8
Day 1: Satisfy
One of the most amazing things I have found is I have almost NO cravings for sweets or salty foods like I used to. People at work would bring cookies, candy, and other treats and I would indulge in them big-time. In fact, I am ashamed to say I would sneak extra portions back to my office for later… although they never did last until later.
Since embracing this change, I am able to walk right by the treats and politely decline them when someone specifically brings them to me. What a great gift that is! I am not bothered watching my friends eat things I used to eat, and I don’t make a big deal about it with “Oh, poor me, I can’t have that.” I honestly just don’t have a desire for it anymore.
—ANALYN READER
Welcome to Day 1 of your body revolution!
Here’s your checklist of today’s to-dos, followed by the complete menu plan:
Morning:
Take your measurements and record your results in your Detox Journal or online tracking tool. Also record how many hours of sleep you got the night before, and the quality of that sleep.
Begin the day with thirty minutes of brisk walking or other exercise.
Just before breakfast, take 2.5 to 5 grams of PGX fiber: 3 to 6 capsules or ½ to 1 scoop of the powder in 10 ounces of water.
Take the rest of your supplements (see here) with breakfast.
Make your Breakfast Detox Shake (see menu plan below).
Optional: Enjoy a midmorning snack (see menu plan below).
Afternoon:
Just before lunch, take 2.5 to 5 grams of PGX fiber with a glass of water.
Eat lunch (see menu plan below).
Optional: Enjoy a midafternoon snack (see menu plan below).
Evening:
Just before dinner, take 2.5 to 5 grams of PGX fiber with water.
Take the rest of your supplements (see here) with dinner.
Eat dinner (see menu plan below).
Spend fifteen minutes recording your experience and answering the Day 1 Journal Questions listed here. Write down everything you ate and did today, how you feel, any improvements or changes in your energy and focus, and how these changes make you feel physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Practice the Take-Five Breathing Break (see here) for 5 minutes.
Take your twenty-to-thirty-minute UltraDetox Bath (see here).
Get seven to eight hours of sleep.
Today’s Meals (see Chapter 21 for recipes):
Breakfast: Detox Shake of your choice
Midmorning Snack (optional): 10 to 12 nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans, macadamia nuts)
Lunch:
Core Plan: Choice of soup with protein or Dr. Hyman’s Super Salad Bar with protein
Adventure Plan: Kale and Red Cabbage Slaw with Turkey Meatballs
Midafternoon Snack (optional): Dip or spread of your choice with fresh vegetables
Dinner:
Core Plan: Grilled Salmon with Onion Marmalade over Greens
Adventure Plan: Coconut Curry with Fish or Tofu
Note: Remember, when you are pressed for time or just want an ultraquick and easy option, you can always prepare a simple protein and vegetable for lunch or dinner from the “Cooking the Basics” section in Chapter 20.
Today’s Focus: Satisfy
Most of us have felt the urge—that unstoppable craving—that drives us to seek out something sweet and devour it in a flash. It’s that uncontrollable yen for cookies, cake, or ice cream, or that whole basket of bread calling to you to finish it off. Why does that cookie have such power over you, even though you know it will make you fat and sick?
Because most of us don’t control food—it controls us. And as you now know, it is not a sign of moral weakness or lack of willpower. Science shows it is a powerfully hardwired brain response that has us reaching for the bread or cookies. Fortunately, it is a response that can be rewired, and today you’ve taken the first important step to make that happen.
On Day 1, controlling your appetite and cravings is probably front and center in your mind. It may seem inconceivable to you right now that your cravings can ever subside, or that you can navigate between hunger and satisfaction with balance and grace, because you’ve never experienced that. You’ve likely been trying to “conquer” your cravings, but cravings can’t be wrestled to the ground with willpower. You really can’t let go of your cravings. But you can rewire your biological and neural pathways so that your cravings let go of you, and that is exactly what you are doing with this detox.
There is a real science to being satisfied. Swings in insulin drive your cravings. Sugar or anything that turns to sugar is what drives your cravings. Addictive foods that contain heroin-like molecules from sugar and flour and chemicals (like chips, cookies, candy, fast food, soda, and even diet soda) drive your cravings. If you can throw a wrench into that biological cycle of addiction, all of a sudden, you’re free. You no longer have to fight to control your cravings, because they simply aren’t there. Your appetite is controlled by hormones and neurotransmitters, and those in turn are controlled by what you eat. So creating big shifts in your diet can create big shifts in your brain chemistry and, by extension, your appetite. And the good news is that this shift happens very quickly.
For some of you, cravings will go away immediately. Many of the 10-Day Detoxers wrote in to tell me that they were stunned by how quickly that automatic urge for sugar disappeared. For others, it will take a day or two. How fast your cravings vanish depends on how out of balance your biochemistry and metabolism were to begin with. But if you follow the program, the brain chemistry reset will absolutely happen in a matter of days. This program is scientifically and nutritionally engineered to liberate you.
Besides the biochemical component of addiction, there is an emotional component that can run very deep. For some of us, eating is a powerfully charged activity. This shows up in our relationship to food, in our beliefs and attitudes about food, and in how we use it: as comfort, as drugs, as a way to cope, fit in, reward ourselves, or numb our feelings. These deeper explorations are part of the 10-Day Detox that we’ll talk about on Day 5, but feel free to read ahead (see here) if the emotional aspect is coming up for you right now.
You’ll know if you’re having an emotional reaction along with the physical one if you feel overly agitated, panicky, or unable to divert your attention from the foods you’re not eating. For extra support with this, I recommend two wonderful books by renowned nutritional psychologist Marc David. Nourishing Wisdom addresses the emotional underpinnings of some of our difficulties with food, and The Slow Down Diet provides a road map out of the maze of emotional eating. You can also get support from his Institute for the Psychology of Eating (www.psychologyofeating.com).
Regardless of your relationship to food, just stick with this “drug holiday,” and see what happens. It might be hard to believe, but one day soon you will be able to stand in a donut or pastry shop and look at the treats with no desire to eat them. They simply stop being attractive. That is when you know you own your body again.
I know it’s hard to trust that if you make a few simple changes in when, what, and how you eat, your body will respond without struggle. I’m asking you to jump off a cliff without knowing what’s at the bottom. But I have seen the proof of these results in thousands of patients and 10-Day Detox Diet participants. It works. So please have faith in your body’s capacity to heal. You have nothing to lose but your cravings! The worst place you can end up is right where you started.
If you haven’t already, now would be a great time to check in with the 10-Day Detox community. Read what other people are experiencing so you can see for yourself the miraculous and swift changes that can happen. And in “Strategies for Curbing Cravings” below, you’ll find some helpful tips to get you through.
Strategies for Curbing Cravings
FOLLOW THE PROGRAM, to the letter. The combination of carefully selected foods, schedules, protocols, and special lifestyle practices is scientifically designed to eliminate your cravings.
Go cold turkey. Any little bit of a drug will trigger your brain chemistry. That one cigarette… that one drink… What we’re dealing with here is an addiction, and even a small amount of what’s controlling you will put you right back in its grasp. Sugar, flour, processed food, alcohol, and addictive additives like MSG all stimulate the pleasure center in the brain. They increase dopamine, which makes us feel happy and alert and energetic. We all love that feeling. It’s what cocaine does. It’s also what sugar does. Those pleasure centers get stimulated, and that makes you want more of that feeling. And more… and more… and more…
Avoid your temptation zones. Be careful to control your environment and where you go during those first critical days. If you were an alcoholic, you wouldn’t go into a bar those first few days (or weeks) after quitting. Until you’re in the clear from your initial withdrawal period, just steer around your trigger spots: the vending machines, the convenience stores or fast-food places you pass on your way home, the coworker’s desk loaded with candy, the cocktail party table loaded with hors d’oeuvres, etc. Even if this means lying low and postponing some social plans for now, that’s okay; this is a temporary hiatus you’re taking that will soon allow you to embrace life fully and joyfully, liberated from food tyranny.
Power up your day with the right combination of foods. Eat early and eat right. The right breakfast is key. The reason your Breakfast Detox Shake works is that it’s nutrient-dense. It’s high in protein, fiber, and healthy fat, all of which change your hormones in a way that cuts cravings. The seeds and nuts contain protein, fat, and fiber, and they are also rich in magnesium, zinc, and selenium. Coconut butter provides sustained fuel that makes you feel full. If you want to beef up your shake even more, you can add a scoop of good protein powder made from hemp, chia, rice, pea, or non-GMO whole soy powder. I drink a shake at 7 a.m. and I’m not hungry until noon.
PGX before every meal absorbs water, makes you feel full, reduces your appetite, and reduces the insulin spike. It’s a quick way to shut off those appetite-generating hormones. Remember to always drink it with a full glass of water.
Keep the daily rhythm of eating on roughly the same schedule each day. This keeps your blood sugar and insulin levels more even. Blood sugar highs and lows drive primitive food cravings. If you get famished between meals, that’s a sign that your blood sugar is crashing. When blood sugar is low, you’ll eat anything. Don’t wait until you are starved to eat. Incorporate the optional snacks listed in the meal plan to keep your blood sugar even.
Prioritize sleep. When you don’t sleep, the appetite-stimulating hormone ghrelin goes up and the appetite-suppressing hormone PYY goes down. Then you start to use food, instead of sleep, to shore up your energy. Think about it: If you’re tired, you’re instinctively driven to eat to help you stay awake.
Day 1 Journal Questions
How am I feeling physically today?
What thoughts and emotions are present for me today?
What are my beliefs about my relationship to food? Am I in control?
What false beliefs might I have about my cravings?
What would my life look like if I were not addicted to sugar, caffeine, flour?
How does envisioning that make me feel?
How can I create new habits that will sustain me?