I must admit, I am surprised (and excited) at the weight loss I’ve already experienced. In three days, I’ve lost close to 4 pounds. Yesterday (day 3), I didn’t get as much food and water in me as I would have liked, so it’s possible I was a bit dehydrated when I weighed myself. Tomorrow should reveal when I weigh myself again.

For those that know me, they understand weight loss is an extremely hard thing for me. My workouts are intense (krav maga and cross fit training) and I am careful about what I eat. Losing simply one pound seems to take weeks for me, though. That’s why I have been so shocked that lack of gluten, dairy and caffeine has had such a tremendous impact on my weight loss.

I’m very curious to see what the remaining 11 days hold in store – and how simple it will (or won’t) be to maintain the weight loss. Clearly there is something to be said about a gluten-free diet. I wonder if simply replacing wheat with gluten-free substitutes will be enough to maintain the loss, though, because I do enjoy a nice cup of coffee and would hate to give that up!

Day 2 Meals:
Breakfast: 4 egg whites, strawberries
Snack: Almonds
Lunch: Chicken & apple sausage, grapes & strawberries
Snack: Whey protein shake
Dinner: Lean ground turkey, brown rice and black beans

Day 3 Meals:
Breakfast: 4 egg whites
Snack: Apple
Lunch: Spinach salad with strawberries and pecans
Snack: Whey protein shake
Dinner: Lean ground turkey, brown rice and black beans

Day one started and ended on a not so lovely note: allergies. Congestion got the best of me, and I spent most of the day extremely dizzy with a headache…but that was no excuse for launching the detox diet! I think it might actually be a blessing in disguise, though, because I’m not feeling any caffeine withdrawal – or, if I am, allergies are disguising the cravings! My pantry is stocked with organic and gluten-free options, and my fridge has never hosted so many veggies and fruit selections.

Kicking off a successful day one was the following:

Breakfast: 4 egg whites, apple
Snack: carrots, almonds
Lunch: Grilled chicken, mashed potatoes, spinach salad with strawberries
Snack: Whey protein shake, carrots
Dinner: Chicken & Apple sausage, organic pinto beans

Half way through day 2, and I turned down lunch at one of my favorite Tex-Mex selections – Chuy’s. Only 12.5 more days to go!

I’ve always hated the term “detox” – it brings to mind some awful citrus water blend that is supposed to act as a substitute for food. Weeks upon weeks of no food – but this special blend of citrus is supposed to provide all the nutrients your body needs? Sure you’ll lose weight – it’s called starvation!

That being said, I was skeptical when my husband bought me a book called The Hormone Diet. Let’s face it; anything with the word “diet” is bunk. Getting healthy and losing weight is called a “lifestyle change.” I was pleasantly surprised, though, to see that this version of detox wasn’t the awful fads that can cause so much damage. This diet, in a nutshell, is really about eating organically and resetting your system by removing unhealthy hormones.

The abbreviated list of goods: poulty, veggies (except corn), fruit (except citrus), rice, rice products (rice wheat, rice cakes, rice krispies…just kidding), nuts (except peanuts), soy products, eggs (score!), olive oil, soy/almond milk

The abbreviated list of bads: red meat, wheat (no!), caffeine (double no!), alcohol (shoot me – this is horrible!), sweets, and the exceptions listed above

After 10 days of detox, each problem food is introduced over a course of 4 days, one at a time, all in the name of science….sort of. From that point on, healthy and educated meal plans can be devised – and the book includes some recipes that I cannot wait to begin making.

So, I’m about to embark on a super detox that doesn’t include my favorites: wheat, alcohol and caffeine. Let’s call it my 14 days of hell…

I am excited, though, about resetting my system and truly discovering if items like dairy and gluten are the root cause of my inability to lose that nagging last 5-10 pounds that continue to plague me. I thought I had the lifestyle change down, but this could truly be the answer to how my system functions, and what hormones are imbalanced.

So, join me as I embark on a journey into the world of organic foods. And I thought it was only for hippies!

I’m still here – letting Meagan kick my butt at the wee hours of the morning, only to trudge back home to quickly devour espresso. Sticking to calorie counting can be difficult, but yesterday I was going particularly well and was very proud of myself. Unfortunately, my husband decided to do something really sweet…literally.

He came home with donuts last night, proud he had thought to quench my sweet tooth before the craving hit. Unfortunately, that meant I got to stare at a bag of Shipley’s donuts all night…and come home starving from my workout this morning to once again see those Shipley’s donuts. Fortunately, the outcome of the Battle of the Donuts is Ashleigh: 1, Food: 0.

7/11/2010: Food Log
Pre-Cardio: Protein Shake, Banana (200 calories)
Breakfast: 3 egg whites, 2 turkey bacon, wheat toast, skim latte (275 calories)
Snack: FiberOne Bar, Lowfat cheese (210 calories)
Dinner: Turkey Spaghetti and Wheat Pasta (450 calories)
Dessert: Skinny Cow Ice Cream (150 calories)
Total Calories: 1285

Exercise: 45 minutes on the elliptical – my ankle seems to FINALLY be healing a bit!

7/12/2010: Food Log
Pre-Cardio: FiberOne Cereal with skim milk, Banana (190 calories)
Snack: FiberOne Bar, Peanuts (200 calories)
Lunch: 1/2 turkey sandwich on wheat, yogurt (230 calories)
Snack: Rice cake with 1 tsp peanut butter (200 calories)
Dinner: Breaded Chicken Patty, mashed potatoes (400 calories)
Snack: Peanuts (75 calories)
Dessert: Skinny Cow Ice Cream (150 calories)
Total Calories: 1295

Exercise: 35 minutes on stationary bike

Weekends are tough to stay on track with eating, so I’ll skip my weekend log and move on to this week; Saturday night’s dinner at Chuy’s put me over the top on calories and sodium. So, I climb back on the wagon and continue my quest. Food won this past weekend, but, occasional indulgences are necessary for maintaining sanity.

6/28/2010: Food Log
Pre-Weights: FiberOne cereal (1/2 cup) with skim milk (100 calories)
Breakfast: 3 egg whites, 2% kraft cheese, 2 turkey bacon and wheat toast (240 calories)
Snack: Protein Shake (110 calories)
Lunch: Tortilla with Turkey Sausage, yogurt (370 calories)
Dinner: Chicken patty, black beans (300 calories)
Total Calories: 1120

Exercise: 45 minutes resistance training with Meagan, 38 minutes on the elliptical

6/29/2010: Food Log
Pre-Weights: FiberOne cereal (1/2 cup) with skim milk (100 calories)
Breakfast: 3 egg whites, 2 turkey bacon and black beans (260 calories)
Lunch: Turkey Sausage, yogurt (250 calories)
Snack: Americano, shortbread cookies (180 calories)
Dinner: Chicken sandwich on bun (600 calories)
Total Calories: 1390

Exercise: 45 minutes resistance training with Meagan

6/30/2010: Food Log
Breakfast: 3 egg whites and black beans (175 calories)
Snack: Protein Shake (110 calories)
Lunch: Chicken/pasta Lean Cuisine dish, FiberOne bar (380 calories)
Snack: FiberOne bar….quite an obsession! (140 calories)
Dinner: Mini turkey sausage with Salt Lick BBQ (delish!), Instant mashed potatoes (not so delish!) (450 calories)
Total Calories: 1255

Exercise: whoops….got busy and forgot to do my cardio!