Goodbye, Diet Coke and Hello Detox!

Today is the last day before I make the transition.  One of the steps to being healthier is it not drink Diet Coke anymore.  I just don't mean Diet Coke only.  I mean all soda in general.  I have been reading how bad diet soda is for you.  Not only does it have lots of chemicals in it, but it can sabotage your weight loss efforts.  It can "trick" your body into feeling hungry and craving sweets.  I need all the help I can get, and if that means to give up diet soda....I will do it!!  So today, I opened my last diet coke.  I have been drinking it all day.  I say good bye to you Diet Coke!  

Tomorrow I start detox.  Detox is for 7 days, and I will eat lots of vegetables, some fruit, and LOTS of water!  Today I make a HUGE pot of vegetable soup.  Here is a pic of the veggies I used:

Included in the pile is celery, carrots, onion, sweet potato, red, yellow, green and orange peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, green cabbage, diced tomatoes and vegetable broth.  I also added some black pepper, lots of garlic, bay leaf, oregano and basil.  I am letting it cool now so that I can put it into individual servings to make it easier for the week. I know that if I am not prepared, I tend to not be successful, so I want to make sure I am planned for each week! 

I am not going to lie....detox can be hard.  But I know it is going to be well worth it.  I was listening to a TLS person explain what detox is like.  Think about changing the oil in your car.  If you put in the good oil, that's great, but if all the bad stuff is still in your car, it's not going to work right.  Detox is like cleaning out the oil, yucky oil in your car, so that the new, good oil can help your car run better!  But instead of your car, it's your body....and it's not oil, but healthy foods.

So, this week, I am planning on starting the day with some warm lemon water.  I will then take my supplements, and prepare a blueberry/spinach "smoothie".  That "smothie" is not really a smoothie.  It will be a cup of frozen blueberries, lots of baby spinach, and some water in the blender.  I will take one to eat on the way to work, and another for a snack during the day.  I am also bringing an apple, a bag of veggies (carrots, sliced peppers, grape tomatoes) and a small container of balsamic vinegar to dip them in.  I will also be bringing a container of the veggie soup I made as well as a HUGE container of water.

Water is going to be a problem.  It usually is for me.  I know I don't drink enough.  Part of the reason is that when I drink a lot of water, I have to go to the bathroom every 15 minutes.  Really, I am not exaggerating.  15 minutes.  When you are a teacher and responsible for 25 students, it is hard to run to the bathroom every 15 minutes!  I am still going to try to get my entire large container of water done throughout the day, so that I will be done before I go home.  I know I am going to have to use the bathroom a lot, so I am going to talk to my neighbors near my classroom, to see if we can work something out.

Anyway, tomorrow is the start of my transition to a healthy lifestyle.  Every Sunday, I am going to list my plans so that I am prepared for the week.  This week is easy:

Monday - Sunday:  Vegetables, 3 servings of fruit, tons of water each day.

Next Sunday, I should have some more interesting meal plans!  This week, it is just going to be to be sure that I have all the food and water I need and to be prepared!!

Now I have to go and get my vegetable soup into containers for lunch this week!