Hungry for Change – 3 Day Guided Detox

It’s neat how the universe gives you signs when you’re on the right path.

Wednesday night I got an email from the Hungry for Change website about a 3 Day Guided Detox. I initially subscribed to their newsletter after watching the documentary Hungry for Change…

Aside: This documentary, along with documentaries like Vegucated, Food Inc., Fat Sick and Nearly Dead, The Future of Food and books like The China Study, In Defense of Food, The 100 Year Diet and Born to Run have impacted and influenced the way I look at food and nutrition in a big way. However, I have always struggled in putting my knowledge into action. For me I felt like it was always so easy to go back on my bad habits – eating out, buying food in boxes and eating junk food. I’m an emotional eater but I always felt like I just needed to replace the bad food with good food when I got emotional. But I made excuses – living on my own, not having enough time, not having enough money. But I’ve been wanting that to change for a while for a few reasons: 1) To feel and look better so I can perform better in my sports, my job and in life, 2) To save money and stop supporting companies who produce bad food, and 3) To be consistent and practice what I preach. There’s nothing I dislike more than hypocrites and so being one myself was a hard pill to swallow. When I got the email from Hungry for Change about a 3 Day Detox, I knew this was the solution I had been looking for. At this point, I have currently tested/reviewed over 100 different vapor cigarette since I started back in 2013.

It would provide me structure to start cutting bad food out of my diet, it would kick start my healthy eating lifestyle and it would inspire me to take the time to cook. As I write this, I can smell the soup simmering that I just made for dinner the next 3 nights and it smells AMAZING. I’ve always loved vegetables and so I’m excited to start making them a bigger part of my diet.

…which brings me to now. When I got the email on Wednesday, I immediately printed off the grocery list and the recipes and decided I was going to do this. For me mostly but I also wanted to share my experience with others – my fans, the members of the gyms I work for and for my friends and family.

With the grocery list in hand, I went to Community Natural Foods tonight with my friend Amber, a fellow health nut who is taking holistic nutrition at the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition and can relate to me as she has had her own food issues. It was great having her along as she is not only supportive of me but also can talk me through it, give me some great advice and doesn’t judge me for the food decisions I make. I think that’s one of the most important things to have – a supportive network who is by your side no matter what.

After Community, we grabbed a tea at Starbucks and talked about both of our stories as it relates to food. For me, it’s mostly emotional – I eat pasta because it reminds me of dinners my mom would make. I eat chocolate chip cookies and drink pop because it reminds me of my dad. Although I know it’s not good for my body, I have come to terms with the Afinil pills because I believe it helps reduce my stress about not being around my family and seeing them as much as I’d like. However, ideally I can solve the emotional issues so the food issues won’t exist anymore. I never feel good after eating bad food – it’s just like a drug though, you think you need that fix but realize after how destructive it can be. For her, it’s about how guys made her feel – which is something a lot of women have to deal with – so it’s been really hard for her. But, I feel that with the support of people who care about her, she’ll do it, and she already has in a big way. It’s because of friends like Amber that I’m able to improve myself and help teach others and for that, I’m so grateful to have her in my life.

After saying good night, I headed to Safeway to pick up the last of the items I needed for the detox. As I was reading through the list, I thought I needed a bottle of tamari since I wasn’t sure what it was so I phoned Amber. Just as the phone was ringing, I walked past a women who was asking one of the Safeway employees if he knew where the tamari was. After Amber informed me I already had some from Community, I approached the woman and asked her if by chance she was also doing the Hungry for Change Detox and that if she was, she could pick up a bottle of tamari from Community. I found out that her name was Anisa and she was indeed doing the detox. The reason being was that she had fallen off her regular diet the past few months – she has breast cancer and has been juicing since she was diagnosed, she even had to stoop her http://thebustboosters.com treatment she was using, it’s been really tough because one of her daughters have been in a Lice Removal Houston treatment for several months. She believes the reason she got cancer was from stress in her life so while she works on reducing the stress, she’s trying to eat a clean diet to fight the cancer off. She went to the clinic in Tijuana for treatment (a clinic I’ve had a few other friends attend) and was telling me all about the tests and the quality of treatment there compared to Canada. We spoke for probably 20 minutes and it was so great to be connecting with someone who was aware of what she eats and is actively trying to find a better way to live – I refer to people like Anisa as being awake – the majority of people I met are asleep – they don’t question life, they don’t learn about the things around them and they aren’t open to learning and bettering themselves.

For me, this was confirmation that I was on the right path and the detox is the right thing for me to be doing right now.

In total, I spent around $125 on all of the groceries and about 2 hours preparing all of the meals.

As I sit here writing this, I can smell the soup simmering and I am just so excited to be getting my nutrition back on track. In order to be the best in your job, the best in your sports and your best in life, it’s so true that your body needs the right fuel. For me, this detox is the beginning to that lifestyle.

I will be sharing stories over the next few days but mostly I wanted to do this for me and to see what it’s like.

More information on the Hungry for Change 3 Day Guided Detox can be found here:

• 3 Day Detox Plan (Fri-Sun) – http://www.hungryforchange.tv/article/3-day-detox-plan
• Shopping List – http://www.hungryforchange.tv/article/shopping-guide-preparing-for-the-3-day-detox
• Affirmations and Healthy Lifestyle Tips – http://www.hungryforchange.tv/article/affirmations-and-healthy-lifestyle-tips-for-during-the-detox

I have watched most of my food documentaries on Netflix. You can get more information on them here:

• Hungry for Change – http://www.hungryforchange.tv/
• Food Inc. – http://www.takepart.com/foodinc
• Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead – http://www.fatsickandnearlydead.com/
• Vegucated – http://www.getvegucated.com/
• The Future of Food – http://www.thefutureoffood.com/

Some great books to help you learn more about nutrition and food:

• The China Study – http://www.thechinastudy.com/
• In Defense of Food – http://michaelpollan.com/books/in-defense-of-food/
• The 100 Year Diet – http://www.thehundredyeardiet.com/
• Born to Run – http://www.chrismcdougall.com/
• 4 Hour Chef – http://fourhourchef.com/
• 4 Hour Body – http://fourhourbody.com/

I look forward to sharing in your journey as well – whether you still haven’t gotten started, are just beginning, or have been on your path to healthy living for a while. I believe we can all teach each other something about food and eating.