Saturday fitness post: Healthy detox

I had a detox week previous week and today I'm going to talk about it, because sharing is caring ;) And maybe some of you decide to do it as well, so I give you all instructions how and what to follow. Let's just start.

This detox diet is based on Savina Atai (I believe she didn't come up with it or maybe she did, who knows :)), famous Slovene super food nutritionist, face yoga instructor, author of a best selling book and many more :). You can read about this detox in her online magazine (in Slovene): HERE (pages 51 - 57).


What NOT to eat
Any form of sugar (white and brown), white flour, grains with gluten, potatoes, all starchy carbs, pulses (except for lentils), fruit (allowed only in morning smoothie; lemon and grapefruit also during the day), dry fruit, nuts (except for almonds), dairy products (except for kefir), processed food in general (anything packaged and with long lists), red meat, honey, agave.

Source: Pinterest.

What CAN you eat
Enlarge consuming of vegetables and healthy fats!
Vegetables should be in every meal (cooked or raw or both), especially green leafy vegetables (they contain most amount of protein, provide oxygen to our body and regulate insulin). Don't be afraid to eat healthy fats: avocado, olive oil, coconut oil, hemp oil, pumpkin seed oil.
Occasionally you can eat seeds: chia seeds, hemp seeds and black sesame seeds. Eggs, fish, algae and white meat (chicken, turkey, fish) can be also consumed if you like to.
Gluten-free grains are allowed in one meal per day: buckwheat, quinoa, polenta, wholegrain rice, amaranth.
You mainly eat and drink smoothies, salads, soups, teas, healthy fats, eggs and fish.

Other instructions
Right after you wake up, drink 0,5 L of water with pinch of Himalayan salt OR tea spoon of spirulina. (I drank 0,5 L of regular water, later I drank hot water with lemon juice and separately I consumed 1 tea spoon of spirulina mixed in little bit of water).

You have 3 main courses during the day:
BREAKFAST should be the biggest meal: between 7.00 - 9.00AM
LUNCH between 11.00AM and 1.00PM
DINNER (last meal) until 5.00PM. After this hour you can have only vegetable soup or smoothie (I assume it should be made out of vegetables) and teas.
Go to bed before 10.30PM (at night out body is restoring and healing, we should be inactive in that time until morning).

The only workout written in the instructions are Face Force yoga practice (face yoga), breathing exercise and exercise for breasts.
Face yoga and exercise for breast regulate our hormones, emotions, stimulates lymphetic system, both help with losing weight and maintaining weight, help us to remain young and energetic and this post would be too long if I listed all the benefits - maybe next time ;)

Savina Atai in the picture doing Face force yoga: I know it looks weird, but it's rewarding ;) Source: Google.

What is the purpose of this detox?
Main purpose of this detox is to prevent spring fatigue and to restore our system and support our natural cycle (detox instructions were published more than one month ago for the first time, when we still had snow). Many people start with "spring cleaning" of the body when spring fatigue already kicks in. When that happens, we tire our system even more with detox, especially because many people do it wrong (they enlarge fruit content, don't eat enough healthy fats, they don't eat enough vegetables, they don't consider natural cycle).
I would say that now is the last time to do this detox if you'd like to, before official spring comes, to support our body - nature is waking up, we should wake up our bodies as well.

Source: Pinterest.

My experience

I started with this detox week on Tuesday, February 25th enthusiastically and super excited, even though I slept for only 5 hours with waking up in between. In the afternoon I felt extremely tired and not energetic at all. Went to bed earlier than usually.
First three days I was slightly tired, getting used to my new sleeping rhythm. Even though it says that you should be in bed at 10.30PM, I usually went at 11.00PM, I practiced waking up around 8.00AM. I slept really good, my body was really resting while I was in bed, the only "problem" I had, was that I usually needed go to pee during the night, because I drank so much water ;)
After three days I started to feel more energized, more myself again, waking up earlier wasn't a problem anymore and going to bed earlier was even less of a problem, because I felt tired and I slept like a baby :).
My meals were similar almost every day, I got slightly sick and tired of them after few days, so I recommend you prepare a list of meals you can eat and stock your fridge with all the ingredients.

Every day I had green smoothie for brerakfast (I used spinach for greens, banana, strawberries or mixed berries, orange or lemon juice and regular water or coconut water). Lunch was usually a vegetable or lentil soup or/and a salad. Dinner was soup leftovers or a salad and I had my last meal until 5.30PM, because I usually wasn't at home in time for dinner, so I cheated a little ;)
During the day I drank teas, water and sometimes I made myself a lemonade with lemon and grapefruit juice. Or water with little bit of salt.

Source: Pinterest.

Fourth and fifth day I had little bit of crisis, because I was craving nuts and I missed having beans or chickpeas in a salad, and eating fruit during the day (was craving something sweet and juicy in the afternoon), but I got over it. Instead of beans, I added cooked lentils in a salad, I drank lemonade to satisfy my fruit cravings and I bought almonds and ate them all :). I wish I prepared myself more to have more variations of recipes, but it wasn't hard at all. But most importantly, I was not hungry or deprived (but I love vegetables in general).

I didn't do the exercises that are mentioned in the magazine, but I did Face Force yoga exercises (I have a book, thanks to my friend ;)) and stretching yoga (especially for my back) or yoga for detox. I also did meditation for healing and meditation for chakras.

Benefits
At the end of the detox I notice I had more energy and I woke up easily early in the morning without being tired (I now wake up around 7.30AM with no problem). Skin on my face looks brighter and healthier, I've noticed skin on my body is tighter and cellulite less visible, I believe I even lost few kilograms. But most importantly, I feel happier ;)

Would I repeat it?
Yes, but probably not for whole week, maybe for the weekend. Always up for a challenge :)


I didn't include any recipes in this post, because it would be even longer than it already is. Tell me if you'd like me to share some recipes with you. :)

Will you try this detox? Have you ever tried to detox? Was it successful?

And happy International Women's day to all my ladies! <3

Follow me:  

Bloglovin | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram