Today I embarked upon a comprehensive 30-day detoxification programme.

I’ve been toying with the idea of doing a “detox” for some time now, and the timimg seems particularly good right now; in addition to cleansing my body of both the excesses of the recent holiday period and a prior lifetime-to-date’s worth of accumulated toxins, January is typically a fairly quiet period socially, and it also seems like a good way to eke out my dwindling funds a little longer while I find another job! Plus, my friend Scyld is doing his second detox, and it seems like the kind of exercise that’s easier to do with a friend’s support.

Anyway, the programme I’m doing (at Scyld’s recommendation) is the “30-Day Ultimate Detox,” as prescribed in the books “Total Detox” and “Detox Yourself” by British author Jane Scrivner (filthy lucre links below):

The dietary part of the programme is very strict; alcohol, caffeine, sugar, salt, meat, dairy, eggs, bread, and chocolate are all strictly verboten, as are some more surprising foods such as avocados, bananas, lentils, mushrooms, oranges, peanuts, spinach and tomatoes.

The programme also includes “body” and “mind” components, with various prescriptions about exercise, breathing, exfoliation and positive thinking etc., although I will probably take a somewhat more liberal attitude towards these aspects of the programme.

Anyway, after acquiring most of the necessary supplies at great expense from the health food store earlier in the week and taking some reference measurements yesterday for weight and blood pressure (168.6 lbs & 128/81 mm Hg respectively), I finally started the programme this morning.

I started my day with a pint of hot water mixed with the juice of half a lemon, then had a breakfast of half a canteloupe melon with vanilla soy yoghurt, cranberries, almonds and honey, followed by garlic and kelp supplements in tablet form washed down with a glass of carrot juice. Apart from the carrot juice (which was gross) it was actually delicious, although technically the yoghurt wasn’t completely kosher because it contained cane juice. However, although tasty, breakfast wasn’t very filling, and I was hungry pretty much immediately afterwards.

Later in the day I went shopping with Scyld, who showed me how to make roasted veggies for lunch — potatoes, yams, parsnips, onions, beetroot and garlic, all drizzled in olive oil and herbs and roasted in the oven. They were pretty good, although they took a long time to cook.

For dinner, I had some tilapia baked in foil with an olive oil, lemon juice and herb marinade, along with my mandatory daily serving of short-grain brown rice and some spring mix salad with a simple olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing.

For treats during the day, I’ve been eating carob-coated almonds with no added sugar… This is probably cheating, since they taste pretty sweet anyway, but I figure a few minor concessions at the start is OK.

On the whole, the first day on the detox hasn’t been too bad, and hopefully it will get progressively easier as I get more familiar with the preparation methods (although it’s definitely going to be much more time-consuming than my regular diet). I don’t really have any strong cravings or adverse reactions so far either, which is fortunate. Perhaps the very slightest hint of a caffeine withdrawal headache, and I perhaps feel a little more tired than usual for this time of night, but nothing problematic as yet.

Anyway, I’ll post further updates on how I get along in due course.