1 Detox day per week – It can work wonders!

This thought came to me the first time in the year 2010. This is when I started travelling a lot for work and most of my travel brought me all the irregular and junk eating habits that I struggled to give up over the next some years.

In the year 2009 after I changed my job, my new assignment in my new organisation would require me to travel in states like MP, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Goa. All of these travels would include meeting with partners, employees and customers from these regions. Since it was new job responsibility I spent about 3 days a week traveling outside of the home town. This also meant, late night team dinners and flights at wee hours. Team dinners would mean – Liquor (yes in Gujarat too) and a lot of junk food. Being a complete foodie, I would look forward to this trips as it gave me opportunities at treating my taste buds with savouries like Fafda and Jalebi in Gujarat, Fish curry, Bebenca, Dodol in Goa, Malpua, Poha Jalebi in MP and Tambda Rassa Pandhra Rassa (Red curry, white curry) in Maharashtra. This is only some of the list. I really don’t intend to endorse any of these here.

With all the hogging I did over 2 years, the weight and waist line which was about 69 and 32 in 2009 suddenly went up to 78 and 36. During that time realisation struck and I started looking at options to diet and reduce weight, exercising was not my thing back then. I came across multiple detox diets at that time like the GM diet. I followed some and also saw that weight actually saw a southward movement. However, it would soon come back because me being me, would keep travelling and keep enjoying the food.

That’s when I thought let me try something rather more sustainable. I started walking/running and also started following 1 day detox per week. Tuesday was the day for me. I followed that routine for over 6 years from 2011 – 2017 and took a little break since I became a lil lazy in following it after I took my work sabbatical. But here we go, starting from Aug 2018 I have started doing this again and here is what I mean by a one day detox and what the benefits are.

Most of the detox diets would require you to go on a no sugar, only fruits, only veggies mode for about a week or so. These detox diets have their own challenges. Most of the people experience things like dizziness, dehydration, lack of energy, cramps, bloating, nausea etc. What a one day detox per week does is that, it is short, it acts like a reset for the week and is a reminder to your mind and body about how light it feels to eat healthy stuff. This also acts as a good motivation to get back to a healthy lifestyle.

How to go about it:

1. Decide on a day which is convenient for you. These days I keep it as Monday, since it is rest day from running and exercise and hence the body may not feel the need to have a lot of food.
2. Remember the detox day and keep it clean – Inspired from one of the 10 commandments
3. One day detox doesn’t mean that you have the license to go on a hogging spree on the rest of the days of the week. You will still need to be conscious of what you are eating
4. On the detox day u need to hydrate well – 4-5 ltrs of water atleast
5. Get a buy-in from your family 

Food that you should avoid:

1. Anything with added sugar
2. No Processed foods
3. No added salt
4. No foods with preservatives
5. Avoid meat for a day
6. Avoid milk – It is heavy to digest

Foods that you should have:

1. Fruits
2. Raw veggies
3. Nuts and seeds
4. Plant based protein – lentils, peanuts, chia seeds some examples

Here is what could be your detox day meals could look like:

6.00  – 2 glasses of warm water with lime and honey

6.30 – Some nuts and glass of smoothie – don’t add milk. Coconut milk could do

8.00 – Black tea and some fruit – may be an apple

10.00 – Carrot and Cucumber salad

12.00 – Soup, Boiled veggies

15.00 – Peanuts, Grams – handful

17.00 – Black tea

19.00 – Fruit – Orange, Pomegranate – some example – avoid Banana

21.00 – Veg Soup for dinner

Before you go to bed – thank your body for what it helps you to do throughout the day and the week.

This is my take on the one day detox per week.  I have seen benefits of this in the past and if it is followed for a long period can be really rewarding.

Please note I am not an expert dietitian, this is suggested basis my experience and my learning during my nutrition sessions as a part of my Marathon training course from American College of Sports Medicine.

If at all you follow this, please share feedback with me on – devendra.mane@gmail.com or leave a comment here.

All the best!