Cleanses! It’s all the rage at the beginning of every year, and oddly, I’ve never done one! This year I decided to satisfy my curiosity and see what all the hype was about.
I’ve heard about the “Master Cleanse” from a few different camps in my circle of friends, and it sounds pretty whack. Ten days of lemon water seasoned with maple syrup and cayenne pepper? This sounds terrible. Granted, I haven’t tried it, but getting your calories from such sources, just doesn’t seem “healthy” to me. You’re starving your body of nutrients for ten days. It sounds more like starvation than cleansing to me. It may be great for some people, but it’s just not my bag.
Enter Kimberly Snyder’s three day cleanse. Y’all know I’m a total fan-girl of hers. She walks the walk, and looks absolutely gorgeous. She has the option of a one, three and seven day cleanse, and I chose the three day. I have to say that it was about as difficult as I thought it would be – which was not that difficult at all! I was already used to having the glowing green smoothie every morning anyway, so the ideas of natural, organic smoothies and juices as meals was A.O.K. with me!
Day 1
Every day starts out with Kimberly Snyder’s Glowing Green Smoothie(GGS), which is a combination of seasonal greens, apple, pear, banana and lemon. So that’s what is #1 here! Then we have:
- Immunity Shot – Lemon Cayenne Ginger.
- Glowing Green Juice with Probiotics – Kale, celery, romaine, parsley, lemon, apple
- Youth Fountain – Turmeric, mango, lime juice, mint, coconut water
- Energy in a Spoon – Bee Pollen
- Active Vanilla Shake – Soaked raw buckwheat groats, cinnamon, banana, raw coconut nectar, almond milk, vanilla extract
- Debloater Shot – Highly concentrated Cranberry Extract
- GGS
After day 1 I was feeling pretty good! I was never hungry because you’re consuming something every 2 hours, with less time in between the booster shots. The bee pollen was a bit weird to get used to in it’s purest form. She states that if you have an allergy to bee pollen, absolutely DO NOT take it, as it can have severe allergic reactions. My mouth did seem to flare up a bit, and get a little itchy, but it wasn’t anything a little water couldn’t fix. I really loved the Active Vanilla Shake – it was like having dinner! Very substantial.
Day 2
- GGS
- Supreme Soother Booster – Raw aloe, turmeric, lime
- Power Green Juice with Probiotics – Kale, cucumber, celery, lemon, parsley
- Detoxifier with probiotics – Pineapple, cucumber, mint
- Energy in a Spoon
- Rainforest Acai Beauty – Acai, pre-hydrated chia seeds, blueberries, raw sprouted almond milk
- Immunity Shot
- GGS
Day 2 I woke up not hungry at all. I had some work to do before getting off to the farmer’s market, so I started off with a hot lemon water until I felt my first hunger pang. I had my glowing green smoothie en route to the farmer’s market, but I didn’t realize how long I was going to be out, so by the time I got home, I was pretty hungry! That was poor planning on my part. Other than that, I felt pretty “thin” all day meaning that I felt I really didn’t have much in my stomach weighing me down. I wasn’t hungry per se, but I did notice a difference in how my body felt at the time. As with the Active Vanilla Shake, I was equally eager to try the Rainforest Acai Beauty since it was in the same “time slot” – dinnertime! It was as thick as the Active Vanilla, but it was probably the one thing out of all 24 products that I wasn’t too thrilled about. I thought the blueberries would make it sweeter than it was. Not all products on a cleanse can taste absolutely fantastic, though! I was just happy that it was satiating. Another day in the books, and feelin’ fine!
Day 3
- GGS
- Beauty Shot – Spirulina, coconut water, stevia
- Glowing Green Juice with Probiotics
- Clean Red with probiotics – Beet, apple, ginger
- Energy in a Spoon
- Active Vanilla Shake
- Debloater Shot
- GGS
Good rest is always paramount, so I definitely took advantage of it for the cleanse, and got up later than I normally do. This day, I felt mirrored the first, switching out the Youth Fountain with the Clean Red. This last day definitely had more of a “juice” feel. It was a little rough to make it through, but looking forward to something to drink every two hours really helps out the psyche. You may be a little hungry, but I would always think to myself, “Only two hours and you can have your next smoothie/juice!”
I would say that the hardest part about it was seeing what the other people around me were eating/drinking. You know that the hubs and I love craft beer, so not drinking beer for 3 days – during the weekend to boot – was a little difficult. Enduring pizza and burger eating was a little rough too. I even went out to lunch with the hubs on the second day, content with my hot lemon water.
Even though it was challenging to view others eating/drinking, I was determined. I really think that it helped my self-control. Now, a week after the cleanse, I can tell that I don’t need as much food as I used to, and my tolerance for alcohol is way down. I had a half a glass of wine after 4 days of being dry, and was quite loopy!
I know you’re probably thinking to yourself, “How much weight did she lose?” After all, isn’t that why people do cleanses after the holidays? For me, not only was it about losing weight, but also getting back to eating healthy. I lost a total of 4 pounds over three days, and felt great! In retrospect, I wish I would have introduced solid food gradually afterwards, as I experienced some cramping after eating a chicken salad the first day being off the cleanse. I definitely plan on continuing a more regular regimen of having glowing green smoothies every morning, and in the future, I want to go for gold, and try Kimberly’s five day cleanse!
If you’re interested in this cleanse, you can find all the details here. The shipping was $30 via FedEx because we’re dealing with juices and smoothies that are not pasteurized, and must stay cold! It should arrive next-day in an insulated box complete with ice packs. If you’re in the area, check out the brick-and-mortar at 7473 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, 90046
If you do this cleanse, I’d love to know how it went and what you thought!
Cheers to our health, and all of the healthy possibilities that the year 2014 brings!
Where do I sign up?
Thank you for sharing the details of the cleanse!