Yay, so I’ve officially completed the Bridal Cleanse courtesy of Jen Newell ND and Blush Pretty. Here are my previous posts from week 1 and week 2 and week 3.
The all liquids portion was challenging. I think that if I had planned better I would have been more successful! The first day I started all liquids (smoothies and pureed soups) it was a work day and silly me forgot that I had a lunch meeting that day. I had a smoothie in the morning and made extra to bring to work for a mid morning snack hoping it would curb my appetite for lunch but I just felt even more hungry LOL! It must have been a mental thing because I have smoothies every morning and usually just nuts and fruit as a snack and I’m ok for lunch.
We had a bit of a family emergency that night (nothing serious, all is good!) but since that was something unplanned and we were not home I had to just eat what was available to me. The Saturday I did pretty well. All smoothies and soups. I found these great soups from Imagine (the ones I found in store had different packaging – they may be changing it) which are creamy but gluten and dairy free. So I basically had those for all my meals with smoothies in between. I was still hungry but it was much more manageable while I was at home.
The Sunday I was visiting family and I forgot to mention to them that I was on the liquid portion of my cleanse. I didn’t want to be “that” person so I just ate what was served to me. So…I was successful for maybe 1.5 days straight? Not bad I guess. And if I had the entire weekend at home with no plans I think I would have been more successful.
What did I learn from the process? Healthy eating requires a lot of planning. Many convenience foods that I thought were fairly healthy were still probably not the greatest of choices. But all in moderation!
Now I’m in the maintenance phase which is hopefully a lifestyle change! I think it’s definitely given me a new outlook on food and how I perceive what is “healthy”. My grocery bills are little higher but I’m ok with that if the husband and I are eating healthier. I’d like to continue to look for quick and easy healthy recipes to add to my virtual cook book. I found this app called Food Planner which I have found really easy to use to add recipes and help me plan out my groceries. Now it’s all about finding the time to grocery shop regularly and cook! Still need to work on those 😉
A huge thank you to Jen Newell for all the support and encouragement and thanks to Blush Pretty for the opportunity!
***Disclosure: Jen Newell ND is offering her services complimentary. In return I’ve agreed to follow the program, attend 3 consecutive weekly group meetings, blog about my experience and share my experience through social media.***
I’m in the middle of a cleanse myself and the hardest part for me is when I’m around other people. When people get together, the most normal thing to do is to eat together! So when you’re on a cleanse, it’s hard because you always feel like the odd one out, or the party pooper. Plus, it’s torture having to see and smell all that delicious food that everyone else is having but not being able to partake in it. Anyway, great job on getting through your cleanse! I’m actually fasting right now (and wrote an article about it: http://www.ziba-bynature.com/zibablog/2012/10/24/fasting-for-health-and-beauty/). So reading about your cleanse is encouraging.