I actually have a lot to say but no time to say it so for now here is a post I wrote a few weeks ago and never posted but revisited and may be of interest.
I attempted my first cleanse yesterday. I was "lucky" to get my hands on the 3-Day Cleanse by Zoe Sakoutis and Erica Huss. Before I receive hate mail or differing opinions let me state that I am ignorant when it comes to cleansing and I do not make it a practice. I am not the healthiest eater in the world and I realize my diet needs an entire restructuring. I found this book easy to read with more information about cleansing than I anticipated. These are the same women who made the Blueprint Diet in NYC a fashion trend last year. I LOVE to eat so consuming only juice is a bit daunting, but I thought I would give it a go.
My diet has consisted of frozen food and cookies since Holiday season so I could definitely go for a change. After reading through the book and choosing my level I made my list of vegetables and fruits...I already knew I set myself up for disaster. The book has you take a quiz to determine your level. I, never having done a cleanse, should be a level 1...maybe a level 2, but seeing as I am also on a limited income and have no time for high maintenance combinations chose level 3. Level 3 has mainly the green juice (also so popular in this city) and 1 fruit juice. It also has a cashew milk "treat" made from scratch (I opted out of this knowing there was no way I could remember to soak nuts for an hour and strain and mash them or find the required coconut oil etc). So yes I already was bailing on the cleanse.
I began the day with the green juice and decided not to have coffee ( a Mommy staple in my mind). An hour later I decided coffee was a necessity and really should be part of my life. I had half a cup as opposed to my normal 2 cups. I felt pretty good throughout the morning and went home later for my second juice. Again feeling fine. I thought I could really do this. Of course then it was later in the day. Isa was sick with the stomach flu and really hated the juice. She wanted pasta then a sandwich and then turned both down. So I began to pick at the pasta and you know where that goes. So that was the end of my cleanse.
I am not turned off to cleansing at all. I think for me it is too much maintenance and thought and if I had the money would just call and order the juices to be delivered. As a single Mom trying to do this cleanse with all its recipes and rules I find I am just not organized enough. Cleaning a juicer 4 times a day is tedious and aggravating. It is hard enough to make meals for my Toddler let alone think about separate meals for myself. Did I feel better with the short lived version I put myself through . . . "Yes". Would I recommend this to others . . . "Yes". If you have the time, the mind power, the interest I think this is a great start for Spring. There is information on how to prepare for a cleanse and how to maintain life after it. There is also information on food combining that is easy to understand for those of us who do not do this on a regular basis.
I wish I were a more organized person who liked to cook. I do know I need to think more about the food I put in my body. I try to eat as healthy as I can but it is the one area of my life that still needs a lot of work.
Spine Twist (because during a Cleanse exercise is important but difficult)
- Sit up tall on your sitz bones.
- Pull your abdominals in-think of tightening and lifting area of pubic bone to navel.
- Flex your feet and reach through your heels.
- Extend your arms directly out to the sides, keeping them even with your shoulders, so that there is one long line from finger tip to finger tip.
- Straighten and lengthen from top of head to bottom of tailbone. Exhale, get taller as you rotate your torso and head, exhale again as you twist a bit further.
- Make sure the twist is from the abdominals and not from the head or shoulders. The upper body, including the head, moves as one piece. The pelvis stays stable and does not twist at all. Your feet should stay even and together
- Inhale to return to center.
- On the exhale, take the twist to the other side.
Repeat 3 times each side
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