Recap of Week #2 on the Cleanse

If you are new to this site, and interested to hear about the process of my 21 Day Standard Process Purification program, be sure to read:

And now let’s jump into my thoughts on Week #2!

MEAL PLANNING: It’s great to batch cook, especially the vegetables, but diversity is needed. One huge perk of following the meal plan and using their One Degree of Change Cookbook. is variety is guaranteed. Being healthy is beyond having healthy ingredients as boredom can arise and needs to be prevented/intervened. If I wasn’t clear in my past posts, I am not using the meal plan bc following something so strictly doesn’t mesh with my rebellious personality and my reality of cooking for everyone in my house (2 littles and one big kid, my husband). Closing down this week, I know going into week #3 I need to mix up the grocery list and have different batch cooked items ready to go. Thankfully this can be as easy as changing the prep method and spices used.
SUPPLEMENTS: I do not tolerate the second supplement, SP Green Food, which came into the program on day 8. SP Green Food supports organ function and detox elimination. Overall, it’s not a huge loss, as I am still taking the fiber and using the nutritious shake powder, and I have a good candidate in the house who can take the pills (husband is getting lots of love in this post). However, it would be nice to reap the benefits of these pills. If you are reading this and question if you are not tolerating the supplements, you will have obvious digestive distress. Most cleanse participants eliminate more than normal, and I am less and bloated like a blimp. When I stopped the pills, it was night and day. However a few things you can try, before cutting out the pills: take a digestive enzyme with SP Green Food and/or decrease the serving size of 5 pills per meal to 2-3 pills per meal.
INDIVIDUALITY: Going off the 2nd bullet-point, I think 1) this is a fabulous well-rounded food and herb based cleanse for people coming from a pretty healthy diet, or even a not so healthy diet, however, 2) it is not for everyone. For example, I had a client email me about this cleanse and she is coming from an auto-immune paleo protocol diet (AIP) and I won’t recommend this program for her and people coming from a similar place, which would include myself. I really hate to say that about myself too as I am still getting results. Likely my results are from avoiding nuts (I haven’t done that before, even on the numerous Whole30 program and paleo challenges I have done in the past), but I know myself and am also avoiding the allowed quinoa, butter and minimizing my smoothies. Smoothies are a little tougher to cover with insulin, so I have minimized my shakes to 1x a day. The recommendation for the program is 1-3. All in all, no matter what cleanse people do/nutrition coaches recommend, they need to be recommended uniquely.
FOOD: I am eating so many nutrients. I am also not terribly missing much, except the occasional whiff of coffee I smell from my husband’s mug and a Friday night unwind wine. Overall, especially with the dairy free protein powder used in the shakes, all my food is so beneficial. My cells are getting awesome fuel and I can feel it in my energy and deep sleep. I continue to steer my desires to real food options. My latest obsession is sweet potatoes. I have a portion every night for dinner. To me, it’s mother nature’s dessert.
MEASUREMENTS: I haven’t gotten on the scale since day 1 as I don’t what a number to distract me from listening to what my body is craving. However, I feel really lean. A pair of pants I wanted wear Saturday night were too loose, and even if the scale doesn’t move much by the end of this program, my weight is shifting in a flattering way. This is bizarre, but I almost subconsciously ate more one day because I had a moment of fear of losing a lot of weight. It’s weird, yes, but it was honest and I like being in control. We will see come end of next week as how I will measure to conclude the program. On this topic, it’s very normal and common to lose an average of 15 pounds on this program (I read this in another Standard Process write-up). The more someone has to lose, the more likely their weight will calibrate to a new lower set point. Above all, this cleanse is not about under eating nor being hungry. I am never hungry and that is a good thing.
MOVEMENT: I increased the intensity of my workouts this week. I did more rigorous exercise most days – lifting, boxing, trampoline workouts with kettle bell swings, hot yoga and stair-climbing – and it felt great. I am just listening to my body and assessing how much I should push.

Day 8 – Going off my Saturday night out with friends, I woke more hungry. I played it safe with food and kept my order simple. I had a healthy appetite and changed up my egg and avocado breakfast and added a bowl of kale soup (I made this starting week 1, and should have froze half of it for week 3. I ended up pitching a serving of 2 because I let it sit too long). The rest of the day was a smoothie, veggies and a mouth-watering zoodle dish, broccoli and half a salmon filet I split with my husband for dinner.

I did some rebounding (trampoline) work to aid the detox, guzzled water and went to bed early.

Side note: I didn’t mention this in my last week’s summary, but I was so cold every day and night. I would sleep with wool socks and an extra blanket. By Day 8, my body temp has normalized.

Day 9 – I have good and steady energy and went back to a full-body lifting session at the gym. It felt so good.

I feel like I could use the word “awesome,” during this cleanse as much as the Bachelor says, “beautiful.” Forgive my redundancy of expression!

Life is a little slower in some ways. The herbs on my vegetables explode with flavor, I am more upbeat and positive in the kitchen. My plant intake is rubbing off on the household. My toddler loves the shakes and my husband is snacking on my batch-cooked veggies!

My biggest craving, which is funny, is actually gum. I want gum in the afternoon, but I am just opting for peppermint tea. I have had so much of this tea since the beginning, I wouldn’t be surprised if I started sweating candy canes.

Day 10 – a Tuesday – Loads of energy. I did so much today, but also woke up about an hour earlier than norm. I had eggs/avo combo for bfast, a beet, lots of greens, cucumber, fresh ginger, cinnamon and vanilla smoothie (it’s like a garbage can, I feel like I put anything in the blender) and had broccoli, sweet potato and a salmon filet for dinner.

Day 11 – I’m a go-go bunny. I was reflecting on the program and honestly I feel like I can eat like this forever. I would need a nudge to continue shakes through winter, but the food is delicious, and it challenges me to get creative with vegetables and spices. As mentioned above, I do need to be consistent in mixing up what I cook. I used cocoa in my smoothie, and it’s not exactly recommended in the program because Standard Process wants to ensure high quality cocoa, but that is what I had on hand, so I used it. I am being naughty, but it tasted nice!

Day 12 – Not much change from Day 11.

Day 13 – Hunger is roaring. I am very impressed with how much I can eat too. Lunch has been a big bowl of vegetables. The latest is half a bowl of spicy lime roasted broccoli, paired with spaghetti squash with onion, garlic and tomato. On top of this, I make a large smoothie with half a banana, vegetables, SP protein powder and some gelatin. I sprinkle most, if not all, of my smoothie with pumpkin seeds and or coconut flakes, unsweetened.

Day 14 – Pretty tired but hard telling if it’s my body or my toddler with his 5am wake-ups.Reflecting on the day, I got so much done and went out with friends in the evening. I’d typically wake up exhausted from a delayed bedtime, but I had a refreshed feeling waking up Sunday, starting Week #3, and certainly kept my dinner order clean! I had wild salmon, capers, Brussels sprouts and oysters to start.

JANUARY CLEANSE – If you are interested in doing a cleanse in the New Year, Standard Process is kicking off their 21 Day Standard Process Purification program with a webinar on the 9th of January, and the diet/supplement regime starts on the 10th. Let me know if you need to order a kit, and I will get you what you need. Their cleanse has dairy free and a standard version (both ~ $235)

This program has a Guide and a full eBook (1 Degree of Change) with step by step meal plans and a free app you can download, which has tracking tools, shopping lists/list builder and recipes from the meal plan.

A lot of information, but all of the above makes the program really easy to follow. Hope you have a healthy New Year and entire 2017 in whatever way you choose to strive for your best health.