WHY DO A CLEANSE?
Currently, I’m studying to become a certified
nutritionist. Hopefully, if all goes
well, I will complete my studies and be certified by the end of this
summer. Probably one of the most
important lessons I have learned is that our bodies are filled with toxins that
we put in them on a daily basis. By not
buying organic, we are introducing pesticides and fungicides into our systems,
chemicals our bodies can’t process and that can cause problems inside. By eating prepackaged foods, we are also
putting unnecessary chemicals and other unhealthy ingredients into our
bodies. Even the water we drink (from the tap) has chemicals! So the first line
of defense is to detox the body of these chemicals.
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| Day 6 dinner |
When Beachbody first started talking about offering a
cleanse, I knew I wanted to try it. (You can check out the Ultimate Reset here.) But
when it came out last month and I saw the price tag, I had sticker
shock. It seemed like a lot of
money. However, most naturopaths,
chiropractors, and nutritionists offer cleanse programs to their clients. From just the little bit of research I’ve
done, it looks as though Beachbody’s price point is right in line with others
on the market.
When my cleanse arrived in the mail, I was so excited. I wanted to start right away! I made a trip to Trader Joe’s to gather my ingredients
for week 1 and some of the “staples” I needed in my pantry. This post will give my results after only 7
days (still have 14 to go) and I’ve decided to include some of my daily
journaling. I know it helps me to read
what others struggle with when I’m making difficult positive changes, so I hope
it’ll encourage someone out there!
WEEK ONE RESULTS
After only seven days, I am amazed at the differences in my
body already. I lost FOUR pounds. Plus I lost 1” off my waist AND 1” off
each thigh! (My arms and hips have
stayed the same.) I have no more
caffeine headache, and I feel full each day. I’ve tried many new recipes and loved every
single one of them, really! I have to be
honest: Not having dessert and coffee
sometimes gets to me. I really got used
to something sweet after dinner.
Overall, I am very impressed with the variety of foods and how well
Beachbody has put together this cleanse.
If this is how much I’ve changed in just 7 days, I can’t wait to see how
I do at the 21 day mark!
ULTIMATE RESET JOURNAL – WEEK ONE
Day 1: April 23,
2012, Monday
Followed plan exactly – no straying! No coffee was tough. Ended up napping for about 20 min in the
afternoon. Went to bed by 9:30pm. Drank about 4-5 cups green tea today! Lots of trips to bathroom because of the
extra water I’m drinking! Made 2 salad
dressings. Made homemade corn tortillas
for tomorrow night’s dinner and set beans out to soak until tomorrow. Everyone loved the salmon dinner except
Hannah. It was tough not to take seconds
of what I liked. Supplements are not
difficult to take except for the Alkaline!
That one I just have to chug.
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| Day 1 breakfast |
Day 2: April 24, 2012
Tuesday
Headache from no coffee.
Trying to drink green tea without sugar.
Loved the pine nuts on my salad!
I’ve never splurged on those before and I really like them. Excited about dinner tonight: homemade corn tortillas, black beans and rice
along with guacamole, corn & salsa (Mexican is our family’s favorite meal). Making fresh mint tea (just put 3 mint leaves
and one basil in hot water with a pinch of stevia) for something different and
it was delicious! It’s SO difficult to
go without coffee…..I have a horrible headache still tonight. Was really tired today, but didn’t nap. Went to bed again by 9:30pm.
Day 3: April 25, 2012
Wednesday
Only had ONE cup of tea today! Headache is gone – kind of surprised it only
took 2 whole days to get rid of it; I was expecting it to last at least 3 days.
I haven’t noticed any difference in going to the bathroom or aches and
pains. Loved the lentil salad for lunch
today! Made the Ginger Miso dressing for
my salad at lunch and really liked it a lot. Still following the plan exactly. Kids loved the homemade miso soup and nori
rolls with tempeh (fake “bacon” was something new for me in my sushi). What is most difficult about the cleanse, is
the amount of cooking and dishwashing I have been doing the last few days. Tomorrow will be first day “out” during this
cleanse (we attend a homeschool co-op once a week). I hope to avoid the snacks in the teacher’s
lounge and stick to just a cup of tea and bring my own snack. Too complicated to try to bring lunch with me
tomorrow, but I do have most of it prepared because I’ve made double batches of
some of the meals.
Day 4: April 26, 2012
Thursday
Today was challenging.
I teach at a homeschool
co-op every Thursday and don’t usually get home until after 1pm. Usually, I eat the treats in the teachers’
lounge and enjoy a cup of coffee, but instead I made myself a cup of caffeine
free herbal tea. I’ll be honest, it was
a tad bit tough avoiding the baked goods in there today! Didn’t have a snack at all today because I
was running around all afternoon. (Snacks are allowed but optional on the
cleanse.) It was difficult to pass up
the candy and granola bars at the checkouts during my errands today because I
was so hungry, but I made it. Dinner
wasn’t on the table until 8pm! It wasn’t
complicated to make, but I didn’t get home and get started until after
7pm. All the meals were excellent today
and I felt very full after eating. I think
because I wasn’t at home, I wanted to snack more today (even though I didn’t
give in). By the time dinner was
finished, I felt very tired, achy and sore all over. I went to bed by 9:30pm.
Day 5: April 27, 2012
Friday
Up by 6am again. I
need to stop weighing myself daily. That
just seems to irritate me watching numbers go up and down daily. Oatmeal tasted really good this morning! I made extra the other morning, so I just
warmed it up in a pot with ¼ c coconut milk.
Looks like lunch should be easy, as will dinner because I’ve made extra
this week and can eat the leftovers for the planned meals today. I like that it’s saved me time! Feeling very sore & achy today. Got my Shakeology in the mail yesterday, so I
asked the FB group how it can be subbed in to the cleanse. This is the response I got: “Although we
encourage you to follow the prescribed Beachbody Ultimate Reset meal plan, we
do allow Shakeology Vegan as a convenient, healthy breakfast alternative for
all three phases. However, since phase 3 calls for less protein..., we recommend you take only a half a serving of Vegan
Shakeology.” Here’s one recipe they gave
me that’s approved for the Beachbody Ultimate Reset: "Kiwilicious: Blend 1 serving Shakeology Tropical
Strawberry, 1 cup distilled water, 1/2 cup frozen strawberries, and 1 kiwifruit
peeled." (You can purchase Tropical Strawberry Shakeology here.)
Day 6: April 28, 2012
Saturday
Made it to the Farmer’s Market this morning, downtown. I love talking to the farmers and vendors
there about how they grow their food. It
was tough to turn down the homemade cheese samples, and the man with baked goods really
stayed on me to buy his strawberry pies!
Meals went fine, just a lot of time to prep each meal still. Finding it difficult to keep up with all
household chores with the extra cooking and cleaning of dishes. Food was amazing! I’m definitely going to start incorporating many
of these recipes into my regular menus after the cleanse is over. I also want to start growing more veggies at
home.
Day 7: April 29, 2012
Sunday
This was a difficult day!
I had church and a potluck picnic all day long. I had time to make breakfast, but lunch had
to be brought to the park. Bringing my
soup was not easy! Then looking at
that long table of chips, cookies, brownies, etc. was somewhat of a challenge. I just kept reminding myself that it’s only 2
more weeks to go……
Stay tuned for weeks 2 and 3. I will keep journaling daily and post my results along with the condensed versions of my journal entries for you all to read.
