Health and Fitness

7-Day Cleanse

7 days is a helluva long time to eat no real solid foods, and it might even seem like too long. How can that be healthy, you might think? Wouldn’t my body be going into starvation mode and storing more fat? Isn’t it just setting me up for binge-eating disaster or yo-yo dieting afterwards? And – most importantly – how in God’s good name am I supposed to survive a week without even a hint of nut butter, avocado, dark chocolate or red wine?! (And why would I want to?)

For me the most pressing question of all of those is the last one. I understand the cleanse and it’s nutritional benefits (about to share ’em with you :)), and I know it’s not setting me up for failure afterwards. Quite the opposite. But the idea of giving up 100% of my even healthiest comfort foods for a whole week? Very very scary. Not to mention (now that I’m halfway through day 4) very very insightful.

In the past 4 1/2 days I’ve desperately craved, in no particular order:

  • Potato cakes and dim sims
  • A huge steak with buttered green beans and a glass of wine
  • Donuts
  • Cadbury’s chocolate!
  • Jar after jar of nut butter
  • Cheese
  • Butter on my greens
  • Cream and raspberries
  • Souvlaki
  • Scrambled eggs and bacon
  • Fruit toast with jam and butter
  • Toast with butter and vegemite
  • Pancakes

And it’s not as though I eat all those things regularly! Some of them I never eat at all, so it’s interesting to observe my mind going through a desperate, almost clawing attempt to convince me I need to eat this stuff.

Actually, what I’ve found more interesting is that for the first 3 days these cravings were purely emotional. I wasn’t overly hungry, most of the time. I took my supplements and medical foods pretty much every 2 hours, and threw down some extra BCAAs anytime I felt truly starving, so it wasn’t really a physical need. I’ve also found it quite fascinating to observe how my mind works in terms of associating certain events or times of day with the ‘need’ to eat certain (even healthy) foods.

Anyway, I know you’re curious about what I’m doing here so here’s a basic outline:

the 7-day nutritional cleanse revealed!

  • The Charles Poliquin 7-day cleanse is something I learned about over a year ago, but was unable to attempt due to breastfeeding. When I first read about the cleanse it seemed truly INSANE, but I have to say that now that I’m doing it I don’t feel as though it’s as brutal as what it looks on paper. The long lists of supplements make it look kinda scary, but really we’re talking a small handful with each meal.
  • The reasoning behind the cleanse is that fat gain is primarily caused by stress, by toxins, and by malnutrition. When you follow the cleanse 100% you deal with all of these issues. Some of the main benefits (providing your cleanse is designed properly for YOUR needs), include resting the GI tract, liver, pancreas and adrenals, improving sleep quality, increasing sex drive and mental clarity, ridding your body of food intolerance, and – of course – improving body composition. Stay tuned for more of my photos as the week progresses.
  • It really is a ‘quick fix’, but it’s one that only supports and enhances nutrition and health, and it’s one that is absolutely worth it. Bloody tough though πŸ™‚

what to expect

Aside from the above listed goodies, you’re also going to notice your mind feels clearer (usually after about day 3), your skin improves, and your stomach will shrink down noticeably. If you struggle with portion control then that will certainly be taken care of by the end of the 7 days!

But what about the downsides, I hear you ask. Well, it is full disclosure, isn’t it. Here’s some of the stuff I’ve founds tough/curious/worth noting:

  • I honestly think the hardest part is dealing with the psychological aspect of having to sit down with other people and watch them eat. This is actually even harder if they’re eating a truly wholesome meal, because there’s always a level of your mind thinking ‘how frickin’ stupid that I can’t eat lean organic protein and salad with avocado’. Remember the purpose and the benefits girls … of course if your nutritional history was 100% organic clean foods then you probably wouldn’t need to do the cleanse, so unless that’s the case just push that little demon back to where it came from.
  • Of course there’s no rule that you have to sit with other people while they eat, but for me that was important. It’s not about shutting yourself away from the world for a week. One of the major benefits for me is proving to myself that I don’t need to eat something just because it’s there, and that I do have the power to take absolute control of my food choices.
  • You have to be absolutely regular with your nutrition intake or you will turn into a grump evil bitch and then probably pass out afterwards. Planning is key.
  • It’s important to train on the cleanse (modified training), as it helps move the lymph and further detoxify. Yesterday I was patting myself on the back a little that I hadn’t needed a nap yet on the cleanse and actually hadn’t found it physically too tough. And then I did legs. I was seeing stars by the 3rd set of squats and my whole body was shaking after a piddly set of leg extensions. The RDLs nearly killed me, and when I went home I literally passed out for an hour and woke up feeling like absolute death on a plate. This is when the actual physical cravings set in, I needed some fat or protein. I was completely drained, really struggled to get off the bed and downstairs. I had my supplements instead which actually helped a lot, and went to bed extra early. This morning I woke up at 5.30am feeling refreshed, hungry but not dramatically so, and clear-headed.
  • There’s lot of other stuff I’ve noticed but I’ll save it for the next post πŸ™‚

details!

Okay, so before I tell you what the cleanse actually entails it’s important to note that these dosages vary from the recommended use on the product label. Also, you should never try this cleanse without the supervision of a qualified healthcare or Biosignature practitioner, and the cleanse is tailored to each person’s needs and Biosignature. So you wouldn’t take exactly what I take. Finally, this is not usually something to jump straight into without an existing nutritional and supplement plan! Unless you have robot compliance and extreme motivation, because it will of course provide extreme results if done 100%.

This is a sample day, each day changes a little.

On rising

  • 2 Yang r-ala
  • 10 grams Primal Fiber 1

Meal One

  • 2 scoops estrogenomics
  • 10 grams glutamine
  • 2 Dim avail
  • 2 Calcium d-glucarate
  • 1 methylator
  • Fish oil EPA/DHA x 3
  • 2 Complete Multi
  • 1 Uber Zinc
  • 1 Perfect E

Meal Two

  • 15 grams primal greens, blended with ice and:
  • 10 grams glutamine
  • 6 drops selenomethionine
  • 1 whole lemon (this tastes amazing by the way)
  • 1 serve of broccoli (steamed) with himalayan salt and pepper
  • 2 EPA/DHA
  • 2 P1/P2 balance
  • 2 Poly-enzyme
  • 5 Mega D
  • 10 BCAA
  • 2 Yang r-ala
  • 1 S.B (probiotic)

Meal Three

  • 2 scoops estrogenomics
  • 10 grams glutamine
  • Fish oil EPA/DHA x 3
  • 2 Complete Multi
  • 1 Perfect E

Meal Four

  • 15 grams primal greens, blended with ice and:
  • 10 grams glutamine
  • 5 grams glycine (PWO)
  • 1 ubermag (PWO)
  • 1 whole lemon
  • 1 serve of broccoli (steamed) with himalayan salt and pepper (you choose one new green vegetable for each day, and eat as much as you like. Some days I’ve had it with every meal, although yesterday the brussel sprouts were screwing with me majorly by meal 5, so I cut them and had extra BCAAs)
  • 2 EPA/DHA
  • 2 P1/P2 balance
  • 2 Poly-enzyme
  • 10 BCAA
  • 2 Dim avail
  • 2 Calcium d-glucarate
  • 20 BCAAs (post-workout, and had about 50 during workout and before)

Meal Five

  • 2 scoops estrogenomics
  • 10 grams glutamine
  • Fish oil EPA/DHA x 3
  • 2 Complete Multi

Meal Six

  • 15 grams primal greens, blended with ice and:
  • 10 grams glutamine
  • 1 whole lemon
  • 1 serve of broccoli (steamed) with himalayan salt and pepper
  • 2 EPA/DHA
  • 2 chloro defense
  • 2 Poly-enzyme
  • 2 ubermag
  • 2 Yin Builder
  • Had a headache so took 2 holy basil

Meal Seven

  • 2 scoops estrogenomics
  • 10 grams glutamine
  • 2 Dim avail
  • 2 Calcium d-glucarate
  • Fish oil EPA/DHA x 3
  • 2 Complete Multi
  • 2 ubermag
  • 1 melatonin (just to fight any residual jetlag from flying from the US on Thursday)
  • 1 Perfect E

There’s no rule that you have to eat 7 meals, but roughly you will need to eat every 2 hours in order to stay semi-functional and not induce massive bouts of road or people rage. So it would be at least 6 times and up to 8.

Thought? Comments? Questions? Let me have ’em!

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