I spent 7 days doing a processed food detox after I realized I was uncontrollably (or felt like) addicted to shit food. All I wanted was chocolate, all day, every day. I wanted anything that would give me a sugar hit to get me through the day. Most notable was my dependence on Coke zero for a mood boost and my annoying addiction to Easter treats. I don’t even like chocolate so I felt like I was loosing my sanity a bit. So I committed to going through full detox with no exceptions, No 80-20 rule, NO well no one saw me so its okay, Absolutely NO well I didn’t get an Easter egg this year so i’ll just eat EVERYTHING. Nada.
So here we are! The detox is over!
What do I think? How do I feel?
It wasn’t as hard as I thought, I thought it would be grueling and difficult just because i was so addicted and felt so out of control that I though regaining self control would be hard. But the reality is, I decided I wanted to make better decisions.
I wanted to eat clean.
I wanted to make a change.
And I committed to it.
Therefore, I did it. And actually making that mental decision and commitment to throw myself in 100% made it easy.
Overall, Wednesday was the worst day. I felt pretty drained the whole day. Monday and Tuesday I felt like I was getting weaker but by Thursday I was feeling perky af and Friday I felt fine. It easier to love yourself and your body when you aren’t stuffing chemicals into your face all day everyday and it’s much easier to stay positive because I’m not sat obsessing over eating something bad.
Have you always eaten a lot of processed food?
Actually no, a lot of my diet is natural plants and as little animal products as possible. Due to my intolerance to Soya, I can’t be fully Vegan, get my macros right and not eat all the carbs. But for me, its snacks. I am a snacker. But in the last few months my mental healthy, eating habits and general well being has taken a massive dive. Over eating and hating on myself and I started eating a lot more processed snacks and I craved them. Really badly. Like I portioned my Fererro Rocher Egg shell in the fridge for me to snack on all day because I ate half in one day.
Will I continue eating Paleo style?
I would like to. I have another 11 weeks on this program so ideally, if I stay on detox mode, it will make eating at a deficit much easier.
How do you feel after?
I feel more in control. Which to me with my history of an eating disorder is something I need. I need to feel in control of my food or I will binge eat and then try and starve myself, which is actually what I have been doing recently. So keeping consistent, eating healthy, not freaking out and binging on shit, I feel frickin awesome. Not only do I feel in control but I also feel lighter and most importantly, HAPPIER AND MORE POSITIVE. It is amazing how much processed food affects my mental health. Its so easy to assume it doesn’t because Everyone eats it right? Can’t be that. But everyone has a mental health issue so..
My mental state turned around drastically. Instead of literally dragging myself around doing everything with maybe 40% effort and not looking forward to anything, being anxious and stressed, I got my sparkle back. For all who don’t know, my sparkle is like my inner strength, my drive and my goat like powers. I am stubborn and indestructible and that is how I feel again.
Did you feel like you were being deprived?
All through my weight loss programme last year, I did feel deprived and it led to binging because I feel like I was missing out on all these amazing and delicious treats but the reality is, I am not. Sure they are nice for like.. 20 seconds. Lord knows I LOVE M&MS. Like. I LOVE THEM. But I always feel that feeling in my body where it starts to feel a bit down, a bit grubby and my mental state deteriorates because my body is reacting to the processed sugar inside of me. I pay a lot of attention to my lovely body so I know what it hate and what it needs but I feel like processed food is a trap. Its okay once in a while but if you eat more than one thing, it just spirals until you need it because you eat it, it makes you feel like shit so you eat more to have that endorphin boost. When what your body actually needs is water, movement, fresh air and FRUITTTT. Because if you didn’t see my food diary, I eat A LOT of fruit. I think that was the main reason I didn’t feel deprived, is because I love fruit. More than any sweet treat. I’ll take a ripe peach over a chocolate bar any day. But it doesn’t have the same intense effect that chocolate has, so we don’t reach for it. Because we need that endorphin boost, because we feel shit, BECAUSE WE ATE SHIT.
What were the financial implications of the challenge?
Well for one thing, I spent double on my food bill this week just on fruits and veggies. But I must have saved £10 on snack stops and coffee.
What was the hardest bit?
The hardest bit was saying no to the Ice Cream on Saturday. There were many testing moments, like the cake, ice cream, fries and pretty much any time in the day I could have made a worse choice and mostly, they weren’t hard choices at all. But it was really nice and sunny and I really wanted an ice cream because I was starving.
How did the 10k run compare from the Sunday eating shit and a week of total clean eating?
On the Sunday prior, we’d eaten some shit the day before (like I ate three cakes) and I was feeling heavy, uncomfortable and I didn’t want to run. But we pounded through and went anyway and it was a nice run, it was slow and a bit gassy but mostly it was like all trail runs, it was nice.
The Sunday post detox.. was the worst run I had ever done. For many factors. Although I not longer felt like I was dragging a dead horse along with me like I did last week, I felt weaker, more tired, more aware of the pain in my quads. I can feel my engine inside running smoother and I feel lighter and cleaner, but it also feels like its only running on 50%, like I was missing a critical part of my engine. Fuel. So I felt better but actually felt a lot worse while running. It was also a lot sunnier on this day than last week so it was hotter and I was tired. Another factor was I did crossfit lite the day before which had tired me out so when I got to the run, I was already feeling a bit tired.
BUT! The big difference is, I did want to run, even tho I felt a bit stiff and Jacob runs at 2 million miles an hour and I walked up ALL the hills, I still wanted to do the run. I enjoyed most of it. It was the way back that I just died, the hills were tearing my legs apart and all I could think about was how the detox has made me feel weak and that is why I am failing and I totally hate running now.
Another thing I noticed was, over the last 4 weeks, I binge on Saturday then have a gruelling run where I feel heavy but I come out, not really that hungry. After the detox, I was starving, which was what it was like pre binge fest.
What day was the worst and best?
Wends was the worst, I felt like utter death. But I knew detox lasts three days so I was just pushing through to get to Friday and I was right! Three days of suffering for feeling better is worth it.
Sunday is the day I felt the lightest and the best, I want to be active more, it was easier to make better choices because after the ice cream debacle, I realized that it isn’t so hard to say no. Just to feel jealous for 15 minutes (yes it took me 15 minutes) and then you get to revel in the fact that actually, you made the right choice. Especially when the ice cream was reportedly, sub par. The more I said no, the more confidence I seemed to gain in myself that I could do it and that really pushed me forward.
Would you suggest other people do it?
YES! LIKE DO IT NOW. I used Instagram as my accountability buddy but like Set a week aside and COMMIT to doing it. SCHEDULE IT IN! I will be your biggest fan on Instagram. Someone will be watching, it will be me and I will be cheering for you. Detox from all the shit you have been putting in your body and see how you feel for yourself.
Can you suggest ways to make it easier on someone who is more dependent on processed food in their daily diet?
Supportive environment. Get one if you can they will be exceptionally helpful. If someone around you is eating shit and encouraging you to fail (even subconsciously) it makes the whole things SO much harder.
MEAL PREP. Prep meals and plan ahead. If you have something to hand, you wont have an excuse to be lazy (we are all lazy), so have the food there ready to eat. Play with your laziness, not against it.
Start by cutting one thing out at a time. for example if you eat:
B: Crumpets and Butter
L: Ham Sandwich
D: Chicken Pasta Bake with garlic bread
Start with
B: Scrambled Eggs (one toast no butter)
l: Ham Sandwich
D: Chicken pasta bake No GB
Next day
B: Omelette
l: Ham Salad
D: Chicken pasta bake No GB
The key is research. Learn all about what counts as processed food, EDUCATE YOURSELF. Follow James Smith on Instagram and read all of his content. And if you need any advice or support, just send me a message and I will keep you accountable and tell you what you can and cannot eat. I will even edit your meals plans for you.
Overall, what do you feel like is the biggest benefit?
To be honest, I have missed loving myself and my body. Been so caught up in hating myself that its so nice to not. Because ITS SO EASY TO LOVE YOURSELF when you are eating clean. It just flowed so much more naturally to me. So if you are struggling with the self love, try this. Its the gateway to a juice diet. You gain some self control back, some confidence, a lot of body positivity and your body loves you for it.
Thank you for all the people who supported me and watched my stories and got involved by trying the detox yourself. It has been really fun to discuss processed foods with you, try new things and find alternatives to things I craved. Which turned out to be mostly fruit. I really appreciate all your support and not offering me foods. I really enjoyed not being offered foods.