Despite sticking religiously to my training schedule over the Christmas period (with some moving around of sessions to fit around all the eating/ drinking and socialising that Christmas always brings!), I still found that, come 1st January, I was a good 6lbs over my ideal running weight - a target weight that I had carefully calculated using a formula I found in a past edition of Runners World magazine and was determined to get to. I was also - and possibly even more upsettingly - struggling to get my favourite pair of skinny jeans up above my knees. Now, I will admit that before I even started over-indulging in christmas pudding, mince pies and bucket-loads of brandy butter I wasn't 'quite' at the ideal weight, but I was close enough to not be too concerned and only had a couple of pounds to go. 6lbs however is a little too close to the half a stone mark for my liking (always my cut-off point for a diet to kick in!), so... Time for a January Detox!
In the past, January detox's have never really required too much thought - I would simply browse the shelves of magazines for any headlines screaming of huge weightloss miracles, fill up my fridge with carrot sticks, and resign myself to a week of feeling hungry. Well, I say a week, I don't think I have ever last past day three of any previous diets before I am sneaking back down the shops for the biggest bar of dairy milk I can find! This year, however, I had another element to consider: I had to be able to run. Long runs, steady runs, hill runs and my first interval run all featured in the weeks running schedule, so being hungry and lethagic was most definately NOT an option - and I needed to make sure I was properly refueled after each session as well, both so the next run wasn't agony and to help keep injuries at bay. Now this caused me a dilemma - where was I going to find a diet that was both great for running mojo, and capable of getting me back into my skinny jeans before the next planned night out?! The answer? ZEST Magazine!
Now I have been a fan of this magazine for a long time - its always got great tips on being healthier and theres always some good events and new activities each month to put some 'zest' back into your life (not always the cheapest events I will admit, but I always get good ideas of new ways to spend my time and beat the boredom factor!). So this Christmas, when the January edition was squeezed into my christmas stocking, I read the '7 day super cleanse' with interest. Partly, because it promised me that I would not be hungry (something I was more than a little skeptical about - soooo many diets promise this and I am yet to find one where this is actually true!), but also because it seemed to contain all the nutrients a runner needs! The 7-day plan consisted of a large variety of vegetables, salad and fruit (great for carbohydrates and all the antioxidants my body would need following intense exercise), good quality protein from quinoa, pulses and fish, and essential fatty acids from nuts and seeds, alongside the oily fish. There was also a good supply of calcium rich foods - which as a women runner, particularly prone to shin splints, I try to eat a lot of. All in all, it seemed a pretty good plan to be starting with and so I carefully wrote out the weeks shopping list, headed off to the local supermarket, and prepared to be Super Cleansed!
First thing the next morning, I dug out my blender, prepared all the ingrediants for my breakfast - a 'red' smoothie... and then sat and looked at it. For a long time. So long in fact, that my housemate was actually starting to talk about lunch before I got on with making breakfast! I have to say, the combination of ingredients - which included both beetroot and grapefruit - really didn't sound very appetising at all, and I struggle to eat breakfast at the best of times! However, I had promised myself to give it a go, so finally I got on with the job of blending and chilling as instructed... and 20 minutes later took my first, very small, cautious sip. And.. it was YUM! I could happily have that every day - and despite only looking a small amount (a small glass was about 2 thirds full), it was suprisingly filling - possibly due to the seeds that were added in. Anyway, now more convinced on the recipes included on the plan, I tucked into the rest of the meals much more happily - and I have to say, there were only 2 in the whole week which I wouldn't make again. The first was a beansprout salad... I don't like beansprouts! and as this was the main ingredient, I did struggle with this a bit. The second was the dinner on the first day - stir-fryed veg and quinoa. Nothing wrong with this, but I found it a little boring to want to make again (although very filling and it does make you feel a bit virtuous having had such a healthy meal!).
So, having now completed the full seven days.. how good was the diet? Well - the positives (and I think there were lots!):
1. I lost weight! But not too fast... Over the week I lost 3lbs - a great kick-start to getting into shape, and enough for those skinny jeans to do up without looking like the zip might burst open at any time, but not so fast to make it un-sustainable (I always find if I drop lots of weight too quickly, it just seems to go back on even faster when I go back to normal eating!).
2. I upped my running times! This was something I didn't expect - yes, I thought I would be able to carry on my running schedule adequately to not fall behind on training, but i still expected to find the harder sessions.. well, harder (!) on less 'fuel'. But, possibly because I was eating the right nutrients, and because I was now drinking more water (something I am bad at remembering to do normally!), I found that I actually ran each mile faster than I had previously - without feeling any more tired either during or after each run.
3. My quality of sleep was Amaazing!! This was one of the best bits! Again, nothing that i expected and not something that Zest had mentioned as one of the benefits of the super cleanse, but from day 2 I slept like a log every night. Normally I am a very light sleeper and will wake up at least a couple of times a night, and can often feel groggy in the mornings. All week, I had a great nights sleep and woke up without feeling like I had to down large quantities of coffee before I could function.
4. I had bags of energy, all day every day! Which was probably annoying to everyone else who was still recovering from New Years Eve and the festive over-indulgence!
5. My skin was.. radiant! Thinking this was possibly again down to an increase in water consumption, along with the nuts and seeds and the huge uptake of vitamins and minerals the meals provided me with. My skin loved it! And it showed :-)
6. I loved the meals - apart from the 2 mentioned above, I would (and will!) happily eat all the meals/ food included on a regular basis - truely 'Delicious and Nutritious!!
7. It wasn't too expensive - compared to other 'diets' I have tried, the bill for this week came to a lot less, and used more common ingredients (no random, never before heard of herbs or supplements here!), making it more user-friendly!
of course, everything does have a downside, even if its only small - so for a balanced overview of how I found this week, heres the parts I found more difficult:
1. Some days, I was hungry :-( - This only applied to the evenings, on day's 2 and day 3, as I was never hungry during the day of after a run. On these days, however, dinner consisted of raw veg and a (healthy!) dip. Probably more psychological hunger than actually having my stomach rumble as I am used to having a hot 'meal' in the evenings, but I did find this hard!.On a side note, do make sure you make thses dips according to the instructions - I tried to 'cheat' by just sticking everything in the blender and turning it on... resulting in a very runny soup instead of a dip on day 2! Much harder to eat (I left most of it as it was either that or drink it from a cup, which didn't appeal..) and possibly a cause of why I was hungry!
2. I had to shop more often - some ingredients (beansprouts beiing the main one) have a very short shelf life, so I had to do 2 shops rather than the normal one - not a huge problem but a slight inconvienience.
3. Ermmm... ok so I can't think of a third negative! This plan was basically pretty good :-)
So, overall - if your a runner, I recommend this plan for a kickstart to a healthy new you! I feel heaps better than when I started and don't feel my running has suffered at all - if anything I found it got better (I did about 25 miles in the week, in a variety of sessions). Fingers crossed I can keep up the healthy eating for the rest of 2013!
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