40 Day Detox

Today my weight dropped 0.6kg to 67.7kg. My Body Fat dropped 0.8% to 17.2%. My body water increased to 56.9%. My Body Muscle rose 0.5% to 43.1%. These are pretty good results considering I haven’t done any exercise since Monday 23^rd August (Day 19). 

I continued to consume mostly liquids during the day. Today, instead of vegetable soup I snacked on red lentil, sweet corn, green peas and whole grain basmati rice soup. I figured it would be good to have a continuous source of protein in my diet. 

A regular pack of Tunisian dates

I have a confession to make. For the last couple of days I’ve been breaking the rules. I think I’m addicted to Iranian dates. The slightest thought of them has me reaching for the fridge to grab myself a treat. I know I’ve committed to only consuming liquids during the day, however every now and again I can’t help myself but to grab a couple of these dates. They taste so good. As it’s Ramadan there are a large variety of dates being sold in Asian and Middle Eastern grocers at the moment. Muslims consider it a Sunnah of Muhammad (a practice of Muhammad that should be imitated as doing so will result in being rewarded in heaven) to break one’s fast with dates. As far as I am aware Tunisian dates are very commonly used in this country to break one’s fast. They are readily available during this time of year. However to understand the difference in quality and delight of consuming Iranian dates compared to Tunisian dates: a pack of Tunisian dates cost from 50-60p, whereas a pack of Iranian dates will set you back £2.50-£2.80. And trust me when I say that the £2.00+ mark up is worth it! Tunisian dates tend to be coated in glucose syrup to make them appear moister. Such a procedure is unnecessary with Iranian dates. They are dry on the outside but melt in your mouth. They are a lot squishier and have such an addictive taste. Tunisian dates on the other hand have a dry and stringy texture to them. Eating them in comparison just feels like you’re eating a date filled with air. They simply don’t compare! Just the thought of Iranian dates as I am writing this is tempting me to go out and buy some! Perhaps I should make the most of it as Ramadan will be over in about ten days after which finding these dates may not be so easy! Be right back! 

My new pack of Iranian dates

Right, I’m back. With a brand new pack of Iranian dates. I can’t read the box properly, but I think they are from Bam, Iran. I think. It seems Muhammad’s practice of breaking his fast with dates has sound wisdom in it. When you’ve been fasting all day your body will be depleted of carbohydrate energy. Eating some dates first thing will provide a source of quick digesting high GI carbohydrates to give your muscles a quick source of energy. It seems this fact may also be part of the reason why I am addicted to Iranian dates. High glycaemic index (GI) foods can be addictive like drugs. Consuming high GI foods causes blood sugar levels to rise quickly. Apparently this sugar rush stimulates the same part of the brain that drugs and nicotine addiction do. It really does feel like a full blown addiction to Iranian dates. I feel a very strong impulse to break the rules for them. I have not felt a similar craving for caffeine, tobacco, alcohol, meat, or anything else that I have banned for the detox. Then again I’m not sure the high GI of Iranian dates is solely to blame, as I don’t feel the same addiction for say mangoes or any other high GI fruit. Perhaps there is an element of convenience with dates. They are the same size as sweets. I don’t need to wash them or cut them, like I would need to do for a mango. And maybe because they are small I may feel as though it’s just a minor sneaky break of the rules.

In the evening I ate buckwheat with moong dal chilka and snacked on a handful of mixed nuts and mixed seeds.

Following my decision to consume only liquids during the day yesterday, my weight stayed constant at 68.3kg, my Body fat dropped 0.1% to 18.0% while water content and body muscle stayed constant at 56.3% and 42.6%. It seems the new regime hasn’t made much of a difference, yet. Perhaps I ate too much last night when I did start eating solids. 

During the day I didn’t do a workout. I’m almost a week behind in blog posts and I want to focus the next few days on catching up on them before resuming my workouts. 

Throughout the day while I was sat at my computer I consumed numerous hot drinks. I also made a vegetable soup and snacked on that on a few occasions to give me something more satisfying while waiting for my evening meal. I’ve forgotten the exact details of what I consumed, however to give you an idea, I was sat writing all day and I pretty much always had something to sip on that was sugar free. I have no fruit in the flat at the moment so I didn’t drink any fruit juices. 

In the evening I had some whole grain basmati rice with mung dal chilka. Later in the evening I also ate an Anwar Retol mango and a handful of nuts and mixed seeds. 

No caffeine for 40 days

I’ve cut out caffeine for this detox. But what’s wrong with caffeine anyway? It is a diuretic, which means it takes water out of your body’s cells and causes you to urinate more. Dehydration can lead to headaches, feeling weak and muscle cramps. Caffeine in large amounts can also lead to the body losing calcium and potassium causing sore muscles and delayed recovery of muscles after a workout. Caffeine is a stimulant, too much of which can speed up your heart, cause nervousness, irritability, anxiety and disturb your sleep. Caffeine increases the workload of the liver as it is the main detoxifying organ for caffeine. It increases stress as it stimulates your fight or flight mode when it’s not needed. It increases the levels of the stress hormone cortisol in the blood, which can lead to an increase in abdominal fat. It reduces the brains ability to problem solve. It decreases oxygen in the blood and overall blood flow to the brain.  There is a long list of problems with consuming caffeine and this is why I’ve removed it from my diet for the purpose of this detox.

Here is a list of caffeine free hot drinks I’ve been consuming along with their benefits:

1. Redbush Tea from the Redbush Tea Company: it is 100% natural and caffeine free. It has less than half the amount of tannin found in ordinary black tea which can prevent the absorption of iron and protein in your body. It contains nine trace minerals which gives it many healing abilities. It increases the memory and helps fight the ageing process of the brain. It has been used to treat skin allergies, eczema, stress sleep problems, indigestion, infection and inflammation.
2. Apple and Cinnamon Twist from the London Fruit and Herb Company: this tea smells and tastes great. I find it a particularly good choice during a cold night to give me a cosy Christmassy feel.
3. Winter Spice by Twinings: a similar effect to the above tea, this has been designed specifically with the scents of Christmas to make you feel warm on a winter night.
4. Cleanse by Pukka: contains organic nettle, fennel and peppermint tea to purify your skin.
5. Detox by Pukka: contains aniseed, fennel and cardamom to cleanse and revive you. I just love the taste of the aniseed in this tea and drink unsweetened.
6. Pure Peppermint by Twinings: I’ve been drinking this tea first thing in the morning when I’ve had no lemons left in the flat. It is also great after eating dinner as it is good at soothing the stomach and aiding in digestion.
7. A moment of calm selection by Twinings: this pack contains a selection of five different flavours from Twinings designed to soothe and calm you. Twinings are currently my favourite manufacturer of delicious teas.
8. Organic Dandelion by Clipper: to be totally honest this is my least favourite tea in terms of taste, simply because it doesn’t seem to have any. However, benefits wise it has many: it’s good for digestion; purifies the blood; enhances detoxification; reduces bloating and water retention; reduces inflammation of the gall bladder and bile duct; good for reducing rheumatism and arthritis; optimises liver, kidney, pancreas, spleen, stomach and gall bladder functions; and reduces cholesterol. Dandelion has a long list of health benefits.
9. Pure Camomile by Twinings: This tea tastes great as does Twinings Apple and Camomile. Camomile is good for insomnia; anxiety; muscle twitches, stomach problems and skin conditions.
10. Fresh and Fruity Selection from Twinings: this pack contains a selection of five different flavours from Twinings designed to bring some fruity colour into your day. If I feel like something a bit exciting I’ll choose a tea from this fine selection.
11. Detox by Dr Stuart’s: this tea has dandelion, burdock, peppermint and spearmint designed to “spruce up your insides”.
12. Nescafe Gold Blend Decaf: though there is no mention of caffeine on the packaging of this decaf coffee I have just found out that decaf coffee as well as decaf tea still has caffeine in it. This means I should stop drinking this during this detox!

I had discovered earlier during the detox that decaf tea still had caffeine in it, however it has only just come to my attention that decaf coffee also still contains small amounts of caffeine. Luckily, I’ve only occasionally indulged in a cup of decaf coffee during the detox. But from now on I shall stop doing even that.

Weight rose by 0.3kg to 68.3kg. Body Fat rose 0.9% to 18.1%. Body Water dropped to 56.3% and Body Muscle dropped 0.5% to 42.6%. 

Its time to get serious. I'm declaring jihad on my body fat

Can you see how unfair my body is? Can you see what I’m up against? I’ve spent the last three weeks exercising pretty much everyday, restricting what I eat, cutting out no less than eleven types of food. My progress has been painfully slow getting to the leanest I’ve been (yesterday) since this experiment started to reach a body fat of 17.2%. Yet in just one day my Body Fat has gone back to where it was a week ago. In one day my Body Fat has risen almost a whole 1%! That’s it. If my body wants to pick a fight with me, I’m taking it on! No more pussyfooting around. If I have an extreme body that leans towards being a fat bastard then I’m going to take extreme measures to tame it. Here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to go onto a liquid only diet during the day and have only one solid meal in the evening which will be chewed so thoroughly that it’ll pretty much be liquid by the time it gets to my stomach. I’m not sure how long I’m going to do this for. I may lose muscle mass as a result. So be it! This is a war and in war there is always collateral damage. If my muscles are going to have to take a beating, then let it be. It’s a sacrifice I may well have to make.

So to clarify: filtered water; fresh fruit and vegetable juice; smoothies; vegan protein shakes; soups and caffeine-free, dairy-free, sugar-free and artificial sweetener-free hot drinks are all in during the day. After about 8pm I can consume one solid meal and some detox-allowed snacks (e.g. fruit, nuts and seeds). 

I also need to make my new goals crystal clear so that I know when I have won the battle. Before, I wanted to build muscle while burning fat. It seems I was slowly but surely managing to do that. But progress was far too slow as far as I am concerned especially as I’ve managed to undo a week’s worth of work in a single day. 

Body fat percentage

So what’s the ideal body fat percentage? This depends on age, sex etc. For a 31 year old male it also depends on who you ask. According to Weight Loss for All the healthy range is 8-19%. According to them I am currently just within the healthy range. 

According to the American Council of Exercise for all men: Obese is 25%+, Average is 18-24%, Fitness is 14-17%, Athletes are 6-13% and essential fat is 1-3%. 

According to the National Institute of Health and World Health Organisation: 0-8% is Underfat, 8-20% is Healthy, 20-25% is Overfat and 25%+ is Obese.

Based on these guidelines I shall aim to achieve a Body Fat of 8%. That’s just over 10% away. I’m not sure how long it will take to get there, nor am I sure how I’m going to achieve it in the long term. But for now I shall attempt to kick start the process by going onto a liquid only diet during the day and have one solid meal in the evening. I could seriously do with a decent blender right now! 

I had no lemons in the flat so I started the day with grape juice. 

Quinoa with oat milk and agave nectar

Delicious Oatly oat milk

For breakfast I had quinoa with oat milk fortified with calcium and vitamins and agave nectar. Oat milk tastes a lot better than soy milk. I only used a little bit of quinoa so my breakfast was soup like. 

Through the day I had tomato juice, decaf coffee, yogi tea and a detox tea. 

Through the later part of the day I snacked on lentil and whole grain basmati rice soup that my wife made for me. 

In the evening my dad and my sister came round to break their fasts. I ate kala chana and mung dal chilka with wholegrain basmati rice with salad. I also treated myself to some fresh Iranian dates (which are terribly addictive) and a Pakistani Anwar Retol mango. 

I also snacked on a handful of mixed nuts. 

Though I hadn’t eaten any solids until the evening, it seems quite probable that I’ve eaten as much as I would in a normal day, just in a shorter space of time. I’ll see tomorrow morning if any good came from this new approach! It’s possible that it hasn’t! 

I didn’t do any exercise today. This is partly due to being busy all day, heavy rain outside and I am partly wanting to see the effects of my new diet on my fat and muscle without exercising.

My weight stayed the same at 68kg. Body Fat dropped 0.1% to 17.2%. Body Water rose to 56.9% and Body Muscle rose by 0.1% to 43.1%.  

I had run out of lemons so I started the day with a glass of fresh grape juice and quinoa, with coconut milk, strawberries and agave nectar.  

For lunch I had red lentils, with whole grain basmati rice.  

It was my day off today so I didn’t do any exercise. I wanted to chill out and therefore stayed in and relaxed.  

Kala chana, salad and vegetable juice

For my evening meal I had kala chana with salad and vegetable juice (cucumber, beetroot, carrot, celery and a clove of garlic).  

I am an emotional eater

During the evening I snacked on some Iranian dates. I also snacked on Japanese rice crackers and drank some grape juice. After hearing about my grandfather yesterday I responded with a shopping spree of legitimate to almost legitimate foods as a de-stressor. I guess you could say I am an emotional eater. In hindsight it seems, though the Japanese rice crackers were not made of wheat, it is probable that they broke one of my detox rules. They are made of rice flour which I imagine is white rice and high in GI. In fact all three of my snacks this evening were high GI. A price I have no doubt I will have to pay for in the morning…  

Earlier this week I tried to find out which beans, peas, pulses, legumes or dals (daals) contain the highest protein content. I searched all over the world wide web and can now present to you the following exhaustive list (in descending order):  

Pulses

Pulses protein per 100g (uncooked / raw):

1. Soybeans: 36.49g 
2. Lupini Beans / Lupin Beans: 36.17g
3. Velvet Beans: 32.4g
4. Red Lentils / Pink Dal / Masoor Dal: 26.0g
5. Chana Dal / Bengal Gram: 25.4 g
6. Broad Beans / Fava Beans / Faba Beans/ Horse Beans: 25.0g
7. Pinto Beans: 25.0g
8. Peanuts: 25.0g
9. Urid Dal / Urad Bean: 24.0g
10. Adzuki Beans: 24.0g
11. Hyacinth Beans / Lablab Bean: 23.9g
12. Moong Dal / Green Gram: 23.86g
13. Lobhia / Black Eyed Beans / Cowpeas: 23.8g
14. Red Kidney Beans / Red Beans / Kidney Beans: 23.6g
15. Moth Beans: 23.6g
16. Runner Beans / Scarlet Runner Beans: 23.0g
17. Tur Dal / Red Gram / Pigeon Pea: 22.3g
18. Black Beans: 21.6g
19. Bambara Groundnut: 20.8g
20. Yellow Split Peas / Green Split Peas: 20.0g
21. Cannellini Beans / Great Northern Beans: 20.0g
22. Borlotti Beans: 19.0g
23. Haricot Beans / Navy Beans / White Beans: 18.0g
24. Blue Boilers: 18.0g
25. Lima Beans / Butter Beans / Calico Beans: 16.0g
26. Green Lentils: 14.0g
27. Brown Lentils: 14.0g
28. Edamame Beans: 14.0g
29. Kala Chana / Black Chana: 13.0g
30. Chana / Garbanzo / Chickpeas: 13.0g
31. Winged Beans: 12.0g
32. Green Peas: 5.42g
33. Moringa Oleifera: 2.5g
34. Yam Beans: 1.4g

Right at the top of the pulse pyramid for protein is the famous or infamous (depending on your perspective) soybean. I have already written about the potential problems of consuming unfermented soybean products.

Lupins or lupini beans

Middle Eastern lupin vendor

Up at a very close second is the Lupini bean, or lupin bean or lupins for plural. I hadn’t heard of it until compiling this list. When I looked at images and descriptions of this bean I realised that I had the pleasure of eating this bean outside the shrine of Ruqayya (known in the Indian-Subcontinent as Sakina) the great granddaughter of Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, in Damascus, Syria. In February earlier this year my dad and I were waiting for my mum to meet us outside the shrine. Outside the main entrance in the bazaar was a street vendor serving these funny yellow looking beans. What we found peculiar was how his mobile vending apparatus doubled-up as a temporary place for customers to eat the produce he was selling. We saw a security official squeezing a lemon wedge onto the bean and then dipping these yellow beans into a brownish powder before squeezing the bean out of its skin into his mouth. It looked very interesting. We had never seen anything like it before. As we love to try and experience the cultures of local people when we travel, we were eager to have a go. We asked the vendor what it was. He said “Tarmuz “or “Tormus” (couldn’t remember what he said until just looking it up online). The powder was brown salt, and it seemed as if the beans were soaked in warm salty/lemony water before being served to us. There was an art to eating it. First you had to squeeze the kernel out of its skin by pinching the skin between your thumb and index finger, rub a wedge of fresh lemon on it then dip it in salt, pop it in your mouth and then discard the skin. It reminds me of the art of drinking Tequila. It was a memorable experience and I would definitely recommend trying it if you happen to be in the Middle East and come across one of these street lupin vendors. 

Red lentils

The highest ranking legume in terms of protein content that is readily available without any controversy in regards to its safety is the red lentil. I shall therefore make a conscious effort to include more red lentils in my diet whilst on this detox to provide me with a vegetarian source of protein.

Losing fat

I’m pretty much half way through the detox and it’s the leanest I’ve been since starting it. My weight stayed a constant 68kg. My body fat dropped 0.3% to 17.3%. Body Water was up to 56.8% and Body Muscle up 0.2% to 43.0%. Since the start my weight has dropped 1.9kg from 69.9kg to 68kg. My Body fat has dropped 1.5% from 18.8% to 17.3%. My Body Water has increased 1% from 55.8% to 56.8% and my Body Muscle has increased 0.7% from 42.3% to 43.0%. These statistics dispel the myth that in order to gain muscle you must also put on fat. Admittedly my progress has been slow, but my fat percentage has dropped whilst my muscle mass has grown. This proves that theoretically it is possible to do both at the same time. It is probable that my progress can be accelerated by tweaking my exercise regime and diet. I shall have to discover improvements as I go along. 

For breakfast I had a hot lemon juice followed by quinoa, coconut milk, strawberries, raspberries and agave nectar. 

For lunch I had red lentils with whole grain basmati rice. 

Give me a refund

I went to Argos to return the blender I bought from them on Sunday. On their website it gives the impression it comes with a mill, but upon unpacking I found that it doesn’t. No surprise there from this appalling company. On my way to Argos I received a call from my wife informing me of the sad news of my grandfather passing away. I was almost there so I decided to continue with my journey anyway. Obviously at this stage I was in no fighting mood. When I asked for a refund at Argos, the member of staff called Toni asked me why I wanted to return it. I told her that the Argos website gave the impression it came with a mill when it doesn’t. She looked at my receipt and responded with “Well you viewed it before you bought it.” In normal circumstances I might have responded with “So what are you implying sweetheart? Is it my fault that Argos is mis-selling your products?” But obviously I was not in a mood to let myself be provoked. I wanted a refund quickly and I wanted to get home and be with the family. So I told her that I hadn’t paid attention at the time and expected all parts to be there. (Actually, the reason my receipt showed I had viewed the product is because I wanted to check the user guide to see if it could grind nuts, which it could do with the mill! But I couldn’t be bothered to explain.) I got my refund, returned home and then made my way to my parents home. 

On the way I fancied treating myself and so bought Iranian dates and a carton of 100% pure grape juice made from cold pressed grapes. 

Bats in trees at dusk

I got back home earlier than expected and so I went for a stroll around the park with my wife. We walked around the park twice, but without timing how long it took. I got to show her the bats in the park as the sun set. Yes there really are bats in Valentines Park, and I’m not just seeing things. There are so many you can’t miss them. In fact you’d be lucky if they miss you as they fly very low and very fast. 

In the evening I snacked on some mixed nuts while relaxing and watching a movie.