One New Thing #17: 4 Day Liver Detox
One New Thing #: 17
What: 4 Day Liver Detox
Where: My home
Cost: Cost of groceries + extra things like green drink. $100?
Fave thing: Truly I felt really good eating this way- I loved the emphasis on fish and salads. I could eat SO MUCH fruit so the fruit salad each morning for breakfast was divine!
I decided to do this 4 day liver detox diet pretty much on a whim while reading Woman Code by Alisa Vitti. She is an expert on women’s hormonal health and I am interested in being the healthiest version of myself. I had also been feeling a little bloated and sluggish and wanted to do a brief diet reset. You can sign up for her email list here to get a PDF that explains the detox and the grocery list, but it also had prompt questions that I wanted to include here along with my “detox diary notes.”
WHAT DO I WANT TO GET OUT OF THIS?
To reset hormones too try to ease period cramps.
To be the healthiest version of myself
Get my digestive system flowing again (it’s been not quite right!)
Clear out my body of toxins
Reducing caffeine
DETOX DIARY DAY 1
9:00 AM - breakfast
food: HUGE bowl of fruit (1 granny smith apple, 1 pear, 2 strawberries, handful of blueberries, lemon juice + flax meal), green tea and green drink
chewing 30 times! that’s a lot! But I noticed I could taste my food more, meals lasted longer, felt more like an event
I felt full, but light. Not heavy like when we eat french toast + lots of protein
also had to pee a lot. drinking 3 drinks in the morning.
1:21 PM - lunch
good: brown rice with flax meal, salmon, bok choy salad (bok choy, sprouts, red onion, green apple with lemon juice salt and olive oil).
noticed I was getting a slight headache having waited too long to eat (3-3.5 hrs between meals, not 4.5!)
Felt 80% full. Satisfied.
4 PM - snack
two large carrots
herbal tea
7 PM - dinner
veggie soup
DETOX DIARY DAY 2
9 AM - breakfast
Food: lemon water, fruit salad (reduced to less fruit than the day before), green drink, green tea
I’ve been fine with the reduced caffeine - around 50 grams vs. our typical coffee - a 12-16 oz pour over has around 200 grams!!!!!
TMI but I had a good poop! We’ve been tracking our bowl movements via chart (yes, there’s a chart with photos that say what your poop should look like) and mine was a solid 3.
12 PM - lunch
Food: bok choy salad, brown rice with flax meal, salmon
Water
4 PM - snack
food: Kale salad + brown rice
I was REALLY hungry at this time, mainly because I ate earlier than the day before.
5:15 PM - dinner
veggie soup
DETOX DIARY DAY 3
9 AM - breakfast
Food: lemon water, fruit salad (reduced to less fruit than the day before), green drink, green tea
I’m cool with all the fruit, I LOVE it. It would be really good with the addition of some dairy free yogurt too.
12 PM - lunch
Food: LARGE salad with brown rice + ½ avocado
kale salad, brown rice with flax meal, cod (not my fave!)
Water
3 PM - snack
Snuck a little nut butter and apple bc I was hungry
Nut butter is on the grocery list, but it doesn’t show up in the detox till day 4
6:30 PM - dinner
veggie soup
By this day, I was so OVER the soup. It was just bland.
DETOX DIARY DAY 4
9 AM - breakfast
Food: lemon water, fruit salad WITH the addition of nut butter! I did almond and it was super yummy, green drink, green tea
I really focused this whole time on eating slow and It’s something I think I can/ will carry over
12 PM - lunch
Food: salad, rice + flax meal, cod. This was NOT my favorite fish. I ate half and that was it. I liked it *better* than I thought I would, but we’ll stick with salmon.
Water
3 PM - snack
(honestly I forget, but I know I had a snack!)
6:30 PM - dinner
Food: Brown rice, Sauteed swiss chard
This meal was surprisingly satisfying! I had never had swiss chard but it was really good and just being veggie for dinner was nice!
Overall summary:
I loved getting back to salads and fish. I think it will be nice, especially with hotter months of summer. I had gotten away from these foods and I loved eating them!
Trying new veggies was fun, like the swiss chard
I also loved the green drink and drinking less coffee. NOT being dependent on coffee was a great plus for me!
I’m not going to do this specific detox again any time soon (don’t really see a need), but I did enjoy the experiment and I am taking away a lot of what I learned. I’m going to continue doing more research on the effects of food and my cycle and we’ll see if any of THAT info makes it into a ONT. ;)