Five Day Detox

I have to admit: I was extremely depressed yesterday. Going home from the beach is always depressing. There have been a few years where my week didn't exactly go as planned, so I was kind of ready for the day we returned home, but not this year. It couldn't have been a more perfect vacation with my little family! I can only hope our future trips will be as enjoyable as this one!

On top of the sadness from leaving paradise, I felt like crap. I felt like crap because I kind of ate like crap all week. I didn't log calories, and I paid little attention to portion size. I ate what I wanted when I wanted with hardly a regard to how it would make me feel in the long run. Big mistake, Kate. I felt so bloated and gross on the way home. I needed a huge glass of ice cold lemon water and a steaming hot shower!

I used my phone to browse a few detox plans online as we travelled home to Mississippi. I've never done a cleanse or detox and to be honest, they don't at all appeal to me. Many of my friends have done those ridiculous juice cleanses that supposedly help you shed anywhere from five to fifteen pounds in a week or two, but none of them, to my knowledge, have ever finished. I think the problem with many of these quick cleanses is that they're too restrictive and nowhere near satisfying, so after a bit of research, I decided to create my own balanced detox that's affordable for my budget and sustainable for my body.

Food is fuel and it's especially important if you work out several times a week like I do, so I created a plan that will fuel my body while cleansing and repairing it at the same time. A week of junk food lunches and Cokes by the pool did not do me any favors!

After a much-needed post-roadtrip nap, we drove to Kroger for a few items for my five day detox. I grabbed a huge container of organic spring mix, on sale for $3.99, a bundle of organic spinach, Marie's balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing, 3 lemons, 4 limes (on sale 4 for $1), strawberries, blueberries, organic bananas, and two kinds of almond milk (Simple Truth brand had a $1.99 sale, so I decided to try their unsweetened version). I'll be posting photos and recipes of all my meals and smoothies at the end of this week. Keep in mind that this is not a super strict cleanse; this is basically the way I was eating in the first couple weeks of this summer but with some added antioxidant smoothies and a lower calorie intake for a few days. For now, I've got a pretty solid idea of how I want to do this, so I won't go into specifics just yet. I'll weigh tomorrow morning and am excited to see the results this week and share with you on Friday!

Last, I want to include how affordable these items were at Kroger. When looking at most grocery lists for detoxes and cleanses, I'm amazed at how expensive everything is... and most of it won't last longer than a few days! I'm keeping it simple and am going to get really creative with basic, clean foods this week. I can't wait to share more with you later on!

My budget, even with formula for Vaught, was $35, and I highlighted the "impulse buys." Without those, I would have been right on target!

Come back tomorrow to read about Monday and Tuesday of our family vacation!