Goodbye, Celebration Diet. Hello, Reset Diet.

July 6, 2019

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Last week I completed a five days reset diet and boy, oh, boy was it an exercise in willpower and patience! As I talked about it on Instagram, I got a lot of inquiries about why, what I could eat and more so today I’m sharing all the details plus what got me to this place!

Updated 1/1/22: I have done this reset diet in 3, 5 and now 10 day increments. I get the most out of it when I do it for 10 days. 

Why a Reset Diet?

During my most recent acupuncture appointment at the onset of June I was telling my acupuncturist (I see Liz at Common Point), how I was feeling extra bloated and sluggish lately. She asked me about my diet, in which I shared that it was pretty awful. I told her a bit more about what I ate (way too much pasta, way too much cheese) and she replied “Oh, you’re on a celebration diet all the time.”

What she said immediately made sense to me. I was eating whatever I wanted all the time and treating myself way too often. My sweets intake was suddenly almost every day and my body was also seeming to reject the milk in my morning iced latte. (A new habit I had taken up in the previous weeks.) All my bad eating for the year seemed to catch up with me and these habits I had honed so carefully last year felt like a distant memory. I felt, in short, like $h!t.

Celebration diet = the eating you do when you’re celebrating or with other people for special outings/occasions. The rest of your diet should = Foundational diet. My foundational diet and healthy habits seemed far in the review mirror so my acupuncturist recommended I go on a five day reset diet. Given I was leaving for France in a few days when we discussed this, we agreed I would do it for two days before my trip and for five days after.

I also wanted to use this reset as a means of listening to my body and also hopefully setting a stage to see further results from my workouts. 

What does the reset do?

The reset is designed to get your body back to baseline. It focuses on eating “foundational foods” and it helps to flush your body, detox it and eliminate cravings.

How Did I Feel?

For the first two days I was dragging and easily distracted. Focusing on anything was so hard and I kept thinking about my next meal. I also majorly missed my morning coffee ritual. 

By day two, I began to recognize how often throughout a day I thought about sweets or rewarding myself with food. It was eye-opening! By Tuesday afternoon my headache from the withdrawals of caffeine and sugar had set in. I also experienced this last time when I cut out caffeine and sugar during my mini-two day reset. I experienced horrific headache pain throughout the night and only fell asleep after covering my temples in Tiger Balm to help ease the pain. By Wednesday my headache had largely subsided following my BBG workout. That being said, by Wednesday night my headache was back and persisted through Thursday morning.

By Thursday I finally felt less bloated and more like myself. I was definitely missing my morning coffee ritual and finding myself yawning quite a bit by early evening. I leaned on workouts heavily to distract myself and ensure my body was moving throughout all the dietary changes (this was recommended by my acupuncturist). In hindsight, I think my body was signaling it needed change both with my eating habits and work out habits. 

What couldn’t I eat?

Caffeine. All dairy. Legumes. Gluten. Fruit. Alcohol. No corn or potatoes with the exception of sweet potatoes.

So what did I eat?

Detox Diet

Detox Diet

Detox Diet

The foundation of the reset for everyone:

  • All proteins (organic, grass fed if possible) / vegan protein
  • All vegetables + sweet potatoes (except corn + other potatoes)
  • All nuts + seeds
  • All herbs
  • Fats: ghee, oils like coconut, olive, almond, avocado, sesame
  • Only whole grains (quinoa, basmati brown rice, oatmeal, freekeh, barley–– no whole grain bread).
  • No coffee; no alcohol

Every morning I started my day with lemon and hot water. It helps to detoxify your liver and wake up your digestive system gently. (Your body prefers warmth vs. cool first thing in the day).

I don’t eat breakfast on most days so the first meal I have each day is usually an early lunch. 

An example of what I was eating: turkey and pesto brown rice with red onion and avocado. Or: kale with roasted peppers, red onion, sweet potato and avocado. Or sweet potato mash with avo. And half a baked chicken breast + roasted veggies. Or grilled or roasted fish with seasoning and veggies. I found it helpful to look up Keto and Whole 30 recipes and then adjust them as needed (removing dairy, sauces, etc.). 

All proteins and veggies, nuts (but no peanuts) & seeds, herbs and oils were allowed. I also drank a TON of water. Typically 12 glasses a day. This helps with the detoxifying and helps to minimize cravings.

Making my meals at home was helpful as the few meals I had scheduled out made options very limited. If you set out to do this reset – I would highly recommend you do it when you can make all your meals at home.

My acupuncturist also recommended detox tea throughout. It has dandelion in it and is formulated to help with digestion. I also continue with my daily Detox Water a day and a daily Green Juice without any fruit or sweetener in it (100% veggies).

Did I do it to lose weight?

Definitely not. I did it as a reset to my digestive system and my eating habits and to rid myself of unhealthy cravings. I did lose weight when I’ve done this reset for 10 days but generally it’s not enough for a noticeable difference. Instead I just prefer how I feel vs. how I look.

What Did I Learn?

Eating healthy doesn’t mean sacrificing. I actually never felt hungry and didn’t miss cheese as much as I thought I would. (I looooove cheese.)

Meal prepping is key.

When I first did this reset in 3 and 5 day increments it felt really restrictive because I hadn’t prepared so I felt at a loss when it came time to eat.

I recommend you plan every meal you intend to eat and then grocery shop. You’ll feel prepared and excited knowing all that you do get to eat.  I keep a running list of the recipes in a Word Doc and then plan accordingly. 

By the end of the week I was certainly looking forward to a weekend without eating restrictions but I also realized my sweets cravings had largely subsided. As I ate in the days that followed the reset, I was fuller faster and always trying to be more cognizant of portion sizes and how fast I was eating. I also tried to keep my water intake levels high to ensure I was hydrated and continuing to minimize sugar cravings.

What’s Next?

I plan to move forward using my healthier eating habits by eliminating sweets during the week (with the exception of special occasions), eating less dairy overall and trying to eat less gluten. Instead of making lazy choices when it comes to cooking at home, I want to plan things out more carefully so it is easier for me to make healthy decisions. 

. . .

Have you ever done a reset diet? I’d love to hear your experience with it or how you maintain healthy eating habits!

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comments +

  1. GF says:

    thanks for sharing; I always love hearing about other people’s health habits, whether it be long-term routines or more short-term practices to kickstart things (like this re-set sounds like). I myself am trying out a new habit, which in one way is the opposite from yours — I have tried to really focus on making my breakfast nutritious and filling. I used to just dash out the door with a yogurt, piece of fruit etc but over the past few weeks I have focused on getting up early (!) specifically to make a healthy breakfast, and I’m finding that it makes a WORLD of difference in how I feel throughout the day. I always used to be STARVING at the end of the day and eat (more likely, overeat) a huge dinner, but now I’m much more fueled throughout the day. which just goes to show, sometimes switching up the routine is good, and everything works differently for different people!

    • Meghan says:

      SO interesting that you figured out a big breakfast helps you eat less! I definitely love breakfast so much but I tend to go towards things that make me hungrier in the day (fruit, oatmeal, etc.) so I think it’s been helpful to just wait to have an earlier lunch. You’re so right about listening to your body and figuring out what works best for it! Thanks for weighing in!

  2. Melanie says:

    I’ve done a reset diet similar to this! It’s hard but I felt SO GOOD after, much less bloated, and craved fewer sweets. I also had bad headaches during! The hardest one I’ve done is a sugar free month, with no added sugar… but it definitely helped reset my taste buds! Glad to hear you had a good experience overall, thanks for sharing!

    • Meghan says:

      Omg I remember you mentioning sugar free for a month at the onset of the year – WOWZA! I wouldn’t have the willpower for that but man, it’s amazing you did it!

  3. LJ says:

    Thank you so much for sharing! Reading this made me realize I have been on a celebration diet as well for a few months! I have been going to OrangeTheory a few times a week for over a year now, but maintaining the diet is always the hardest for me. This definitely inspired me to take the time and create a menu for the week rather than throw together yet another bowl of pasta or tacos 😉

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