I did it! I survived the cleanse: ten days of eating nothing but “real,” unprocessed food (so no dairy, meat, gluten, refined sugar, caffeine, or alcohol).
The first question I’ve been getting: “Was it hard?”
As I mentioned in my last post, the hardest part was finding the time and energy to shop for and cook real meals. Finding the space to store the fixin’s and prepare food was also a challenge: I’ve a very small galley kitchen with limited storage space, and at any given time the countertops were piled high with oatmeal, nuts, fruit, avocados–you name it–even overflowing a bit onto a credenza in the living room. But that was a minor irritation.
While I’d crave the occasional Coke in the afternoon, that was easy enough to get past. The thing I missed most was simply being able to pick up a quick sandwich or time-saving take-out dinner. And I admit, I failed miserably in the “conscious eating” part of the cleanse challenge: shutting off the TV, eliminating all distractions and focusing on just eating. As a born multi-tasker, I think my head would have exploded if I weren’t able to surf the web while eating lunch at my desk at work or watch the news while eating dinner. A speedy eater, I also couldn’t get used to slowing down and enjoying my meals. Maybe some day I’ll get there. Baby steps.
The second question? “Did you notice a difference?”
The answer: definitely.
The major change I felt was when I woke up every morning. Instead of dragging myself from bed, wishing I had another hour of sleep, I woke up feeling refreshed and ready to start the day. Nothing changed but my diet: I wasn’t sleeping more or working out less. I also started the cleanse with a bit of a cold/allergies, and found that I was far less–forgive me–phlegmy. While I’ll be slowly reintroducing gluten into my diet to see if that may be the culprit, I’m pretty sure sugar is to blame. And skipping the occasional evening glass of wine probably didn’t hurt either.
Finally–did I lose any weight? Yes, 2-3 pounds. My very patient (and hungry) man lost about four.
The greatest benefit of the cleanse, however, came from taking ten days to really consider the food I was putting in my body and the effect it was having on my moods, health, and energy levels. When I woke up today–my first morning post-cleanse–and considered the sugar content of my normal morning cereal (Post Great Grains–13 grams of sugar, the equivalent of more than three teaspoons of the stuff!), I opted for a cleanse-approved almond milk-strawberry-banana-spinach smoothie instead. Walking the aisles of the grocery store now, I notice all the “fake food” so much more–the nutritionally void snacks and packaged meals with questionable chemical contents that dominate the shelves. It makes it that much easier to resist it all.
It’s not to say that I’ve become a dietary saint. I’m still fantasizing about a hot fudge sundae right now. But when I eat such foods, I’ll be much more sensitive to the cause-and-effect relationship–and less likely to indulge as often. And that’s what the cleanse is all about: not being perfect all the time, but being aware, and noticing and enjoying the benefits when you’re able to simply say no.
