The detox is real you guys. This week, I definitely was feeling the symptoms of my gluten-free detox and it hasn't been the easiest to deal with but I know that it's for the best. 

All week, I felt completely exhausted and lethargic. I'm not really one to ever crave a nap or oversleep, but this week I felt like I couldn't get enough. At the same time though, my body was also naturally waking up much earlier than usual, beating my alarm by about an hour and a half. When this happened, I'd check the time and then plop my head back onto the pillow until the alarm woke me, but then I'd feel gross waking up. 

One of my goals for this coming week is to allow my body to just go ahead and wake up naturally and see if it increases my energy level vs. forcing myself to ease back into my old schedule. 

Let's talk food. Eating gluten-free at home hasn't been too much of a struggle because I find that it's easy to prep meals or grab quick ingredients and snacks that won't affect me. However, it's eating out or getting hungry when I'm out that has been the hardest thing. 

Until I went gluten-free, I felt like finding meals was so attainable because it felt like everyone was offering something. As it turns out, many locations are but they aren't always using the best ingredients and so you still feel kind of gross afterwards. On the flip side, I did find a location that was super accommodating and didn't make me feel like I was sacrificing flavor or options (shoutout to Mission BBQ!) AND I didn't get sick after eating there. The nature of my work requires that I be out quite a bit, so this is definitely something I am working on.

Not to be too TMI, but part of the detox comes with the body cleansing ... certain foods just don't agree with you during all of this and some foods that are good for you affect your body either more quickly or more intensely than they did before, ha! Because of this, I purchased a natural supplement that serves as a probiotic to help my body relax a little bit. It acts as a digestive aid and I take it after most meals. So far so good!

A week three goal: Prepare more snacks to have on the road so that I don't need to stop and try to find something. 

My physical body? I've lost about four pounds solely from cutting gluten out of my diet, and most dairy. I was on a roll with sugar too, but I gave in to an ice cream craving mid-week (and oh, was it glorious).  

I didn't do any of this to lose weight, in fact; I don't actually want to lose much weight but would love to tone a bit and get some muscle back.

A week three goal: Start incorporating regular exercise into the regimen. 

I can't for certain say if it's related or not, but I've also had less of my neuropathy issue as well. All in all, I'm proud of how this is going and I look forward to learning more about gluten sensitivity ... the more that I learn the less I miss it!!

My lack of understanding of gluten sensitivity started in college, where I served at a local restaurant. Occasionally, when I'd bring the bread to the table, it'd be sent away because they couldn't have gluten. I chalked it up to a female code for "diet". 

Years later, I've seen gluten sensitivity become a more prominent and widely spread issue, among children and adults alike. As a wedding planner, it's something we need to take into consideration with our menu planning and guest requests. As a friend of folks with gluten sensitivities, I've become more familiar with gluten-free brands and shop in stores that offer plenty of alternative options. But, I never really got it. 

Until now. Last week, my family was chatting about this book they've been reading that essentially gives you the tools to do a complete detox of your body, primarily through juicing {not as meal replacements!}. The conversations piqued my interest, so I picked up the book for myself to see what it was all about. 

One section of the book outlined some common symptoms associated with gluten sensitivity and I checked off every single box from bloating to neuropathy issues. It all started to click. I can't say for certain that I have a gluten sensitivity; however, I'm opting into a detox for a few weeks to see what changes I notice in my body.

Not only did I kick gluten to the curb for the time being, but dairy too. In college, I was quite interested in medical anthropology and recall many conversations about dairy and the human body. The human body is actually not meant to process dairy past the infant stage when we're reliant on our mother's milk. Cue lactose intolerance. My understanding is that some of us are more susceptible to an intolerance to dairy based on our genetic makeup, but none of us actually need it {there are other ways to get those nutrients}. Not a scientist over here, so you'll have to do some additional research on that one yourselves... but interesting nonetheless, right??

I figured I'd share a bit of my journey with this as I go, and so here's week one:

I feel pretty good! I'm noticing that I feel less lethargic and have more energy/don't feel as "heavy" as usual. I'm definitely not as bloated after eating as I usually am, and though I have been experiencing some discomfort, I hear it's part of the detox. I find that I'm not craving as much sugar, which is a really big deal for me because I have a huge sweet tooth and it's an actual problem for me/addiction. I also notice that I'm drinking more water and because I'm feeling good I don't feel the urgency to 'cheat' as if I was on a diet.