January Detox Challenge II – The Results
We are in the second week of February already, where the hello did that go!? How did you all get on with your January “detox”? Mine went ok-ish I’d say overall. Let’s have a quick reminder of what I was trying to achieve:
- Run 2 x 1 mile run per week and one 2+ mile run per week (With a side/semi-long-term goal of doing 1 mile in 6 minutes and 2 miles in 13 minutes)
- Eating – No Added Sugar!
- No alcohol
If you need more info than that, the full challenge write up can be read here, and let it be known that I think you’re a little bit weird (but I like you even more than the “normal people”) 🙂
Following are some notes on how I did!
Running
The easiest way to summarise how I did on this part is by the following table:
Week 1 | Distance (miles) | Time | 1 mile Pace |
0.9 | 6:08 | 6:45 | |
2.01 | 13:59 | 6:56 | |
1.04 | 6:37 | 6:22 | |
Week 2 | 1.03 | 6:31 | 6:19 |
1.43 | 12:21 | 8:38 | |
1.51 | 11:05 | 7:19 | |
Week 3 | 2.01 | 13:36 | 6:45 |
1.01 | 6:56 | 6:53 | |
0.78 | 6:57 | 8:55 | |
0.49 | 3:19 | 6:44 | |
Week 4 | 1.02 | 6:53 | 6:46 |
1.01 | 7:24 | 7:21 |
I think one word to describe these is results is inconsistent! The best times I was pretty happy with:
Best 1 mile pace: 6:19
Best 2 mile pace: 6:45 x 2 = 13:30
There were some shoddy times in there as well, plus I didn’t quite keep up the distance properly with the 2 mile runs, but I was happy enough with what I did.
Most of the slow runs involved me running somewhere with extra luggage on my back, for example I ran to my Dads house and back a couple of times to pick up tools for the car (more to come on my adventures with that in the next post!), and also ran to the shops and back at least once with some supplies on my back on the way back. This naturally slowed me down!
I also gave blood at the start of week 3 which seemed to throw a bit of a spanner in the works with my cardio, I was breathing much heavier even though my runs were slower. I am guessing there is something in this, less red blood cells equals less oxygen getting to the muscles!? Apart from that though it was a good experience and I signed up to give again in April 🙂
My final excuse for the lack of action and slowness in week 4 is that I played a game of 5-a-side football with the guys at work on the Monday. I haven’t played in maybe 2 years, and some muscles I had completely forgotten about were aching like hell for the rest of the week. Lesson learnt, no more 5-a-side while training for a run! It was damn good exercise (and fun!) nonetheless.
In terms of the goals, shaving 19 seconds off of that 1 mile pace is going to be hard but I am going to carry on doing these short runs to see how long it will take me to do it. I double checked my previous PB and it was 6:30 so I shaved 11 seconds off of that with minimal effort really, so I am confident I can do it, just not sure how long it will take me. I’ll let you know if/when I do no doubt 🙂
No Sugar
Now come the two parts I did not do so well on! You can view my whole list of violations at the bottom of the post, as it was too long to include in the main post… 🙂
A general commentary would be, I started off allowing myself a few sauces (tomato, pickle, salad cream) but then decided that they clearly have added sugar so I should write them down on the violations list (these are small ones which I’m not that bothered about really), but after a few major slips I tried to go more hardcore in the latter weeks. However I still managed a few major slips in those weeks as well. The big violations were:
- 5 profiter rolls in week 1 – left over from xmas, were going off, couldn’t face chucking them so ate them instead…
- Tea & biscuits & a few chocolates in week 2 – when doing my car repairs. Manual work requires calories!
- Massaman curry – Although this is made with coconut milk, which is technically natural, it is pretty laced with sugar. D’oh!
- Week 3 – Gave blood – they made me eat crisps and biscuits! I think this one is allowed 😉
- Week 4 – Thursday round friends house, ate a massive bit of chocolate based pudding. Friday went round the in-laws, ate 4 chocolates.
I guess the main thing I can take away from this is that sugar is indeed very addictive. I really found myself craving it, and knowing that I wasn’t supposed to have it made me want it even more. I also came a cropper when we ended up going round friends or our family’s houses and pudding was served up. I just think it’s rude to say no, and you should know by now I hate to see good food go to waste! 😉
One other thing that occurred to me was people have a lot of chocolate and other sweet treats they are trying to offload leftover from Christmas (as they are on a diet/detox as well!) so maybe January is not the best month to do this challenge in.
Going forward, I think a more balanced approach to reigning in my sugar intake will work better for me. What I’ll be doing will be eating low/no added sugar during the weekdays and evenings when I am more in control of what I eat, but when we go out or round others for dinner, I won’t sweat having the sweet treats that are on offer. This will make it seem an even more special treat when we do go out, rather than just another unhealthy snack on top of the 7 I’ve already eaten that day 1! See MMM’s King for a day method for more info on that line of thinking.
Oh one final thing, I also have eaten a huge pile of sweet stuff in the week directly after the challenge finished so again I think the famine / feast thing applies here and a smoother consumption pattern will be more healthy and sustainable in the long run!
No Alcohol
Six words on this one:
“What the hell was I thinking?!”
Haha! In all fairness I drunk far less than any other month of the year so it was a partial success – according to my app on my phone it was 29 units, which is well within the 21 units per week (so 84 for the full four week challenge). On the same line with the sugar, going forward I think a more sensible moderation will be a good strategy rather than just trying (and failing) to stop altogether, with the less frequent booze up for bigger celebrations. I can’t see me drinking that much more in February as not got many big nights out planned and have the two half marathons to run at the end of the month, which should keep me on the straight and narrow.
I am hoping this new attitude will keep with me for longer this year, but am obviously still up for a party when the time is right!
Conclusion
I’d give myself a 8/10 for the running effort, 6/10 for the sugar, and 7/10 for the alcohol.
I think this year the things I’ve done are more likely to stick long term though, because after January Detox I, while I did better with that, I didn’t really have any long term goals. Especially on the running front, I am kind of glad I didn’t break the times I was going for, as this will keep me motivated to carry on hopefully long after the end of February!
So above all, I feel like I’ve taken a lot away from the challenges to take forward and hopefully have a faster, fitter, and healthier 2015.
What about you? How did you get on with your January detox/diet/fitness goals?
Full food & drink violations table:
Week 1 | Drink | Food | Notes/Bad Excuse |
Monday | Pickle in sandwich. Small dollop of honey in porridge | ||
Tuesday | 5 profiter rolls! | Massive fail! | |
Thursday | 2 beers | Tomato sauce | |
Saturday | Tomato sauce | ||
Sunday | Tomato sauce. Packet cheese n onion crisps | ||
Week 2 | |||
Tuesday | Piece of chocolate cake at work | Someones birthday at work | |
Wednesday | 2 biscuits. 3 chocolates. | Fixing car. Need Calories | |
Friday | 2 beers | Massaman Curry, sweet chilli dipping sauce | Friends round for dinner |
Saturday | Leftover portion of curry from last night | ||
Week 3 | |||
Monday | 2 packs biscuits, bag of crisps | Gave blood. They made me do it! | |
Thursday | 5 small beers | Chocolate cake/pudding thing | Out at friends for dinner |
Friday | 1 beer | 4 chocolates | Round the in-laws |
Saturday | 4 small beers, 3 medium red wines | Friends round for dinner again 🙂 | |
Sunday | 1 small chocolate | ||
Week 4 | |||
Wednesday | 1 small chocolate | ||
Friday | Pickle in sandwich |
Notes:
- I don’t normally eat 7 unhealthy snacks per day anyway, that was an exaggeration to make the point have more impact, and also for mild comic effect. Although I have no doubt that some people do! ↩
Discussion (19) ¬
Pretty good effort overall! Well done 🙂 Especially the sugar consumption is a tough one!
I also once ran a few days after donating blood… I was a lot slower and very much out of breath.
Cheers fruGAL!
Glad to hear it wasn’t just me on the running thing then!
Close.. but not quite there my friend 😀 I managed not a drop of alcohol all of January.
Still; I certainly haven’t managed to keep up any form of exercise in that time and have given up carbs instead of sugar.. so lets call it a draw?
Ha ha, indeed!
Well done on making it a fully dry January as opposed to my “mildly damp” one… 🙂
More than happy to call it a draw! Cheers!
Not a fan of the green type in the Running table – very hard to read!
I find sugar harder to give up than booze, but if I do get a few days without eating any, the craving starts to fade. I haven’t had, for example, a Starbucks chai tea latte or an ice cream for months, and I don’t especially want one. A nice Swiss white chocolate washed down with a bottle of red, though…
Hi Andrew, I’ve just made it a bit darker just for you 🙂 – Let me know if that’s ok?
Chocolate is my Achilles heel. And cakes. And cinnamon buns. And…
Well I think you get the picture 🙂
I work at the blood bank in the Netherlands.
Yes, when you donate half a liter of blood, you give up roughly 8-10% of your hemoglobin, which is the molecule in the red blood cells that carries oxygen from your lungs to your muscles, and CO2 back from the muscles to the lungs.
They check beforehand whether you have enough hemoglobin to donate, making sure that afterward you will not be anemic. But even though you’re not anemic after the donation, if you do some serious running or biking, you could notice the difference in hemoglobin levels before and after a donation.
The body will start making more hemoglobin right after the donation, but it can take up to six weeks for the levels to get back to the previous level. So especially in the first two/three weeks you might notice it.
I hope this doesn’t stop you from donating 🙂 . If you ever want to participate in a running event, you might consider not donating in the six weeks leading up to the event, so that you can be at your best there.
Great comment Petra! Thanks for filling in the fact gaps to my theory on that.
I’ve timed it quite by chance pretty well as got my first big run this Sunday, which is around 4-5 weeks after I donated so I am hoping I’ll be ok. I managed nearly 10 miles the other day with little fuss so think my hemoglobin levels are pretty much back to normal.
And yep it hasn’t put me off donating again, I will be doing it again in April.
Cheers!
Good effort TFS and btw those who drink a moderate amount of alcohol are statistically likelyto live longer than those who never indulge so you were actually doing your health a favour there 🙂
Comment of the week goes to…. Cerridwen!
That is definitely one of my favourite statistics 🙂
Thanks!
Hi TFS
Good effort there! Of all your goals, given the sort of person I think you are from what I’ve read on your blog, I thought the no alcohol one would be the most difficult for you! Many a colleague fell off the wagon on this one in Jan, and it’s not one I would attempt myself, so I go for moderation most of the time. As per Cerridwen’s link, some alcohol is better than complete abstinence (I keep trying to tell my boss, who is and has always been teetotal) – I use this handy tool https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/sevendaycalculator to confirm that I’m pretty much within ‘guidelines’ although I do have the occasional ‘binge level’ day!
I missed out on my yoga/pilates goal as I’ve been carrying a slight leg injury but it’s better now so I have no excuses this month!
And you’re right about people off loading all their Xmas goodies – at work, people are bringing in boxes of chocs and biscuits, very tempting but I’m pretty good at saying no to it all as I’m one of those types who could actually live without chocolate! 🙂
Keep up the good efforts!
Very good insight there weenie 😉
I am using an App called AlcoDroid which seems pretty good to track it, although I may have missed a few drinks in December when it all got “a bit messy” haha. I’ll try to track it religiously for 2015 though.
Saying no to free chocolate, this must be up there with flying and laser eye beams in the super-power charts!?
Cheers and good luck for your Feb and ongoing goals too
Well done on the drinking! I attempted dry January and made it for about 10 days before giving in when having a nice meal out with friends… I love good wine and I don’t really see the benefit in giving it up completely. Moderation is the key!
I totally agree. I’m going pretty well again in Feb and can’t see March being that hectic either. I guess I am growing up (or just running out of friends who haven’t yet… haha)
April I have a stag do so I can see a big spike in consumption there, but it’s the only one I have this year. The peak stag do season was around 2-3 years ago when I seemed to have one every month. My body was not a fan of that although plenty of fun was obviously had!
profiter rolls – profiteroles
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1162666/mums-best-profiteroles
PROFITERLOLZ!
Thanks for the correction Peter! 🙂