A Detox Diet? I'll Drink to That! ... Washington Post August 26, 2008

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/25/AR2008082501492.html?hpid=sec-health A Detox Diet? I'll Drink

to That! By Lonnae O'Neal

Washington Post Staff Writer

Tuesday, August 26, 2008; The idea came to me over a plate of Buffalo wings at a family

diner on U Street ,

although the roots of it stretched back further. Oprah had just finished

a 21-day diet detox, my husband mentioned casually, and I felt the kind of

quick stab of jealousy you get when someone else does something you had long

been considering. Earlier this year, a mom at my daughters' school had done a diet

detox, and, looking on, the results were dramatic. She was obviously thinner,

but it was more than that. Her light brown face glowed, her eyes sparkled, she

seemed lit from within. Immediately I rushed her. Where? What? How? I wanted to

know. I pressed her until she brought me her copy of "21 Pounds in 21

Days: The Martha's Vineyard Diet

Detox." Don't let the title fool you, she cautioned, the book focuses much

more on cleansing than on losing weight. Satisfied that I had the information, I sat her book on my kitchen

table and didn't think of it again for months, until the Buffalo wings. The morning after U

Street , over cold, leftover pizza, I picked up the

book again. "A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for people to experience a

fresh start . . . greater mental clarity, memory, and focus. Cleanse your body

and your mind," it said, and I exhaled. I so need this, I thought. Not

this program specifically, but something. I'm 41, and I've never fasted, never established any sort of

regular eating regimen, never even been on a diet. But I'm hungry. And it's

about much more than food. For years I've career-climbed, but lately I've had to strip-mine

my creativity to put words on the page. My three children routinely take more

time, more wisdom, more energy and sometimes more love from me than I have on

hand. A woman who was like my second mother died last year. Newspapers are

letting go of fellow journalists across the country, gas is almost $4 a gallon

and I need reading glasses. I crave energy and balance. I ache for still purpose. I don't

struggle with weight, but I struggle almost daily with bouts of hypoglycemia,

and my blood sugar often drops precipitously low, leaving me addled and spent.

For years I exercised regularly, but that was years ago. My modern American

woman's life is making me sick, but I don't have time for wellness. I feel

toxic. I need an intervention. Fasting is spiritual and holistic, I've heard.

But I can't not eat. But 21 days to get control of my health? And not just for me, but

also for my niece , chunky from discovering wine during a semester in France,

and my husband, Ralph, who was just laid off and is fighting his own battles

with weight and focus? That sounded about right. The authors' testimony felt compelling, the book had gotten good

press, and I liked the pictures of fresh vegetables on the cover. That was

perhaps not enough research about the detox for some, and maybe I was not

focused enough on the science. But for me, it was a leap of faith. I trusted my

friend, the smart vegetarian mom who'd told me about the program, and even more

than that, I trusted the urgent voice in my head telling me that something had

to give. Night Before Detox Day:

My dining room table is covered with products from the book's Web site ( http://mvdietdetox.com).

EssentialGreens and Zesty Tomato VegeSplash powders, NuStevia herbal sugar

substitute and digestive enzyme capsules. A three-week, three-person supply,

with each kit costing a little more than $200. I am chomping on a BLT, mindful

that this may be the last time I chew for weeks. There are no solids in this

diet detox, only soups, juices and supplements. There's no chewing at all, to

"give your digestive system a rest," according to co-author Roni

DeLuz, a naturopathic doctor and founder of the Martha's Vineyard Holistic

Retreat. This will be intense: eating every two hours, juicing my

vegetables, keeping to a regimen of herbal teas and distilled water. What if I

can't stick with it? Lord, I don't do well with failure. I call co-author

Hester, who soothes me with talk of slowing down and taking care. I nod in

agreement. I so desperately want to find me in my life. In the kitchen, my niece and sister are doing a trial run with the

juicer. Chopping, whirring, laughing, clapping. Our new toy. "Nae,

Nae, Nae, I'm rethinking this," my husband jokes. is holding up plastic snack bags with our daily proportions.

Tomorrow we go liquid. It's 10:17 p.m., and I take two more bites of my BLT,

then I think I'll have a quick bowl of ice cream. D Day 1

We're going to weigh in every morning. Ralph, 6-foot-2, 257 pounds. , 5-foot-7, 188 pounds. Me, 5-foot-4, 116 pounds. 8:30 a.m.:"1, 2, 3, DETOX!" we yell. My first cup of water and I'm already tired of water. Last night's pizza is on the stove. I pick it up and smell. 9:30 a.m.: More tea and water. I want a sausage

McMuffin with cheese. 10 a.m.: I feel sluggish and tired. I am off

work, but I'd just been writing a story about drag queens. "Ralph's drag

name is NuStevia," I joke. "Can we add apples?" whines. An hour and a half

into our detox, the bigness of what we are trying to do is dawning on us, and

we are starting to unspool. D Day 2

6:44 p.m.: We get through the

day, but biscuits, toast and garlic bread are heavy on my mind. wants

popcorn. I still have to cook dinner for the kids, and handling food is hard. My head hurts. The book calls it a "healing crisis": a

reaction "as the body flushes toxins out of your cells so you can"

get rid of them. It often comes after a few days. I'm early out of the blocks

with mine. D Day 3

I wake up weak and dizzy. I didn't finish my soup last night. I drink my

morning BerrySplash and feel instantly better. The book promises that if I

follow the regimen, I won't be hungry, and I'm not. But I mourn the chews and

smells and habits of eating. Ralph wanted to detox because he has bad knees (he played football

in college) and wants to see if he can get some weight off them before

considering surgery. He wants to be healthier, wants to look better and wants

us to share this together. But now he's fussing at me because I missed my 10:30

"feeding." He chides, "You can't fuss at me again for missing

anything." I'd been mad when he got off schedule, because that makes you

hungry and increases your odds of breaking detox. "You're the one more likely to snap," I yell back.

"You'll be talkin' about 'I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger

today.' " I collapse in a fit of giggles and my husband regards me coolly. "You're punchy," he says, full of disdain. I scarcely

hear him. 1 p.m.: We're at the CarMax and I'm

crashing. My head hurts; I'm nauseous and tired. The book says get plenty of

rest, but I don't have a life that's conducive to plenty of rest. My husband is

test-driving a car, but I have to go inside the building and sit. 2:14 p.m.: I am despairing. I don't see how I can

do this for 21 days. Maybe I am meant to be toxic, if this is detox. After more

than an hour, I stand up to leave and my legs buckle. Ralph helps me to our

car. My kids look worried. 4:52 p.m.: I fall into the couch, exhausted. Ralph

and I have missed three feedings. He brings me a glass of Zesty Tomato VegeSplash,

and almost comically I begin to revive. My husband has some room for error, but

I do not have reserves of weight and nutrition. I am close to my margins. Wow,

I really do have to eat on schedule if I don't want to make myself sick. At

once, I feel like some profound revelation is starting to dawn on me. In my daily life, I can go all day without eating, then I'm

starving by family dinner or by the next morning, and I eat all the cookies and

carbs in sight. This has been my pattern, for the most part, since I left

college. In my struggles with low blood sugar, I had long heard I should eat

small meals throughout the day, but I never felt the truth of it until I lay on

the couch sensing myself come back to life after a few sips of tomato drink. I

don't know if I can change my eating habits, but now, at last, I think perhaps

I should. 6 p.m.: The book calls on detoxers to have a

colonic every week. I don't even know what a colonic is, so I go on the

Internet. Oh. Not happening, say and Ralph. It will help your headache,

Hester promises. Another leap of faith. I schedule one. I thought it would be

awful. But nothing about it was. I leave grateful, my headache gone. 8 p.m.: says she wants to quit at the end

of the week. "Your journey isn't just about you," I say. We are our

own support group, and Ralph and I spend an hour talking down from the

ledge. D Day 4

feels better. She makes a vegetable soup for dinner: greens, spinach,

cucumbers, carrots, celery, broccoli, garlic and a sweet potato. She liquefies

it in the blender. I spray it with Bragg Liquid Aminos for flavor. Best thing

we've tasted in days. D Day 5

Why have I never noticed how many food ads are on television? Two roast beef

sandwiches for $4 at Arby's, a pound of

pizza at Pizza Hut, Mc's, KFC. Image after image

assaults me. My kids left a grape on the counter. I want to chew it up. It's

unnatural not to chew. D Day 6

At the mall, my girls want Sbarro. "How's your pizza?" I ask. Thumbs

up from Savannah ,

10. "It's good," says Sydney ,

14. Short pause. "How's your zesty enzyme?" she asks. I just look at her. Nice. D Day 7

Along with , I make my first-ever shopping trip to Whole Foods in

Silver Spring . (Too bad I have to leave my Prince 's County

neighborhood.) I'm just getting the eat-right gospel, and we are in a

cathedral. I rejoice in picking organic beets and antibiotic-free chicken for

my kids. D Day 8

"Hooray!" It has been one of the longest weeks of my life. I take inordinate

care dressing for book club (where the hostesses serve salmon in dill sauce and

fresh asparagus as and I look on). Your skin looks great, a friend says to

me. I am beaming. It's still really difficult, but we've turned a corner. We now

know we can do the detox. D Day 13

I have lunch with a friend at an upscale Washington restaurant. Actually, I have tea and watch her eat. My weight has fallen to 108

pounds. I look "Sudanish," she says. DeLuz warned me that I need to

drink protein shakes to stabilize my blood sugar and counter the weight loss.

But I haven't done so. Again I feel a revelation. Allowing myself to get frail

isn't taking care of myself. I start the shakes as soon as I get home. D Day 15

stops. She's not as toxic as us old folks and doesn't need another week,

she quips. She has finished her internship and is heading back to her last year

at the University of North Carolina at Chapel

Hill. She has lost 15 pounds and decided to become a

vegetarian. Her momma, my sister , starts her own 10-day detox the day

returns. D Day 18

With three days left, I break detox. We're on an impromptu two-day trip to

Virginia Beach and I'm

out of VegeSplash. There's no fridge in the hotel room, so we can't buy rice

milk for protein shakes. We're across the street from a McCormick & amp;

Schmick's restaurant. The book cautions: Break your detox slowly. But I snap

just as the authors predicted would happen if I let myself get caught without

my detox supplies. I order a mixed green salad with glazed walnuts, crab soup, shrimp

cocktail and a baguette. Heaven.

Not so bad a detox break, I think. Then I get a piece of cheesecake. Ralph just

goes hungry. The next day I wake up clear about my lessons and their broader

implications. Know your limitations, plan well and, if you fall, do not dwell

unduly on your imperfections. I restart my detox the next day, on our way back

to land .

Just three more days. Epilogue

It has been less than a week since Ralph and I finished. I maintained 110

pounds, a good weight. I hit the Bowie farmers

market and the Glut food cooperative in Mount Rainier. Ralph

lost 31 pounds. His skin looks great, and he's working on three job prospects.

He thanks me for coming up with the idea. I couldn't have done it without him. I realized something during the detox that I hadn't understood

before. There is no magic pill for any of this stuff, just choices. We can choose to be mindful, to set boundaries, educate ourselves

about nutrition and the images coming at us, and be deliberate about the things

we eat and feed our families. I am not passive about anything else in my life, and I don't have

to choose to be passively unwell. A detox might not be for everyone, but I

walked on faith -- not so much in any particular regimen, but faith in my own

ability to switch up, change direction and stamp my will on my life. Not that

I'm completely there yet: Chips and cheesecake will always call me, and

sometimes I'll answer. Like everything else, wellness is a journey. It just

took me 21 days to start. Comments:oneall@....