Ok so I thought about giving starting with a sales pitch on the detox, but I thought it’s best to be completely honest and share my first hand experience. So here goes –
This summer I was getting anxious about losing “the baby weight” and I felt like I just needed a jump start to get things moving – I was feeling bloated, sluggish, out of shape, and I seemed to have a lot of muscular aches and pains after my daughter was born in February. Our registered dietitian Cara kept reassuring me that this cleanse would reset my nutrient balance and I would feel great as a result. But let’s face it – I really wanted to get the last little bit of pregnancy weight off so I was up for anything. Plus I just witnessed my close friend go through the cleanse and lose an astonishing 11 pounds in 21 days. As a general rule, I do not believe in rapid weight loss as a means to an end because I feel like ultimately we just put the weight (plus more) right back on when we change our diet so needless to say I was a bit cynical that I could make any noticeable change in 21 days.
I decided to try the cleanse because I felt like I just needed to break some habits that I developed during pregnancy and the post partum phase. I honestly did not expect the results I received. To be honest I have a love/hate relationship with the whole experience. The first week is vegan which I thought would be no problem for me because we did a Vegan Challenge Week in early summer, and I did really well with that. But the first few days were HELL and I mean HELL for me. I was angry and felt really deprived and like food was my main focus. I was really ready to give up but several of our trainers namely Michael and Tom and my husband Kelly encouraged me to stick it out until at least the weekend under the guise that “you can do anything for 7 days.” Also Cara was there every step of the way to support me. Plus she did a deep dive to figure out what was so hard for me and allowed me some “cheats” that made my life a lot easier. For example, I realized that the ritual of getting up and having breakfast and drinking my coffee was a very grounding time of the day for me. And without that routine I was feeling really out of whack. Cara didn’t allow me to bring back my coffee, (plus I was just starting to get over the caffeine withdrawal headaches), but she did allow me some green tea. Plus she helped me find a way to adhere to the guidelines of the cleanse, but still have the morning ritual.
Once I made it through the first week it got A LOT easier because the second week you can add fish/chicken. In all honesty it is plenty of food, and I was never hungry during the entire process. I did get a little frustrated because I thought the weight should just melt right off of me. You think I would know by now that I’m not that kind of girl where weight just disappears. But somewhere around 1 ½ weeks I started to feel really good – I mean REALLY good. The bloating, sluggishness, achiness was virtually gone. I felt like my system was running very efficiently and working well. I consider myself a realist (some might say a cynic), but please know that I am not just blowing smoke. I was actually very surprised with how great I felt.
We have had clients lose 10+ pounds on this thing in 3 weeks and then go on to lose more. I didn’t lose that much but the cleanse got the ball rolling for me, and I am down a total of about 8 pounds and still trending down at about 6 weeks post-cleanse. That rate of weight loss is a lot more realistic for me because my body likes to hold onto every single calorie that goes in my mouth. I also feel like I broke some habits and kind of hit the reset button on eating healthy. I had slipped into eating a lot of carb-y, starch-y snacks, but the cleanse helped me get really clear on noshing on fruits and veggies and making desserts/chips, etc really be an occasional treat.
So this was just my experience. Some people loved it from the get go and they hit the ground running.
One more thing – I didn’t like the shakes at first, but now I pretty much have one/day. They are very nutrient dense and they help me make sure I am getting all the micronutrients that are found in “green” foods that I don’t get enough of on a daily basis.
Now for the sales pitch part – It’s the perfect time of year to try the cleanse – school is back in session, you’re back to your routine and there’s just enough time to fit it in before the holidays have us all crazy-town. For only $349 you get all your supplements, one 60 minute and three- 30 minute nutrition counseling sessions and unlimited email support from Cara. For more information on the cleanse visit our website http://becomepowerful.com/21DayDetox/. If you are not sure if the cleanse is for you then start with a FREE 20 minute phone consultation with Cara. Call the studio at (919) 401-8024 or visit http://becomepowerful.com/services/nutrition-counseling/nutrition-offer/. You don’t have to be an Empower client to take advantage of the 21 Day Detox. In fact you don’t even have to live in Durham. Cara is happy to meet with you via phone and ship your supplements directly to you.
