I tried a 7-day "Functional Medicine Detox". Here's how it went

Let me start out by saying a couple of things:

• This was NOT a quick fix weight loss program
• Everyone responds quite differently to these type of things, depending on a long list of variables

Now that we have that out of the way, let me get to my reasons behind trying this and my experience.

I have been dealing with a LOT of reactions to certain foods lately. I have been having recurrent eczema breakouts around my eyes and they were just getting worse and more frequent despite me avoiding all the foods that I had thought were triggering the reactions. I made an appointment with an allergist, and will be getting the results of some labwork back this week so will see if that sheds any light on my issues. I have also been working with a  functional medicine practitioner, however we still have not been able to clear up these skin issues(likely related to toxic mold exposure, which we are addressing, however, it's not a quick solution). 

SO... I follow Dr. Stephen Cabral on social media and listen to his podcast and resonate with his Functional Medicine approach so did some research into his detox program. This can be done as a 7, 14, or 21-day program and supports the body's natural detox pathways so I thought I would give it a try. 

I did not set out to lose any weight on this program. I wanted to give my body a break and a chance to reset and see if it helped my eczema breakouts around my eyes. I will say that I listened to several podcasts he has regarding this detox. and was relieved to hear that I could keep my decaf coffee if I chose to!! I know, I know... I really should have given that up too, but I did a full elimination diet about a year ago and gave up coffee for 21 days, and once I added it back in I didn't notice any issues. SO, the coffee stayed. 

The program starts with 2 days of basically a nutritionally supported fast. You drink 1 scoop of his protein powder in 20 oz of water 4x/day which is equivalent to 240 calories. Total. For the day! It also includes taking supplements 2x/day.

Days 3-7 are:

• 1 shake for breakfast(2 scoops of the protein powder)
• Vegetarian based lunch
• 1 shake for a mid-afternoon snack(2 scoops of protein powder)
• Paleo or vegetarian dinner
• supplements 2x/day

Days 3-7 weren't going to be a huge departure from my normal routine. After listening to his podcasts that he recommends supporting the detox, he did say that you could add berries and use non-dairy milk for the smoothies if weight loss was not your primary goal. So it seems that I was ALL about finding the "loopholes" in this program and figuring out how far I could push it and still be technically doing the detox. LOL!

What were my takeaways??

To be honest, I only made it 5 days. And if we are being REALLY honest, I only followed it to the letter the first 3 days. 

• Day 1:  I was SUPER nauseous, so only drinking this protein powder 4x/day and not eating was no big deal. I had to force myself to drink the last one in the evening. It was Super Bowl Sunday and I had zero desire to partake in my hubby's snacks for the game since the nausea was so bad. I struggled to get to sleep. 

• Day 2: Nausea had subsided, and I added 1/2 cup of berries to one of the shakes since it was leg day at the gym and I needed a little something. I was really cold all day and settled into an Epsom salt bath at night to try to warm up.  Still struggling to sleep.

• Day 3: YAY.. I get to add some food!! I was really looking forward to my lunch and dinner. Lunch was a salad with a ton of veggies, olive oil, and chickpeas as my protein source. I also had 1/2 cup of berries in my mid-afternoon shake since it was another gym day. Dinner was ground turkey breast and roasted veggies, so not really anything different from what I usually eat. I was still really cold and struggled to sleep AGAIN

• Day 4: I HAVE to get some sleep!!!  I added berries to my morning and afternoon shakes, had chickpeas again for lunch, and ate a TON of roasted veggies and chicken at dinner. I also had some Valentine's chocolate today. The lack of sleep was really making me crave sweets and I gave in.  I realized that my GI system, which has not seen legumes consistently for years, was not happy with the chickpeas. STILL NOT SLEEPING!!!

• Day 5: I am ready to lose it. I really needed some sleep so I stopped the supplements and added more protein to my shakes by adding 1/2 scoop of my regular protein powder. I also added chicken to my lunch, in addition to lentils to see if that helped at all. Basically, I was DONE with this regime because I do not function well when I don't get at least 7 hours of sleep and nothing was worth sacrificing sleep for me. Digestively the lentils sat better, but I was still dealing with some aftermath of the chickpeas. STILL NO SLEEP!

• Day 6: It's Friday and I am DONE. Went back to my regular protein powder and supplements and ate my regular salad for lunch with chicken and shake for dinner. Unfortunately STILL NO SLEEP!

So today is Saturday and would be Day 7. I have put the rest of the protein powder and remaining supplements in the cabinet. I have no idea if the insomnia was related to the supplements, a result of my body detoxing, or something totally unrelated but sleep is CRITICAL to my mental and physical health so I have to do whatever it takes to protect that. 

I probably would have lost a couple of pounds if I followed it to the letter because it really is quite calorie-restricted.  Oddly enough, my eczema around my eyes is a bit better today!!  Again... who knows if it is related or not. 

What I might do differently if I choose to do this again:

• Plan more gentle exercise for the week vs. sticking to my normal weight lifting routine.
• Schedule a couple of infrared sauna sessions during these 7 days
• Make a plan to deal with sleep issues ahead of time
• Make a plan to deal with cravings related to potential sleep issues

Basically, I went into this thinking it would be a challenge but had NO clue how it would impact my sleep and that was the thing that broke me. I don't quit things routinely, but this time it wasn't worth it. Will it be worth it sometime in the future? Maybe. Never say never.