Diary of a body makeover: Week 1 of detox goes down well

Superfood quinoa salad with lemon and herb roasted free range chicken and a dollop of homemade mixed-herb pesto. Dinner sorted!

I admit that while I was amped for week one of the detox, I was a bit nervous about giving up pretty much all the delicious things I love ... coffee (even the decaf variety), cheese (blue, feta, halloumi), red meat (mmm Scotch fillet), and alcohol (so long Stoneleigh sauvignon blanc).

But I needn't have worried. The variety of food I could choose from was extensive and I hardly felt hungry all week. In fact, by day two I found myself setting reminders in my calendar to prompt me to have morning and afternoon tea, neither of which I ordinarily eat. For both I could choose from roasted chickpeas (homemade dusted with cumin, coriander and a touch of chilli), cucumber or celery sticks with hummus (again homemade with plenty of lemon juice) or paleo toast with avocado. If you haven't tried Venerdi's paleo bread, do. It's pricey but worth it if you're after grain-free bread. I found mine at New World Rototuna and I believe Bin Inn Dinsdale stocks it as well.

Breakfast was easy: 400ml of warm water mixed with a 1T of lemon juice followed 30 minutes later by a shake made with either a small banana or some berries, Raw Fermented Paleo Protein powder and Matrix Phase Detox powder. Whizz it up and down the hatch.

Lunch was a choice of protein (chicken, seafood or eggs) with plenty of green veges (cooked or raw) and a serving of a healthy fat (avocado, avocado oil or pumpkin and sunflower seeds). Dinner was much the same but if I wanted a small amount of starch I could pick from basmati rice, quinoa, potato or kumara.

Sonja had given me a few easy recipes I could try out, one of which was for cauliflower rice. I loved that! Super easy to make and a tasty alternative to rice to have with the vege curry I made using plenty of detox-friendly spices such as cumin, coriander, turmeric, cardamom, cinnamon and chilli.

Chicken was jazzed up with Gregg's Moroccan spice mix - also detox-friendly in that it contains no added sugar.

But my favourite dinnertime side dish was Sonja's Superfood quinoa salad which I adapted slightly (see recipe below).

I also had cups of Artemis' kidney cleanse and liver cleanse teas throughout the day along with plenty of water to help flush out the toxins.

While week one was mostly smooth sailing, there were a few small hiccups. Despite drinking plenty of water, I was headachey on Monday afternoon. On Tuesday I was craving something sweet, which was weird because I don't normally crave sweet foods. On Wednesday I spent so much time in the toilet I could have set up my laptop in there. And by Friday my energy levels were pretty low.

I'd eaten lunch while I worked through that day so I figured perhaps I just needed fresh air and exercise to perk me up so I left work a bit early and headed for the Hakarimata stairs to get in a walk to the summit.

Dumb idea. I got just past half way and my legs felt like they each had a large toddler attached to them. Listening to my tired body I decided to head back down the hill. By 7pm I could barely keep my eyes open and that night I slept for 14 hours solid.

So while there were some taxing times during week one, I got on the scales at the end of it to find I'd lost 2kg and felt fantastic. My energy levels were up, my skin was clearer and I hadn't yelled at anyone. Bring on week two!

Superfood quinoa salad

Ingredients:
1 cup of quinoa (I used the Ceres Organic Inca red quinoa)
2 cups water
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 T avocado oil
1/4 c toasted sunflower seeds
1/4 c toasted pumpkin seeds
2 cups of cauliflower florets
2 large carrots, cut into thin strips
2 cups baby spinach

Dressing:
2 T olive oil
2 T lemon juice
Pink Himalayan sea salt and black pepper to season

Method:
Add the quinoa and water to medium-sized pot, bring to the boil then turn down to low until the quinoa has absorbed all the water. Fluff with a fork and allow to cool.
Toss the carrots and cauliflower together with the avocado oil, cumin, coriander and turmeric. Place in an oven-proof dish and cook at 180 degrees until cooked and golden.
Mix the cooked veges through the quinoa and allow to cool. Once cool, add the spinach and toasted seeds.
For the dressing, mix together olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper and toss through the salad. Serve with chicken and a side of steamed green beans or other green vege of your choice.

Next week I'll write about how week two of the detox cleanse goes.

Sonja Gardiner is a Hamilton nutritionist on a mission to bring health, wholeness and happiness back into people's lives. For more information see www.sonjagardiner.com.