My Thirty Day Detox Is Here

I love the theatre. Absolutely love it. Going to shows, performing in shows, producing, directing, rehearsing, the whole shooting gallery. But if there’s one thing about a Devious Theatre production, it sure brings a hell of a lot of eating.

The company was given a six month residency which commenced in January, effectively providing a home, office, rehearsal and performance space for the first six months of 2011. All well and good until you find that you’re hitting the office to cook breakfast, you’re located beside one of the best health food stores in Kilkenny (that also hides a terrific deli counter with all kinds of spring rolls and other delights), you’re a few doors away from the Chinese, the Italian, the chipper and when it comes to show week (last week), you’ve got your pick of the pubs to choose from, whatever your poison.

So, coming off the back of my first production of 2011 (hence the quiet time the last week or two and absentmindedly missing Sunday’s Foodie Roundup, largely due to not having a spare second to read anything during the week), I’ve decided to put myself on a detox for 30 days.

In fairness, I used to be so good. When the rolls warrant a physical change in appearance, I’m game for it. Hell, I dropped 35lbs for Trainspotting, I can do it again. That said, since Trainspotting, those 35lbs have most certainly appeared back on but with the better days coming, the bike growling at me in the corner to get back on the road and on review of the eating and drinking activities for the past fortnight, it’s time to ditch the lot – or at least most of it.

Gone are the crisps with lunch. Gone are the pre-packed sandwiches. Gone are the biscuits with the tea, the sneaky piece of cake that was in the kitchen thanks to one of the actors having a birthday or two. Gone are the mid-morning trips for a spring roll or chicken balls. Gone are the pre-show cans of red bull. Gone are the pints. Gone, gone, gone.

I’ll be in the corner, crying into my peppermint tea.

The whole notion of a detox though is a bit double-sided. Yes, the past week or two have seen a major increase in takeaways, post-show pints and all that jazz. But about 2-3 weeks back, before all of that even started, I began to notice certain reactions to foods. Coming from a family of coeliacs and given herself is following a gluten, dairy, lactose and wheat free diet – and is vegetarian – I think it’s finally starting to rub off, so dropping certain foods for the sake of month might give me a better idea of how the body is going. While I don’t think I’m heading down the road of a gluten-free diet straight away, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it’s in my future.

Anyway, it all kicked off yesterday and in reality there’s just a few basics I want to cover.

• Greatly reduce the amount of sugar in my foods
• Greatly increase the amount of water I drink on a daily basis, getting back to 2L per day
• Have a good breakfast, cook a lunch and cook a dinner

After that, I’ll let the bike and the lack of beer take care of the rest.