Over the next 21 days, I will follow a program created by Dr.Alejandro Junger. It’s quite simply called Clean. He has a book by the same name, if you want to check it out.
There are 2 ways to do the program…one is outlined in his book and requires some work since you’ll be making fresh juices and cooking a lot. The other is sold on his website and is much simpler (in my opinion). Always a fan of simplicity, I’ve opted for the simpler route.
Here’s what I’m facing over the next 3 weeks..
(UPDATE: I repeated the cleanse again in 2010…about a year later. I highly recommend it.)
I’ll start each day with a liquid meal/shake and some supplements. Lunch-time will be a REAL meal (food outlined in his book/ chicken, veggies, etc.) with more supplements. And, dinner will look a lot like breakfast since it’s another liquid meal. So, we’re talking about one traditional meal a day! Can I do it? We’ll see.
WHY am I doing this? Well, let me start by saying I’m already very into “clean living”. I gave up dairy years ago since it made me feel bloated. I rarely drink alcohol and water is truly my favorite beverage. You’ll rarely see me drinking a soft drink or eating junky food. Most of my food is purchased at my fave store, Whole Foods, and I pay very close attention to eating quality food. But, I do have two vices that come back now and again…I love BREAD and SUGAR.
When I’m bread and sugar-free, I feel INCREDIBLE. But, with too many summer barbeques lately (and those yummy burgers on hamburger buns) and too many chocolate chip cookies (love those), I’m starting to feel less than incredible. Some of you might laugh when you read this since I don’t sound very toxic, right? My sister teased me about this today and wondered what on earth I’ll “detox” out of my body. She affectionately refers to me as the ‘well-oiled machine’ since I am pretty conscious about what I eat. But, for ME, I know I can feel better and I’m curious to see what will happen if I do this particular nutritional cleanse for 3 whole weeks!
PLUS, I’m turning 40 this September and want to enter that decade of my life feeling and looking my absolute best. So, here we are!
My plan is to update this article every day to document how I’m feeling and any other insights about the cleanse. I’m sharing this with my friends and clients since I know it might inspire a few of you to upgrade your health. I do want to say I’m *not* necessarily recommending this program (yet) since I haven’t been through it. So, if you’re interested in giving it a go, please check with your doctor first. It’s my understanding this program is *not* recommended for everyone but it does have glowing testimonials from well-respected people, so I have a feeling it’s a good one.
If you subscribe to this blog, you will *not* get a new update sent to you each day. So, check this page online if you’re curious to know how I’m doing.
DAY 1 (July 15th): My shakes and supplements arrived yesterday and I was excited to begin this AM. As a coincidence (!!), today was also the first day to volunteer delivering food to the homeless. My sister recruited me to help once a month and today was a quick “training”. Can you believe it…guess what the food was? TONS of BREAD, COOKIES and CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES (with sprinkles). I kid you not. It made me laugh out loud. So, there we were picking up day old items from various stores and delivering it to food pantries and homeless shelters around town.
I have 3 thoughts about this ‘coincidence’:
1. There are no coincidences and I’m being tested from day one to see how committed I am to the program. I passed that test with flying colors. It truly wasn’t even hard to do.
2. Homeless people need better nutrition. It makes me sad to think they are loading up on bread and sugary treats. I hope they have access to more quality food as well.
3. I don’t really know what ‘hungry’ feels like in comparison to millions of people around the world.
This was a good experience for me since I WAS worried about being hungry on this plan, but now I’m not. And the truth is, I’m not hungry TODAY. Let’s see what happens tomorrow.
Day 2: (July16th) Nothing too eventful today. I will say the powdered shake is not very yummy. I had to use the old “plug your nose” while you drink it trick I learned from my parents a long time ago. It helped. Funny how our sense of smell is such a factor when it comes to food. Salmon and veggies for lunch (not a departure from how I usually eat, though). But, the good news is that there was NO sugar today and NO bread. I’m realizing bread isn’t really the issue since I’m not craving it at all. But, sugar is another story. I started reading about the program a bit more and am thinking about changing gears and making the recipes in the book which are smoothies, juices and soups. Sure, I’ll to go on a scavenger hunt to look for some of the ingredients…but I think that actually might make this cleanse more of a challenge for me and yield greater results, too. I’m sure the shakes are ideal for busy people but the truth is I have the time to prepare meals. The one major negative I already feel is that I’m not getting enough “live food” benefits. I’ve done week long JUICE fasts before (fresh veggies, fruits, in a juicer) and always feel incredible. On another note, I sat in my infrared sauna today for 30 minutes to get my ‘sweat on.’ Sweating daily is always recommended during a cleanse. I think it helped! FYI, my sauna was purchased through SunlightSaunas. LOVE IT. I’ve been in contact with the “Clean Program” staff and must say they are very helpful!
Day 3: (July17th) Feeling very CALM today. A better word to describe the feeling might be “even”. I have my usual amount of high energy but this cleanse is adding a calm feeling that I really like. Since I have hypoglycemia, my blood sugar is a tricky matter if not managed just right. Even though I’m only eating one solid meal a day,with two shakes for other meals, I feel full and my blood sugar feels very stable all day long. I did have some trouble falling asleep last night since I felt so energized.
Days 4-6 (July 18-20th) I’m writing this Monday morning. Switched gears and started making some of the recipes in the book. Now, I’m alternating between the recipes and the powdered shakes. I felt kind of puny/weak Saturday AM. From about noon onward, I felt great all weekend. I know there are energy slumps now and again during a detox. I find myself feeling super relaxed in my body, which is a very good feeling. At the same, time I have loads of energy. It’s an ideal combo for me. I love it. My body is starting to hum, if that makes sense. I can literally feel energy moving throughout my body. I feel very vibrant and centered. Oh yes, Dr. Junger (author of the book) sent me a note on Friday. He’s reading my journal. LOVE THAT! He challenged me to re-think my hypoglycemia, too. I’ll write more about that later. I’ve been having loads of insights about that topic lately.
Day 7 (July21st) OK, I feel like I’m starting to sound like a broken record. Today’s update? I still feel great! Since many of the recipes are “raw” (uncooked), I’ve been researching raw food eating plans. After the 21 days, Dr. Junger suggests eating a diet made up of at least 51% raw food. I plan to make that happen…maybe 50-70%? We’ll see. Tomorrow, I’m scheduled to deliver bread and cupcakes to the homeless shelters again. Let’s see how that goes. Kind of grosses me out, to be honest. Although, I did start salivating a bit while passing fresh ciabatta rolls at Whole Foods yesterday. OH YES, I made a super yummy smoothie with blueberries and cacao (raw cocoa) with almond milk (non dairy). So, basically, we’re talking about a chocolate-blueberry milkshake. I’m a fan. I’m also grateful to learn some healthy alternatives that totally satisfy my sweet tooth. Feeling GOOD. More tomorrow.
Day 8 (July 22nd) This morning I ate what tasted like lawn clippings for breakfast. I was in a rush and loaded a lot of random veggies into the blender with water with some apples for sweetness. Broccoli, kale, swiss chard, etc.. I must really be committed to the cleanse process since I downed the drink without thinking about it too much. I still have an aftertaste in my mouth and it’s HOURS later. Oh well.
After breakfast, I delivered day old bread/cookies/cakes to the homeless shelters again. If you’ve been reading my updates you’ll know my sis recruited me to do this recently. Probably not an ideal fit for me, I know. But, I did it and it wasn’t a problem at all.
So, there I was driving along with piles of bread in my front seat, mountains of choc chip cookies in the backseat and cake and cinnamon rolls in the trunk (where they belong!!)HILARIOUS. Yes, there I was with a car full of junk and a stomach full of lawn clippings.
Lo and behold, I still feel FABULOUS. Nothing can derail me!
Days 9-10 (July 23-24) Well folks, I’m near the midway point. Yesterday (day 9) was slightly different. I had my 2 liquid meals for breakfast and lunch and the “real meal” (fish and veggies) for dinner. No issues with hypoglycemia at all, even though there was a long stretch of time not eating much. Fascinating!! I did feel very light yesterday…sort of like a floating feeling. Not sure if I liked it. Not hungry at all, just light. Since I’m not eating any dense food, this makes sense to me. I prefer to feel more grounded, though. Wondering if that can only be accomplished with more dense foods? I’ll explore this more after the 21 days. For now, I’ve decided to simply be an observer and see what else happens with my body…On another note, I’ve been attracting lots of coaching opportunities. Literally 5 or 6 people a day have been contacting me for phone coaching. Since I don’t have space, I keep saying “no” or add them to my waiting list. None of them read this blog, either! They’re just random people showing up for coaching…I always see a relationship between what I ATTRACT in my life and how I FEEL. When I take really good care of myself, I attract a lot more. That’s a plus and a minus. I’ll say more about that later. Happy Weekend everyone!!
Days 11-13 (July 25-27th) You know that cozy feeling you get in winter while sitting in front of a warm fire…wrapped in a blanket, on the couch? Well, that’s how I feel in my BODY now. I have the coziest feeling and it’s truly wonderful. I think it’s from eating so many fruits and veggies (blended into smoothies). Not really losing too much weight, which is fine with me. My meals, while mainly liquid, do have substantial calories. I wonder if I could eat this way forever?? Life feels sweeter and I’m even more aware of things around me. I’m usually fairly aware and “in the moment” but more so lately. Feeling really, really, really good. Looking good, too, if I may say! My skin is super clear and my eyes are sparkly. 
One interesting point made by Dr. Junger is about ‘hunger’. He says that hunger isn’t always HUNGER for food. I’ve tried to notice that within myself. I haven’t felt very hungry at all during this cleanse. But, the moments when I did feel hungry were usually linked to some sort of frustration. So, it’s not really hunger…it’s frustration. For example, I had an insanely busy day recently and craved a cookie for the first time since I started this thing. I wasn’t REALLY hungry (in fact, it was only one hour after lunch!). What I wanted was some sugar to make me feel better or to ‘numb’ the feeling of frustration. Now, what I am doing is looking for ways to remove that frustration from my life since insanely busy days don’t really serve me very well.
In a way, this cleanse is healing for the body AND for the soul. It’s encouraging me to continue to add balance to my life (I’m pretty good at it already, but need to tweak a couple of things to operate in the best way possible!)
Days 14-15 (July 28th and 29th) I’m getting lots of emails now from those of you reading my detox diary. Sounds like many people are inspired to give it a try! I do recommend the program. Buy the book (mentioned above) and stick with the plan. It’s all spelled out there.
Today, I woke up early to do the bread/cookie/cake delivery to homeless shelters around town. I’ve got this down to a science now. Doesn’t take long at all. However, I am still not sure I resonate with the type of food I’m delivering. Today, I ran into some of the people waiting for food and chatted with them about life and looked into their eyes to get a sense of how they were feeling. They were so grateful for the food and I realized that they also have access to veggies and other goodies at the shelter. So, I’m happy to hear about their well rounded diet. And, when times are rough, I guess a chocolate cupcake can give someone a lift.
One woman said the cupcakes remind her of birthdays and happy times. So, I’m trying not to judge what people eat and just be happy for them. This brings me to another point. In the past, whenever I’ve ‘discovered’ something great I always wanted to tell everyone about it and convert them to this fabulous new find of mine. Now, I don’t feel like doing that very much, which is good for me. I find myself allowing other people to do whatever they want. Feels much lighter to me and I like it. What’s interesting is how certain people are attracted to what I’m doing and asking about it. I’m always happy to share.
The difference now is that I don’t feel like I have to save the world and everyone’s eating habits. What I do know (from coaching a lot of people) is that when someone is really ready to change, they will change. I know lots of people are looking for many solutions to all sorts of problems. For me, I was looking for a solution to my hypoglycemic tendencies, I realize. I found it. And, it all started by reading a book with info I’ve read in various ways in the past.. I was ready to hear the message NOW, though. TIming is everything.
Oh yes, one of my new favorite smoothies (have I talked about this before?) has blueberries and raw cocoa. That’s my new choc cupcake. I wonder if I can put a candle in it and make it a birthday cake?? Funny.
Days 16-17 (July 30 and 31st) The last two days haven’t been my finest. I’ve been slightly off course with meals and skipped a couple! I don’t have much of an appetite, which is interesting. Only drank half of my green smoothie this morning, too. Just didn’t want more. I know I need to eat since the meals are so few and far between and full of essential nutrients for living! The catalyst for this must be my busy schedule. I’ve been so focused I worked right through lunch. Haven’t done that in years. I discovered some RAW granola at the healthfood store without sugar and have been snacking on it. Not exactly a cheat item (you can have snacks) but not really ideal in lieu of lunch. Tomorrow is a new day and I’ll get back on the schedule with 3 meals a day. I’m in the home stretch and it feels great! Thanks to everyone for your great emails. Much appreciated.
Days 18-19 (Aug. 1 and 2) I’m in the home stretch! The finish line is within sight! Maybe I’ll celebrate with a chocolate chip cookie. JUST KIDDING. I will say I started craving a wee bit of chocolate this weekend and learned that it could be a lack of magnesium! I guess chocolate is loaded with magnesium so I’ll start taking some supplements after the cleanse and see if this helps. The craving has been minor, but it’s worth mentioning since I’ve learned that when in a CLEAN state, the body craves nutrients it needs..and not usually junk. Of course, when you have sugar in your system (which I don’t right now), your body will crave more sugar since sugar feeds on sugar. My goal is to continue to be sugar-free and notice the cravings my body has and then try to add those nutrients to my daily diet. A balanced body…Loving it.
Days 20-21 (Aug. 3 and 4) I MADE IT. Yippee! The final week was kind of a blur, really. I can’t believe the 21 days flew by so quickly. Now, I’m thinking of adding a few extra days just for good measure. Other people in the program are doing that so it’s inspiring me to go for it, too.
If you’d like to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)a comment about this, please do. I love random, supportive emails from people.
