The Harcombe Diet - Day 1 of Detox

Official Weigh-In: 138.9
What I'd like to weigh: 110-115

Today was the first day of Phase I of the Harcombe Diet--the first of five days of detoxing from harmful gunk in my body. Not having morning coffee was rough. In fact I made a little pot of good decaf (French Roast) because I thought at least the ritual of making coffee, smelling it, wrapping my hands around the warm mug would help. But no dairy the first five days--and I need cream in my coffee. I tried sipping black decaf, but it was not satisfying!

By the time I got to work I was sleepy, but no headaches or anything. Breakfast was a bowl of oatmeal with cinnamon (a lot of cinnamon because oatmeal has very little taste without brown sugar, milk...or at least a few raisins)! It was tasteless, but filled me up.

Around 11am the headache came on. I was surprised it took so long. I took some Ibuprofen, which helped a little. Lunch was some very good, all natural vegetable soup Mark and I made last night, along with a salad. I made yogurt dressing for it (yogurt is the only dairy permitted during the 5-day detox period).

Lunch was filling and helped the headache, but I had incredible sugar cravings afterward. The cravings were so bad I almost caved on day one. But I kept reminding myself how much I want this to work. Next week I can have fruit again and that will help with the sweet cravings. Instead of going for a chocolate bar, I went for a walk. The weather was nice, and it perked me up a bit.

The day went along okay until around 3pm, then the headache came back with a vengeance. It got so bad I started feeling nauseous. I gave up and left work at 4:40. I stopped at the little local grocery store to stock up on legal snacks so I wouldn't get so hungry tomorrow. What I was really craving was meat--which is odd since I don't eat meat (except fish). I wanted some deli turkey to munch on at work to keep me satisfied. Unfortunately, while exploring my turkey choices I discovered that all the deli meat--even the stuff behind the meat counter--has processed crap in it. Mala dextrose, corn syrup, etc. So deli turkey wasn't an option.

Desperate for something in my stomach because I really felt like I was going to be sick, I bought a rotisserie chicken (again, very strange purchase for me...haven't had chicken in awhile now). When I got home I devoured half of it. It made my stomach feel better.

It's weird because this diet is not a calorie-restrictive diet. You're suppose to feed your body when it's hungry. I just didn't bring enough food to work to do that. And I'm not sure what was with the meat craving. I typically find meat fairly repulsive.

Hopefully tomorrow will be better. She warns that the first three days are rough. My head is still throbbing. I sure hope it's all worth it!