Pre-Cleanse
I started off feeling excited, but a little apprehensive. Would I be able to stick it out, and not cave at the first sign of lack-of-coffee headache. Would I end up in the corner hugging my knees, crying about all the food FOMO?
Okay, maybe I’m being a little dramatic but my mind did wonder.
The night before I started, Sol Cleanse suggests that you write down your intentions. What do you wish to achieve, why you chose to cleanse etc. For me it was to give my body and mind the reboot I felt I needed in order to get back to healthy and mindful eating, and a body I felt fit and healthy in.
This is a nice little touch as it helps you centre your thoughts and focus on what matters to you.
The cleanse pack includes six juices per day, probiotics for healthy gut, psyllium husks to get things moving, be light tea to assist with weight loss and to detox your system, a reusable tea infuser and reusable straw.
Day 1.
The cleanse hand book offers a suggested routine, tips, and meal ideas post cleanse. I attempted to stick to the suggested timeline on the first day, but as the day progressed I realise that I needed to just go with the flow and work with my schedule (or lack of one), daily tasks, and what my body was telling me.
My morning usually consists of rolling out of bed (after at least half hour of hitting snooze on my alarm) and onto my yoga mat, then out to take my dog Beyo for walk.
I enjoy yoga but it never use to be a part of my morning routine, however in the last year, as my lower back injury has become worse, I have had to make stretching and yoga a priority in the mornings. I usually rush through my stretches so that I can start the rest of my day, but I chose to have my “be light’ tea during my stretch session, which was a really nice way to start the morning, and encouraged me slowed down my yoga practice.
The first juice I had was the Energise. While I mixed up the other juices for day two and three, Energise was my go-to for every morning of the cleanse. The elixir of lemon, filtered water, cayenne and a dash of stevia is great to kickstart your metabolism and boosts your bodies circulation, while assisting with digestion. Outside of the cleanse I usually have apple cider vinegar in water each morning when I wake – this has similar benefits to the Energise juice – but the Sol Cleanse recipe was a nice change from the usual, and I’ve now swapped my morning ACV in water for a homemade lemon tea inspired by the Energise juice.
I got to about 11am before the lack-of-coffee headache set in, and I think this was the hardest thing for me because it meant my motivation, energy and concentration took a dive.
I had only taken two of the juices with me for breaky and lunch, as I thought having three in the evening would make me feel a little more satisfied before heading to bed. This was a mistake!
Because I only had two with me, I wanted to wait a little longer to have them so I wouldn’t be “starving” in the afternoon, but I hadn’t really thought about how the lack of coffee and breaky would affect me.
When I ordered my cleanse I also bought one of Sol Cleanse’s Superfood Lattes. I decided to have a cup of this with some soymilk, along with a small handful of pecans. It’s not part of the cleanse, so I was feeling really guilty for “cheating”, but the cleanse guide does say to listen to the needs of your body, and at that point my body was telling me to eat the damn pecans!
The superfood latte was the perfect caffeine free pick-me-up and I was able to get on with a relatively productive afternoon.
I had my two juices around 2pm and 4pm and felt pretty good, albeit a little tired and rather confused about my life choices – haha! But seriously, I’d have to make a better plan for tomorrow.
Dinner consisted of Zen – a miso broth, and Dreamtime. I had also saved Spiced Peace for the evening as I thought it would be yummy for “dessert”. I ended up being so full from Zen and Dreamtime, that I actually didn’t get to enjoy the Peace milk as much as I was hoping.
Based on how my first day panned out, I decided to plan out my juices for tomorrow and went bed telling myself day two would be a better day.
Day 2
My morning routine stayed the same - stretching with a tea; Energise elixir while taking my doggo for a walk along the water; and then off to the shop. I have to say, I really enjoyed the ease and freedom of not having to make breakfast, or think about what to make and take for lunch – it made for hassle free and relatively chilled mornings!
Having learnt from two-juices-for-lunch mistake yesterday, I reshuffled the order of my juices and packed a bottle of Spiced Peace, Prana, and Wanderer in my bag.
As soon as I opened the shop I had my first juice – Spiced Peace, a nutmilk infused with earthy spices not so different to that of a chai – yum!
The lack-of-coffee headache hit around 12pm on the second day and wasn’t nearly as bad as the first, but I still decided to have a superfood latte. My mum has always told me how powerful the benefits of cocoa are, but I was actually really surprised with how much a hit of Cocoa can really make a difference with energy levels, plus this latte mix is all sorts of delicious!
I heated Prana – a veggie broth – around 1pm and decided to pour it into a bowl and eat it with a spoon, rather than drinking it from the jar. I have to say there was definitely something more satisfying to the routine of preparing it and eating it that made me feel more like I was having a meal. Plus it allowed me to actually take a “lunch” break, rather than just drinking the broth while I continued to work. I followed the same steps for my 4pm Wanderer which carried me through the rest of the day, and by the time I dined on my Zen Miso broth and Dreamtime soup for dinner I was feeling rather satisfied.
Day 3
Third and final day – yay! I actually felt really good on the third day, mostly because my body and mind were a little more used to the routine and feeling of the juice cleanse, but also because I knew it was the last day.
My last day of cleansing was pretty much the same as day three, but I added a protein shake into the mix as I was going to a Zumba class straight after I closed the store. I also added a small amount of finely chopped broccoli to my miso broth for dinner.
While I was pretty excited to be on my last day of the cleanse, I felt a little sad to be finishing, and almost wished I had signed up for the 5 day cleanse. I was also a little apprehensive of what my eating behaviours would be like post cleanse. Would I throw the last three days effort out the window and go back to heavy and not so healthy foods?
Sol cleanse recommend easing back into food with fresh, healthy meals, which I mostly did. However as the weekend approached I did go back to some of my normal and not so healthy ways and had a few beers over the weekend after the cleanse. It was probably about day 4 post cleanse (and after the weekend) that I started to feel the positive effect of the cleanse. I definitely felt full and satisfied after smaller portions of food at meal times, and I had more energy. Feeling those effect so soon after the cleanse really motivated me to continue eating lighter and healthier and it was probably two weeks later that I noticed that I had started to lose weight.
Reflecting back on it now, it wasn’t as tough as I felt like it was at the time, and the ease, variety and deliciousness of Sol Cleanse make things a whole lot more enjoyable. All in all, I really enjoyed the cleanse, felt great after, and can’t wait to do another one!
Want to join me on my next cleanse? Click here for more info and to find out what perks we have on offer for our community cleanse.
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