hi friends! It was a busy busy day at work today. I came home, stuck my iPhone into my FlipBelt and turned on Audible (currently listening to Lean In) and starting cutting the grass. I actually find it pretty relaxing to cut the grass…I love being outside and being active, and it’s a good time to listen to a book or just listen to my thoughts.
On Monday, I started the Conscious Cleanse. It’s a two-week cleanse designed to help your body detox, reduce inflammation, and identify any food allergies. When they reached out and asked me to participate in the cleanse (full disclosure: for free), I was excited to try the program because I’d been feeling especially sluggish and tired for weeks. There’s a huge focus on veggies with the cleanse, and I don’t think I’ve ever eaten more greens in one week. The three hardest aspects of the cleanse for me? No caffeine. No alcohol. No sugar. Which I discovered while reading the book, sipping a glass of wine. True story – ha! (I didn’t remember that detail when I first read about it on Holly’s blog. convenient memory there.)
The first two days were ROUGH without coffee. Splitting pounding headache. But I’m feeling fine in the mornings now without my daily cup (or two).
Last night I went to dinner with some friends and they all ordered one of my favorite wines – Josh Cellars – and I asked the waitress for a bottle of sparkling water, a lemon and a glass with muddled basil in the bottom. It was honestly so refreshing, I didn’t miss the wine at all.
And The Conscious Cleanse has enough recipes for yummy snacks (with dates & such) that satisfy my sweet tooth that even avoiding the candy stash at work hasn’t been hard. Although, to be honest, I’m probably over-doing it on the little snack balls. Sugar is still sugar, even if it’s natural fruit sugar. 🙂
I stocked up on lettuce and kale at the farmers’ market this past weekend. Maizey approved.
I used to think I wasn’t a smoothie person, but I think I just make really crappy smoothies on my own. They are always nasty and thick and goopy. But, uh, apparently if you follow a recipe, smoothies can be really good. 😉 I LOVE the smoothie recipes in the Conscious Cleanse book they sent me.
This post is not sponsored by Google. But heeyyyy Google people, if you’re reading and you want to sponsor my blog, I’d let ya. For one milllllion dollars!
You can do the cleanse just using the book, or register for a cleanse with a group. With the group, you get daily tip/encouragement emails, unlimited access to the authors to ask questions, and access to a group Facebook page to cheer each other on. I’ve been surprised how much I’m enjoying the group Facebook page – when my resolve was wavering last night looking at the wine list, I posted on the page and almost immediately people responding back encouraging me to stay strong and suggestions of what to order instead of a cabernet.
Anyway, I wasn’t planning on going into all this tonight, but I guess I’m just pretty excited about it. Because today, I FEEL AWESOME. I have so much energy and I just feel…vibrant. Cheesy, but I don’t know a better word for it. Like I have mind clarity. It’s kind of hard to describe. My digestion was pretty rough for the first couple days and I felt sluggish and crabby and kind of in a haze. But I’ve learned those are all symptoms of detox. I can’t wait to see how I feel as I keep going.
Alright, time to make dinner! Have a great night!
What’s your go-to drink when you’re not having wine or beer? Or if you never drink alcohol, what’s your favorite non-soda, non-sugar drink?
Have you ever done any type of cleanse? What type?
18 Comments
Michelle @ A Healthy Mrs
at“No caffeine. No alcohol. No sugar. Which I discovered while reading the book, sipping a glass of wine” <— Ha! Too funny!
But seriously, no caffeine? No wine? No fun! 🙂
Way to stay strong — I don't think I could do it!
Teri [a foodie stays fit]
atyea… kind of not fun sometimes 🙂
RLR
atI just finished my first day of The Plan – it’s designed to help identify food sensitivities. I was wavering last night (after I’d bought all of my groceries for the specific menu…), and I have had a headache all day today, but none of the stomach upset I’d been having. And – I didn’t need any antihistamines today. Hmm.
I like what you have shared so far about the Conscious Cleanse. I don’t drink much caffeine anyway, and alcohol even less often – but the sugar part might be tough! Keep us posted on how it goes!
BroccoliHut
atOh man, I would be such a grump without my coffee OR sugar. Kudos for sticking with it!
I’ve been really into making flavored ice cubes lately–I’ll freeze lemon, berries, cucumber, and/or basil with water in an ice cube tray and add it to my water at meals. It’s a good way to make things a little more interesting!
Teri [a foodie stays fit]
atthat is BRILLIANT. Do you just chop them up and mix them with water and freeze?
BroccoliHut
atYep! With small items like blueberries, I just throw ’em in whole.
I talk about it a bit in this post:
http://thebroccolihut.com/resolution-check-in-hydration/
Kay @ goaloflosing.com
atI use to drink a lot of pop (soda) when I was a teenager and it was a hard habit to break. It was worth it, though! I still have some from time to time. Usually when I’m eating something less than healthy. 🙂
As for my usual, it’s a tall glass of H20.
Teri [a foodie stays fit]
ati love that you said pop and then soda in parenthesis. 🙂 I used to call it pop and now call it soda. 🙂
Amber @ Busy, Bold, Blessed
atI’m doing a 30 day strict Paleo challenge right now called the Whole30. No grains, dairy, sugar, legumes, alcohol… I haven’t exactly been strict but I know the program can produce amazing results. I did 21 days in January and lost 12 lbs and felt better than ever. At the end you’re supposed to reintroduce each elminated item one at a time so you can identify how each thing affects you.
Good luck with the rest of your cleanse and Happy Friday <3
Teri [a foodie stays fit]
atahhhh I’d been wondering what Whole30 was! I’d seen it in a couple places! It sounds pretty similar to what I’m doing – except I can have legumes…although I haven’t. 🙂
Happy weekend!
Ja @Ja on the RUN
atMy husband and I got started juicing. 🙂 We’re are on day 2. So far it’s going well. 🙂
Teri [a foodie stays fit]
atonly juice? That’s hard! I bet you feel great though!
christina
atI juuuuust read about the conscious cleanse! i want to do it!
ss
atI require coffee every morning to remain conscious AND cleansed, if you catch my drift…
Teri [a foodie stays fit]
atum yes, I do catch your drift. and I miss coffee for the same reason.
holly
atloved this! so glad you are enjoying the experience.
and now i want that lemony basil concoction! that sounds totally refreshing + amazing.
Maryz
atI just read this post and promptly downloaded the book to my NOOK. I just got back from a trip to China and have been struggling with jet lag and feeling awful. I’m hoping this may help out. Thanks for sharing!
Vegan Nom Noms
atPlanning to start this cleanse soon, thanks for sharing!