Last night had us going shopping to pick up all out groceries so we could start the herbal cleanse today. One thing about doing a cleanse is that your life has to change a little for 12 days. Things need to slow down and we actually like that. So my girlfriend and I sat down and went through some recipe books to see which ones we like and could use on the cleanse.
The next step after agreeing on recipes, is to write down all the ingredients to form your shopping list. Its really not bad because there are only certain ingredients you can use and they are replicated in many recipes. Kind of makes you wonder why they all taste the same doesn’t it? Just kidding, the foods are quite tasty once your taste buds adapt to real food instead of sugarcoated goodies.
So what can you eat on this cleanse? You can eat all the vegetables you want and they can be cooked or raw, your choice. You can have grains but just no flour. You can eat legumes such as beans but not too much. If a food causes gas it is because your body is having difficulties digesting it. It’s a know fact that a lot of illnesses can be traced right back to digestive problems.
This particular cleanse has some issues with fruit. Sweeter tropical fruits are not allowed because of the sugar content. Fruits like bananas, melons and pineapple for example. Other domestic fruits like apples, pears, peaches and berries are fine in moderation.
The one hard thing about doing a herbal cleanse for me as an ex bodybuilder is cutting back on the meat. The sweet stuff is not a problem because I usually tend to be low carb out of natural habit. The meat however has always been a large part of my diet. Herbal cleanses ask you to cut it back a couple of notches and add back in the veggies so the body can detoxify. It is amazing the amounts of growth hormones and antibiotics that are put into our mass produced meats. Such is the disadvantages of having such a convenient source of meat available. Some of us do not have time to hunt.
Water is very important on a cleanse, and this particular herbal cleanse recommends drinking as much as you can. This isn’t hard since milk and fruit juices are not allowed and this leaves pretty much only water left to have with your meals. As a minimum on this herbal cleanse you should drink six to eight glasses of water a day.
What is the hardest part of a herbal detox? I think the preparation is where most people run into trouble. You really have to plan in advance in order to not get sucked into grabbing a muffin or snack at the store. You have to have the groceries available and have time to wake up and make breakfast. It is hard and different than usual but what a nice change to sit down and eat breakfast with the girlfriend instead of just tagging off at the door with a quick kiss.
What was breakfast for herbal cleanse day 1? Four eggs with some diced red onion and red bell pepper. We kept the yokes in or I would be starving by the next meal. My girlfriend added some store bought salsa to her eggs and I will be making some salsa from scratch later on today.
I’ll keep you posted as we go through the cleanse. As well if you are doing my diet video tutorial series, I fully recommend doing a herbal cleanse before you start. Your results will be much, much better.
