I Tried a 4-Day Food Cleanse. Here’s What Happened

Why I Tried a Cleanse Stress can take a toll in more ways than one. Maybe you’re not sleeping well, struggling to focus, or feeling overwhelmed by everything on your plate. If you’re anything like me, it’s a mix of all three—with the added bonus of weight gain. With my husband out in the field each day as a first responder and me juggling work while caring for our very busy 21-month-old, Hunter, the pressure started building. The desire to make sure dinner was made (with enough leftovers for the next day’s lunch) started to stress me out. How was I supposed to make sure I was on top of my job, stimulate Hunter (with limited screens), and keep the house clean? I grew up eating casseroles and thought that would be a great idea for a quick fix; but the problem with casseroles, while delicious, they’re often creamy and loaded with salt (and cheese!). Sure, I would sneak in vegetables, but these were not meals I should have been eating every day.  My husband tried to ask me if I could lighten up the food. As you can imagine, that didn’t go over well. I immediately became defensive, barking about how hard it was and to be grateful. His request wasn’t meant to offend, and he offered to help me daily. The reality was, I was turning to food for comfort. I was using the excuse that it was fast and convenient to avoid what was really going on—that I was emotionally eating to cope with the stress and anxiety I was feeling. Cut to almost four months later and seeing the scale go up (which didn’t help the stress), I started getting some clarity about my behavior. I needed to make a change. I wanted to set an example for my son. We don’t need to eat a muffin every morning. Vegetables don’t need cream sauce. And, you don’t need a full plate of rice or potatoes to have a sustainable meal.  I needed to reset, and I’m a person who needs a plan. So, I turned to my very talented friend, Keri Glassman. In her books The O2 Diet and The New You and Improved Diet: 8 Rules to Lose Weight and Change Your Life Forever, I read about her food cleanse. A juice cleanse is certainly not my speed, but this food cleanse seemed doable. Plus, I actually liked all the foods included in it. To give myself a little accountability, I got my husband on board. We jumped in with both feet. After four days, here’s what happened: The Plan Keri told me, “A food cleanse can mark the start of a long journey towards healthier eating habits—if you do it right.”  So, I got into the right frame of mind. This wasn’t about deprivation—rather, it was about putting lean quality protein, healthy fats, and vegetables into my system. For four days, I was eating the same thing which made the plan easy to follow. My husband and I did our food shopping and meal prep the day before we began. We ate eggs for breakfast, a green apple with cinnamon for snack, salmon and spinach for lunch, artichokes in the afternoon and repeated lunch for dinner. Plus, we ate delicious blueberries for a snack. And I can’t forget the 8 glasses of water and green tea!  My Ah-Ha Moment Being a working mom and knowing exactly what I was having for meals and snacks made my day easier. Remembering to drink water was probably the biggest challenge for me. One of the major things that came to light was the fact that I was picking off of Hunter’s plate—a lot. I had this subconscious reflex of taking a bite of his pasta and finishing his leftovers. I had no idea what I was doing until I became mindful of each bite.  Overcoming Challenges Day three was tricky. As I gave Hunter a healthy veggie quesadilla, Brian and I fought not to take a bite. We missed cheese but knew this was the start of something important for our health. And cheese wasn’t gone forever.   I also put up motivational sayings on our calendar to remind us why I was doing this. Brian and I started talking about how we were going to continue after this was finished…what healthy foods we were going to stock in our fridge and what we were going to limit. As Keri says, “This whole food cleanse is the foundation of healthy eating to be built upon after the four days.” Clarity I also realized that I don’t need to eat the exact same thing as my son. That was a big hurdle I had to overcome. If I wanted to give him some healthy potatoes or a side of rice, that’s okay, but I didn’t have to have the same thing if I didn’t want to.  Keri also pointed out that by covering up the flavor of the veggies or healthy protein with sauces, Hunter wouldn’t know the actual flavors of whole foods. A light bulb went off for me. If I wouldn’t feed it to Hunter (sorry M&Ms and French fries), I certainly shouldn’t be eating it (at least all the time).  The Results When I began this four-day journey, I was accustomed to eating much larger portions (and a lot more carbs and sugar) so, I was worried I may be hungry, but surprisingly that was not the case. While it did take some adjustment, it was easier than I thought. I was also excited about using spices I traditionally don’t cook with and got creative with vinegars.  While weight loss wasn’t my main goal, it was a pleasant result. I lost 5 pounds, and my husband lost 8 pounds.  Since we’ve done this, Brian and I look at eating a lot differently. While I don’t eat salmon every day, we now start with a veggie base and then add on the meat, carbs and healthy

The Ultimate (and Easy) 4-Day Cleanse

Ask Keri: I want to try a cleanse, but I’ve failed every juice cleanse I’ve tried. Any other options?  Keri says: I get asked about doing a cleanse often. There can absolutely be a time and place to cleanse, re-set, re-group, jump start…whatever you want to call it. Plus there can be many benefits like improving your energy, skin, and sleep. But remember, not all cleanses are created equal and the term “cleanse” has a different meaning to each of us.  When many of us hear the word “cleanse” we think only about liquid (or juice) cleansing like lemon water with cayenne or green juices with wheatgrass. But, there really isn’t a definition of cleanse. For some people it might be juicing, for others it may be eating raw food, and still for some others, it can mean (humorously) skipping the fast food drive-thru. My kind of cleanse may be a little bit different than what you’d traditionally expect. Instead of starving yourself through a liquid diet, I believe in feeding and fueling your body with nutritious, natural and unprocessed, real foods that heal the body, combat bloat, settle the digestive tract and revitalize you from the inside out. The whole point is to empower you to feel in control and want to continue to eat healthier.  To kick start a healthy habit, I often recommend beginning with my 4-day cleanse, which consists of whole foods, and plenty of them. It’s not only going to jump-start weight loss if that’s the goal, but more importantly set the foundation for healthy behaviors. I like to look at it as the framework of a lifelong plan.  Yes, variety is important for long term maintenance of a diet, but in the short term little variety can be very helpful. No choices means no options, which means no veering off track. Limiting your menu makes it easy to shop and get you in the zone with what you are doing over the 4 days and what you are laying the foundation for. The foods in the cleanse are composed of healthy fat, high quality protein, fiber and water volume and are loaded with antioxidants. And, of course, they are delish! Don’t forget to drink 8 glasses of water and 2 cups of green tea each day as well.  The purpose of this cleanse is for it to be a foundation to build off of versus going “off” or “finishing.” You’ll create good habits like eating consistently through the day, loading up on greens and antioxidants and having healthy fat at each meal. Ready. Set. Cleanse!  THE O2 DIET CLEANSE  Follow the plan exactly for four days. BREAKFAST 2 scrambled eggs  1 teaspoon dried basil 1 cup green tea 1 cup water with 1 ounce lemon juice SNACK 1 Granny Smith apple with 1 teaspoon cinnamon LUNCH Spinach (cooked or raw); eat as much spinach as you like. And have fun dressing the spinach with flavored vinegars, such as fig, raspberry, or orange. Any type of vinegar will do. 4 ounces of salmon or halibut (grilled, baked or broiled)* with 1 teaspoon dried spices, such as oregano 8 pecan halves 1 cup water with 1 ounce lemon juice SNACK Steamed artichoke or ½ cup artichoke hearts in water (Monterey Farms makes an easy eat-right-out-of-the-bag variety.) 1 cup green tea DINNER Large romaine lettuce salad with carrots, tomatoes, and red bell pepper; dress with 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice to taste Steamed asparagus 4 ounces any lean protein (grilled, baked, or broiled) with spices such as 1 teaspoon oregano 1 cup water with 1 ounce lemon juice 1 cup blueberries *If you don’t like eggs or fish, feel free to substitute firm tofu and/or fresh organic turkey.  For the complete O2 Diet plan, check out: The O2 Diet: The Cutting Edge Antioxidant-Based Program That Will Make You Healthy, Thin, and Beautiful.