Hi my friends! Remember way back when (when) I wrote about getting a juicer and wanting to try a juice cleanse? I barely remember either but here it is if you’d like to have a look. Well I decided to finally commit to a 3 day reset over the weekend. Initially I planned to juice only but my mind got the best of me so I settled with no dairy and no processed foods including bread.

My typical diet is vegetarian or pescatarian because on occasion I will eat fish. I start everyday with a loaded smoothie, apple cider vinegar w/ water, oil pulling then usually snack on a piece of fruit before lunch. However, over the last few months I noticed myself making less conscious choices more frequently like wanting pizza multiple times a week or eating out more than was necessary.

Let me clear by saying I believe in a happy-medium, a balance (doesn’t everyone say that?). I don’t restrict myself from eating things that aren’t healthy but that I enjoy, like sweets or pizza. But I also don’t gorge out on those things daily. On the occasion that I do gorge out I don’t want to punish myself, I’m human! It is more productive to move forward then to wallow over our mistakes berating ourselves in the process. 

So day 1 went a little like this: morning smoothie, juice, steel cut oats with banana and cinnamon, an orange, apple/carrot/ginger juice, WATER, steamed rice with garlic.  I capitalized water because I made an extra effort to consume the recommended gallon a day and I did which felt fantastic. The first day I managed to do my full yoga practice. I was interested to see if I could feel any significant changes in my practice from just one day of a different diet.  Indeed I felt lighter in my body and had greater focus while holding asanas for an extended time period. 

The biggest difference I noticed was the quality of my sleep. I do not sleep well most of the time. Generally, I wake part way through the night and have very broken sleep afterward and sometimes night terrors. I slept absolutely beautifully the only disturbance was having to use the bathroom because of the increase in my water intake, even that did not stop me from falling back into a deep, much-needed slumber. 

Day 2 and 3 were very much like day one in regards to the food I consumed. I did juice about 3 times the 2nd & 3rd day and steamed brussel sprouts with dinner. As you can tell I still ate food this was not a fast but a reset, a means to reconnect with myself and gain clarity of my patterns.  My mind had to work the hardest to keep up with my body. My ego would tell me I couldn’t get through 3 days or I would feel a craving for a latte and think “oh, I’m so weak I need food” yea like a latte would help that but those were the mind games I was contending with. 

Since I was cleansing my body I went full force and decided to spring clean our house. Wipe walls and baseboards, move furniture to vacuum behind. About part way through I was asking myself what had I done (haha) but my wonderful husband who was also resetting came to my rescue, thank goodness!  

There was a lot of internal muck that came up in those three days as well. Here I thought I would detox my body but I was forgetting about the system as a whole. My mind & spirit had a whole lot of detoxing to do as well perhaps more so than my body.  I recognized how quick I am to judge myself or feel discouraged having made a mistake. I saw where I could sand my edges a bit and practice more compassion and understanding with myself. At the end of day 3, I received devastating news that a good friend from back home passed away. I couldn’t discount the timing of this immense loss as I believe it was part of the greater plan for me to clear out internal stagnation so I could find space to grieve. 

There were moments I wanted to scrap the whole thing and avoid the hard emotions that began to arise. But those moments were opportunities to grow and push beyond what I was perceiving as obstacles. By the morning of day 3, I was so full of energy and my gut felt so good that I actually didn’t want to stop. The way I slept was enough to make me want to adapt some of these changes to my daily lifestyle. 

Yesterday I bought a latte with cow’s milk a treat I normally just love. Within minutes I felt a heaviness within my body, I felt my energy deplete, and a headache started to brew. I drank maybe a quarter of it before concluding the latte wasn’t worth it. Shocking! 3 days prior to that there was no way I would leave a perfectly brewed latte to waste but 3 days later I felt like I was wasting away after drinking it. 

Now even more so than before I’d like to commit to just a juice cleanse. I am less afraid to step away from my routine of comfort and into a place of discovery. It is funny how stuck we can become in our own ways often pushing away what may be great for us all because it is new or we are unsure. 

Have you tried a cleanse or a fast before?

 What was your experience? Let me know below~ I treasure our exchanges! 

Thanks for joining me here!

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