Several of my friends are doing some type of detox where they drink a gallon of dandelion tea (with a few other things mixed in) a day and eat paleo for a week.  I was interested, but when I searched dandelion tea to see if it has any drug interactions, I discovered that it would decrease the effectiveness of my anti-anxiety med because it changes the way things are metabolized in the liver.  It’s really important to pay attention to those types of things, folks.  Every time I try a new supplement or herbal remedy, I always check out any possible interactions with my prescription meds; I highly recommend that you do the same.

Anyway, I was bummed about not being able to participate in that detox; I know that the whole “cleanse” concept is largely a fad, but sometimes a “hard reset” can be helpful in jump-starting new habits and breaking through weight-loss plateaus. And I’m solidly in the middle of a plateau, and it sucks.

I decided earlier today that I’d do my own “Real Food Reset” and ratchet things down a bit for the next week or two so I can bust through the plateau and start feeling better.  There’s no crazy or unhealthy restrictions; I’m just going to focus on eating real, whole food and cutting out the extra stuff that’s making me feel bad.  Here are my parameters:

1. No grains at all.
2. No sugar (including honey and, for the most part, fruit).
3. Minimal Dairy (I’m still going to do cream in my coffee and a *very* small amount of cheese).
4. LOTS of veggies.
5. Plenty of Healthy Fats (avocados, olives, grass-fed butter, coconut oil, etc).
6. Drink 3 Liters of water a day.

One of the problems with going low-carb is that cheese becomes the go-to snack; hungry?  Have a string cheese.  Or a Babybel.  Looking for a sweet breakfast?  Ricotta with vanilla extract and stevia.  Also, cheese is my favorite food in the entire world.  I’m certainly not planning to give it up forever, but I do need a break for a bit so I’m not quite so dependent.

Tonight, we made some delicious chicken/veggie soup; I’ll write up the recipe and post it later.

Also, I’m not a doctor, blahblahblah; I don’t even play one on tv.  I’m a rational, educated human being who is capable of doing research and creating a reasonable diet plan, and you absolutely shouldn’t do anything regarding any detox or cleanse just because I’ve decided to tidy up my eating.  I’m a Libertarian; do your own research, make your own decisions, and leave me out of it ;).

Wordless Wednesday to come tomorrow.  Work has been extremely stressful, so I’m hoping it’ll be a quiet enough day that I can notice and capture the small beauties that we often overlook.

Like coffee in a delicate mug with a kitten perched atop.

It’s the little things.