GOOP's 7-Day Detox (Make That 4)

Diets have always been a foreign concept to me. I love to eat, so I subscribe to the school of thought that exercise is the key to maintaining a healthy weight. I believe it is my adoration of food, and the fact that I had a constant headache, struggled to make it through every mile of my regular runs, and felt as though my stomach was feeding on itself, that caused my first (and I can definitely say only) attempt at a 7-day detox to fail halfway through the 4th day.

I had been feeling overly sluggish the previous week and hoped that a cleanse, which I have never done before, would give me a much needed energy boost. A quick search for a detox program brought me to a 7-day elimination diet laid out on Gwyneth Paltrow's exceedingly criticized website GOOP*. Her doctor, a detox specialist, had signed off on the menu, so I thought this the safest plan to follow. Dairy, sugar, processed foods, caffeine, alcohol, and pretty much everything else that I consume on a daily basis is strictly forbidden. A given day starts with a room temperature glass of lemon water, a cup of herbal tea, and either a smoothie made with almond/coconut/rice milk, fresh fruit, and a protein powder boost, or a bowl of oatmeal. A mid-morning glass of coconut water (there is an incredulous suggestion that fresh coconut water is ideal) is followed by an avocado salad, detox teriyaki chicken breast (the most substantial meal on the menu- but there is no indication of portion size, weight, skinless, boneless, etc.), vegetable soup, raw crudite (again, no portion size is mentioned), or a fruit smoothie (if you chose oatmeal for breakfast on that particular day). An afternoon snack of various juices (think beets and ginger), miso soup, or a handful of fruit or nuts is a prelude to a dinner consisting of steamed fish (no further explanation), a host of different vegetable soups, or possibly just a glass of juiced vegetables. Before bed a spoonful or two of extra virgin olive oil is suggested to eliminate bile and stimulate your liver.

Each morning I awoke with a slight headache that grew as the day went on. I didn't need a growling stomach (which I was never without) to tell me I was hungry from sun up to sun down. I never got the energy boost I was looking for as I was actually drained of energy at the end of each day. The final straw was when I weighed myself during day 4 and was shocked to see I had lost 5 pounds. Clearly if weight loss came this fast, I was not cleansing my body, I was depriving it. To each his own, but for me it is back to chocolate, and bread, and beer, and everything else that I love to consume.

*If you have the desire to try it for yourself, Gwyneth's 7-day detox menu can be found at http://goop.com/newsletter/15/

Breakfast or lunch- raspberry and rice milk smoothie

Mid-morning snack- coconut water (hailed as nature's sports drink)

Dinner- water based broccoli and arugula soup served with a lemon

A pre-dinner snack or dinner- miso soup (to be made with filtered water)

A pre-dinner snack or dinner- "Super Greens Juice" made with kale, celery, pears, ginger and lemon