Foodie on a detox

A good few years ago the great British public were being besieged with pictures of Countdown’s Carol Vorderman looking rather smug and svelte in a swimming costume. Anyone else remember this? Eventually, curiosity got the better of me and I purchased her “Summer Detox Plan”, not initially intending to follow it just to get an idea of what it involved. Such was her enthusiasm for the plan though, I decided to have a go at following it. And since I did most of the cooking and the meal preparation, D was told that he was going to be following it as well.

We didn’t do too badly – lasted nearly two weeks. It was a curry that broke us in the end I think. Anyway, the point is that after the initial shock to the system, we both felt very well on it, and (although I didn’t weigh myself back in those days so relied on instinct and tight jeans) lost a good few pounds in a relatively short space of time.

Recently, I’ve been a bit lackadaisical with the diet. Stress at work and one thing and another has led to quite a few greasy takeaways and more than a few pints of cider and bottles of wine. Things are improving, but even when I’m pointing, I’ve noticed that I’m not always making the best choices. I need something to give me a kick up the arse – mentally, even if not physically. The idea of a detox period – nothing too long, mind, has been playing on my mind for a little while and I had decided to go for it - if nothing else, to give myself a bit of a challenge.

The plan was to follow it for five days, starting yesterday, adopting the basic Vorderman principles of cutting out wheat, dairy, caffeine and, as far as possible, processed stuff but deviating slightly by including a small amount of white meat and fish alongside plenty of fruit, vegetables, water and peppermint tea. And keeping a tally of points to ensure reasonable portion sizes.

Unfortunately, I did such a good job of toxing on Saturday night (wine was involved) that I felt fairly deathlike yesterday and hot water with lemon juice was just not going to cut it – I think we’ll gloss over the actual contents of yesterday’s food diary, but it won’t take an awful lot of imagination for you to get the gist. So the detox was postponed briefly.

I’m on it today though, albeit with slightly less enthusiasm than when I was planning it last week. Currently, I’m enjoying an extremely juicy white nectarine, and there is a smoked mackerel salad sitting patiently in the fridge. Tea tonight may be a roasted red pepper and tomato soup, or possibly tuna steak with sweet potato and coriander mash. Hopefully, by the end of Thursday I’ll be glowing with health and all ready to start retoxing again.