Week 1

As I've mentioned in my previous post, I am currently on a 21 day detox by Dr. Joshi, health guru to celebs like Gwyneth Paltrow.

The gist of it is that our current food system, our demand and our attitude of putting food on a pedestal has taken it's toll on our health. We want the food that we enjoy to be available all the time even if it means that it has to be harvested while still unripe and flown 10000km to reach our supermarkets. Or our consumption and demand for sugar which has gone up has pushed industries to create artificial and cheaper forms of sugar ie. high fructose corn syrup. I understand that the usage is banned in commercial products in Australia but very commonly used in confectionary production in the US. Our bodies were never meant to process all these 'chemicals'.

So, the plan is-

• No wheat or gluten products
• No red meat
• No fruits except organic bananas. Reason being sugars even natural sugars do not allow our body to break down our fat stores as the body will prefer sugar as a source of energy
• No junk food, chocolate, char siu pau etc
• No vinegar, ketchup and sauces
• No yeast products
• No coffee or black tea
• Eat lots of fresh produce

It may sound like a no brainer but having a plan and alternatives helps.

I remember during the end of the 1st week of the detox last year, I was feeling fantastic. This time, not as much. I'm a bit disappointed but there may be a few things that could be the reason. I need to wake up at 4am for work. I had a few naughty moments. A few of them justifiable.

Highlights
Learning how to use fennel, parsnip and kale.
Decrease in sugar cravings.
Making my own vegetable stock for the first time.
Rediscovering my love for cooking. I lost interest in cooking for most of winter. I got so desperate that I resorted to an Indian catering service for meals. I had Indian food for a good 2 weeks!

Not so fun times
Preparing beetroot. Geez, it should come with a warning sign. Amateurs/ clumsy folks stay away! I used a hand held mixer to pulverize the boiled beetroot into soup and I ended up with a crime scene.
I’m wishing so badly for a plate of combination broken rice.

Onto week 2....