an enjoyable read :-)
    Beth x

    http://www.thebritishgirl.co.uk/

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  5. Wowsers Ashly... you have me thinking of doing this now, if I can follow a pretty strict diet for nearly 8 months, I can do a detox for 30 days. I am going to wait until our tax time is over... I want to be successful like you, I want more energy.

    Very inspirational post Ashly, I am going to share it around :)

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  6. wow, you did an amazing job, i quit caffeein, teine and sugars about 2 months ago too and dod regret it a single bit! :)x

    Alice Barton ♥ TheMowWay

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  7. Love this post! You have done so well, keep it up! I would love to do a detox but I am currently undertaking the change to a healthier lifestyle which I have to say I am loving so far. Head on over to my blog and read my "Motivational Monday" post..this is all about it.

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  8. Stopping by from Letter from Launna. I wish I could just eliminate my one cup of coffee a day. Did you have headaches? I am not nearly there with being able to do this, ALL because of coffee. You look great BTW.

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  9. Hiya! sorry fo delay. Yes I did have really bad headaches for about 5-7days but it does go :-)

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  10. No worries. I have still not entertained the thought of getting off caffeine ;-)

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  11. I don't blame you it is not pretty! how about decaf?

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  12. wow thats amazing! congrats!!!

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  13. so glad you found it useful :-) I am doing a 30 day shred now :-o wish me luck x

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  14. This is amazing! I wish I had the will power to do this...
    I'm not as happy with my body as I used to be but I don't know if I can do a detox... wish I could!

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I love reading all your comments :-) contact me on twitter @AshlyLondon I would love to chat with you xxx