I just finished a 10 day detox! The program consisted mainly of fresh fruit and vegetables, nuts and seeds, beans and legumes – oh and what seemed like gallons of green tea! Do I feel any different as a result? Full of vitality, glowing with health perhaps? Lighter and leaner?... hmm can’t say I do. But hey, I did finish the full 10 days without any slip ups, so that in itself was a major achievement.

Now I have completed a few detoxes before and have always felt lighter and full of energy afterwards. But this time I didn't feel any major improvement to my energy levels, and that perplexes me. I definitely stuck to all the rules and I did a lot of water. In fact, the bathroom was in popular demand over the last 10 days, if you know what I mean.

The good news. I never went hungry for the whole ten days. I did get a little bored of veges by day 8, but on the whole it was great because I didn't get monster cravings for my regular foods. Probably the hardest part of this detox (and any other detox I have tried) was my body's reaction to eliminating coffee. I usually suffer from headaches and this time was no exception. I had an ongoing dull headache for about 3 days and at times that got a little challenging. Try explaining to a two year old that mommy needs some peace and quiet - they are just not interested.

In terms of weight loss, I lost about 2 and half kilos - which isn't bad for 10 days. However, weight loss was not my motivation to start this detox. I knew my body needed a rest from the coffee, tea, extra salt and the occasional glass of red (which admittedly usually ends up 2 or 3 glasses on a weekend evening).

Would I recommend a detox to anyone? Absolutely. I think living in today's world exposes us to a cocktail of 'nasties.' From the pollution we breathe, to the chemicals and pesticides in our foods, and the multitude of toxins in our homes. Not to mention, the many atoms of radiation we absorb from sitting at our computers!

Just remember though, if you chose to do a detox diet, just be sure your doing it for the right reasons. If you use it purely as a way to lose weight you may be disappointed. Sure, may find you lose a couple of kilos, but dropping a full dress size, I think not. There are some really good detox programs out there, but they can vary with what your allowed to eat. Important note: don’t get detox diets confused with a fast - a fast is mainly juices and/or herbal tonics and are usually done over 1-3 days maximum.

The detox diet I chose was basically a vegan diet which eliminated all salts, sugars, preserved or packaged foods, tea, coffee, alcohol etc. It did take some time preparing all the meals, but that didn't bother me as I usually prepare healthy meals from scratch for my little one anyway. If you are not happy preparing vege meals and struggle being creative (to beat the boredom), you will have to handle just plain salads and steamed veges pretty much for 10 days straight. I tried to 'jazz up' our meals with lots of fresh herbs and spices. And as cold pressed olive oil was allowed, I became quite experimental with my healthy salad dressings.

So today, it’s back to regular eating (yay!!). I still plan to eat healthily, but I will be including fish and chicken again and my much missed ‘soy lattes’ (yum yum). Though I have decided to swap over to de-caff lattes from now on. So I suppose that is one new habit that has a come as a result of my detox.

If you would like to know more about the benefits of detoxing, I have included some information and links to a variety of programs in this hub.