A few weeks ago, I was approached by Rebecca Malen of Total Cleanse to sample a 3-day juice cleanse delivery service. That's her below, featured in a Toronto Star article last fall.
I like to eat, so I didn't reply for a couple of weeks. Plus, I get my fair share of offers and need to weigh each one (pardon the pun) to be sure I can fairly judge.
The more I thought about Rebecca's offer, the more interested I became.
If you are a follower of my blog (here or at www.fitfamily.ca) or know me, you'll know that I don't advocate or endorse the use of supplements, cleanses, fasts or other nutritional "programs" in general. There are a couple of reasons:
1. I'm not a registered dietitian. I am a personal trainer and my scope of practise is limited to exercise, motivation and common-sense nutrition.
2. I believe they feed easily into the patterns of disordered eating that plague many women and can encourage/help sustain eating disorders, extreme dieting & a negative relationship with food, despite their purported or actual health benefits. This doesn't mean they don't work. Let me clarify: I am not saying that cleanses, fasts & supplements do not work. I am saying I steer clear of them with clients and when advising people because they can be easily abused.
3. I don't use them and never have....
... until now!
While examining my feelings about cleanses since Total Cleanse approached me, I realized one major flaw in my ability to counsel. I have never tried one myself. I can't speak to their effectiveness from personal experience. And I believe wholeheartedly that the only place a personal trainer/coach/advisor can really, truly speak from is experience.
So I'm on Day 1 of my 3-Day Juice Cleanse. Aside from hot water with lemon, I am consuming nothing but 6 freshly pressed vegetable-fruit juices per day. The juices arrived at my door sometime last night - one soft cooler pack per day. Each bottle is numbered so I know which order to drink them in.
I'm happy to report: they taste like juice! Actually, they're quite good. They taste nothing like that juice from concentrate our mothers used to put on the breakfast table. There are tiny little chunks to remind me that these juices come from actual solid foods.
And since those chunks are the closest I'm going to get to solid food in the next 72 hours, I'll take it!
I'm just part of the way through Day 1 but so far I've learned:
I am a coffee JUNKIE. My eyes will barely stay open despite the fact I got close to 8 hours last night of uninterrupted sleep with an eye mask on and a cool breeze blowing in the window.
I like to chew.
I use coffee, tea, gum and food to keep me busy because I am a "workaholic" who needs to have something going on at every waking moment. Stripped of my crutches, I'm finding myself more introspective and a little bit antsy, to be honest.
More tomorrow!
Have you ever tried a cleanse or fast? Why? Did you get the results you were hoping for? Would you/did you do it again?
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