5 Things I Learned NOT to do on a Cleanse

To some, words like cleanse, fast, and detoxification bring about thoughts of clarity, focus, and energy. These words bring about a sense of purpose and calm. Okay…this sounds great. For others however, words like these brings about a sense of dread, panic, deprivation, and feelings of starvation like hunger. The latter is how I used to feel when people talked about their cleanses. I used to get irritated when they’d tell me they’ve had nothing but juice for two

weeks or how it’s been 21 days on nothing but liquids and they feel just so fantastic! Ugh…it used to rub me the wrong way and I felt like they were boasting about their cleansing accomplishments. It made me want to go straight to the nearest bakery, buy a half-dozen pastries, and eat them all on my drive home. That is until I got up the courage to try a teeny tiny baby cleanse on my own - 1 day to be exact. 

I did it very quietly, and honestly it wasn’t that bad. Surprisingly I felt pretty good the next morning, more clear headed, greater energy, and just a nice sense of calm that ran through my body. Kind of cool I thought. So, of course I wanted then to try a lengthier cleanse. This time I tried a 3 day cleanse/detoxification program, and well… this one didn’t go nearly as great as I had hoped. I was exhausted, irritable, and hungry the whole time. Looking back I can see that I did not prepare for this cleanse properly. 

Today, after much research and practice, I have learned how to detoxify my body in a way that is safe and healthy for me. Honestly I will never be one of those long time fasters, as I choose to do short bursts of cleansing such as intermittent fasting or caloric restriction. These type of cleansing programs work best for me and my lifestyle, but that’s just me.

To get you started, and in an effort to help you avoid some fasting pitfalls, learn from my mistakes. Here are a few things I did wrong in the beginning.

1. Not enough preparation time. You may be amped and ready to get started but believe me, if you do not prepare properly it will come back to haunt you. Take the time to gather all of the supplies you need BEFORE you start. This includes all your fruits, veggies, potions, powders, and equipment. Doing it on the fly does not work. When you are cleansing the goal is to conserve your energy. Think peace, downtime, restoring your inner energy and spirit supply. Trying to determine everyday what you’re going to eat, drink, mix, blend etc. takes away from the whole cleansing process, and you end up feeling too exhausted to do or make anything. This is where people tend to cheat or break their cleanse. Their energy and ‘willpower’ are low. Don’t make this mistake. Prepare. Even if it takes a week to get everything in order - mind, body, spirit.
2. Cleansing while working. This may be doable for a short cleanse but if you are going to do a detoxification cleanse for any length of time, perhaps starting on a Friday before the weekend might be best. The first couple of days are the roughest and you do not want to be at work chewing someone’s head off because you are emotional and ‘hangry’!
3. Not enough sleep. Getting enough sleep during a fast is critical. Do not think you can just muscle your way through it. First off, you can't - your body will react and you will, once again, get hangry. Second, this is not the point of a fast/detox. The point is to take it all in using all of your senses, calmly, serenely, and as gently as you can. When you are cleansing it is important to always assess how you are feeling. Emotions may creep up, and that’s okay. Just do your best and take the whole experience in. In order to do this, you will need to get enough sleep to rejuvenate your mind, body and spirit. Shoot for 7-8 hours per night on a regular basis.
4. Exercising too hard. When you are cleansing you will have very limited energy stores. Using this energy for strenuous exercise can cause too much stress on your body. Cortisol and other inflammatory hormones can get released causing inflammation in your body. Something you definitely are trying to avoid during a detox/cleanse. Keep your exercise to a minimum. A 30 minute walk in the morning or evening. A gentle bike ride. Something that feels not only good for the body but good for the soul as well.
5. Not enough hydration. Make sure to hydrate your body continuously throughout the day. Drinking water for me does not come easy. I have to continually remind myself to hydrate. When you are cleansing, not only are you limiting your intake temporarily, but you are also trying to flush your system of toxins. So hydrating is key. Make an effort to drink roughly half your body weight, in ounces.

If you are interested in finding a good fasting and cleansing program, take your time in figuring out what works best for you. There’s no one perfectly awesome cleanse that works for everyone. Just like there is no one perfectly awesome diet program that works for everyone. Be safe, talk to your doctor beforehand, and give it a try. Who knows, you might end up being one of those long time fasters, all bright eyed, with great energy, telling me how awesomely fantastic you feel after drinking nothing but green juice for a week! Grrrrr…..;-)

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