Join Us for the Clean Diet Cleanse

Join us for our three week Clean Diet Cleanse.  This is a non-starvation cleanse meant to give your body and palate a fresh start for the spring.  Watch for recipes, suggestions and education on our Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/sparkwellness

  Plan for the Community Clean Diet Cleanse.  You can do the basic version which is just the food changes with no supplements, or the super-charged version with supplements. Either way, you're going to feel great!

The food outline that everyone will follow includes focusing on the following:
- Water.  Lots of water.  A bare minimum of 2 quarts a day and striving for more like a gallon a day.  Yes, a gallon.  Seriously.  Just keep an empty gallon jug or get 2, 1/2 gallon mason jars, or go to the store and get a gallon water jug.  Fill it up in the morning and work your way through it during the day.  Add lemon for tons of awesome benefits and to give it a little flavor.  Stay near a bathroom for the first few days until your body realizes that it can absorb and use all of this water in amazing ways to feed your body and flush it out.  Yes, herbal tea that you make with your water absolutely counts. - Whole Foods, as clean as possible. Strive for Organic for as much of it as you can.  If you can't do it all Organic, then focus on buying Organic when it comes to the meat and the Dirty Dozen fruits and vegetables: apples, bell peppers, blueberries, celery, cherries, grapes from outside the US, kale, collard greens, nectarines, peaches, potatoes, spinach, and strawberries.
- Veggies galore!  Striving for 12, 1 cup servings of veggies a day.  We'll get to the logistics of how that's even humanly possible in a minute.
- Some fruit.  Let's set aside the tropical fruits for this exercise: mango, pineapple, etc.  They're super sweet (and super yummy) but we're trying to reduce that sweetness for right now.  If you just need a sweet fix and none of the other tricks that I'll get to are working, a mango is WAY better than a candy bar.  For the most part, let's focus on berries because they're so colorful, filled with nutrients and anti-oxidants, and they're so awesomely tasty!
 - Protein!  Strive for 20-30 grams of clean protein per meal.  This will leave you feeling full and satisfied.  Look for grass fed beef and free range chicken and eggs, wild caught fish, and pork from happy pigs.  Go for lean meats as much as possible (set aside the bacon and sausage for now).  There are great benefits to the fats in clean meats but we're trying to be gentle and light on our bodies so strive for light and lean while still getting enough protein to keep you feeling full and satisfied.

 - Good Fats.  Fat doesn't make you fat.  It makes your brain very happy and it makes your body work really well.  Good fats include: coconut oil, olive oil (cold only), avocado, nuts, seeds.  Yum!

- Fermented Foods: strive to eat at least one fermented food per day or at least several times a week.  There are great ones out there and they're going to add great flora to your gut which will, in turn, thank you by bolstering your immune system and making your digestive process flow smoothly.  Yay!  Fermented foods include: Kombucha, water Kefir, refrigerated Sauerkraut, refrigerated pickles, kimchi, miso, tempeh, fermented veggies.  Just check the label on things like the sauerkraut and pickles to make sure they've been actually fermented and not just pickled in vinegar which is often the case.  That's why you want the ones that are refrigerated - they're most likely to be fermented.
***If you have a juicer or access to fresh juice, strive to juice as often as you can.  Use tons of greens (skip the collards - your body digests them better when cooked). The only fruits you should use are lemons and green apples and use those sparingly.  There's nothing better than fresh juice first thing in the morning!

***Another easy way to boost your veggie count for the day is with smoothies.  There are so many great things you can do with smoothies and you can pack them FULL of vitamins, enzymes, and nutrients.  They're awesome.  I suggest that you replace at least 1 meal a day with a smoothie because it's easy, it packs a punch, it's portable, you can make them ahead, they freeze well, you can use Raw Meal or another Gluten Free/Vegan powder from your co-op to boost the protein count and help keep you full.  I also highly recommend a combination of chia seeds, hemp seeds, and ground flax meal to boost protein and add Omega 3s as well as other great nutrients.
The basic smoothie rule is to use more veggies than fruit.  Spinach and kale are great greens.  Avocados put the smooth in smoothie.  Carrots, jicama, cucumbers...they all work great in smoothies.  For fruit, go with some berries and maybe 1/2 of a brown, spotted banana sometimes (the sugars and enzymes are better developed and easier to digest).



That's about it for the Foods To Eat list.  I told you it was going to be nice and simple!  If you want to supercharge it, check out these supplements:
- Probiotics: this will add even more good flora to your gut.  You're going to be giving your gut a lovely break from a lot of the things that are really hard on it.  So during this process, giving it some good flora to help it heal what needs to be healed and to bolster up all of the good bugs in there will make it so super happy!
- Metagenics Ultra Clear powder http://www.amazon.com/Metagenics-UltraClear-Natural-Vanilla-Flavor/dp/B001ED1GKA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&...  .  Start with 1 scoop per day and see how you feel.  This is going to really boost the detox process so you might feel a headache, achiness, fatigue, etc.  These symptoms are to be expected as your body lets go of lots of toxins.  All of the water you'll be drinking will help flush them out faster too.  If you're tolerating 1 scoop well enough, then go to the full dose of 2 scoops a day.  If you just want to hit it hard and get over that detox hump faster, you can start with 2 scoops a day.  It's a bit uncomfortable for a few days but usually nothing horrible.  And once that big surge of toxins is gone, you'll feel great.  If you're doing 2 scoops, you'll just need 1 container to get you through all 3 weeks.  Just put it into your smoothies and blend!

Okay, now on to the list of Foods to Avoid:
- All processed foods.  If it comes in a package, avoid it.
- Anything artificial: sweeteners, colors, preservatives...bye, bye!
- Grains.  Yes, all grains. We're striving to lighten the load of our digestive system and getting rid of the grains will do that big time.  So with that, you'll naturally be gluten free.
- Dairy. Milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream...all of it.  There are some great milk alternatives out there; never fear!
- Alcohol.  That one probably makes sense.
- Sugar.  Yes, all sugar.  Honey, molasses, maple syrup, cane sugar....all of it.  A lot of it will be easy because you won't be eating any processed foods and tons of sugar goes right out the window when you let go of processed foods.  Whew!  If you absolutely need a little sweetness, go to fruit or a little pure Stevia.



***The Amino Acid L-Glutamine will help with sugar cravings.  If it's super intense, just open a capsule right on your tongue.  Sugar is 8 times more addictive than cocaine...for real.  Sugar addiction is a very real thing so be kind to yourself and know that it's real and it's short lived.  After a couple of days, it gets much easier.  If you know you have a sugar addiction and you crave sugar and carbs, consider taking L-Glutamine daily and keeping it with you for those intense craving times.
**Cinnamon helps to even out your blood sugar and can  help with cravings too as do greens.  Because you'll be taking in so many green veggies, that will really help.
- Caffeine.  Nope, I didn't forget about that one.  This is another addictive substance and it will take a few days to come off of it if you're an avid consumer of caffeine but it will be worth it.  Caffeine actually makes you tired and it creates a cycle of making you feel like you can't function without it.  Believe me when I tell you that you can and you will have even more energy once you break the addiction.  Dandy Blend is my favorite alternative for when I need something a little more substantial than tea.  It's tasty and has the added benefit of being a lovely liver detoxifier because that's what dandelion root does: it detoxifies your liver.  Sweet!  I order my Dandy Blend from Amazon  http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=dandy%20blend&sprefix... 
*** Taking 1000mg of Vitamin C, 3 times a day can help with caffeine withdrawal.  And keep drinking the water to flush it all out of your system.  
 So, now that you know the structure of the Clean Diet Cleanse, we'll start preparing for it.  Having a plan for each meal and every snack is going to be a huge factor in your success. Focus on all of the amazingly nutrient dense, body and brain supportive, tasty foods you're going to be eating instead of focusing on what you're setting aside.  Watch Facebook for links to recipes and my favorite blogs.  Spend this coming weekend making a food plan, go grocery shopping, and make ahead as much as you can.  I'll be sure to include plenty of crock pot meals, things you can make a lot of so you have leftovers, and simple and fast recipes that the whole family will love.
I suggest that you print this off and read it over a couple of times.  There are parts that scare you.  Parts that might make you feel defiant, angry, deprived, or confused.  That's okay.  Sit with that and look at it.  Ask yourself "why?"  This is the first part of the cleanse at work.
Food is more than food.  It can be comfort.  It can be stress release. It can be a coping mechanism.  There are many things that may come up for you during these 3 weeks.  This is an incredible opportunity to look at those things; to delve into them a bit; to sit with them.  It's okay to be uncomfortable.  I know that we spend a lot of time and energy trying NOT to be uncomfortable and we have programmed ourselves to believe that discomfort = bad or not okay.  That's not always the case.  Instead of running from the discomfort, sit with it. Make peace with it.  Send love to that part of you that needs healing (we all have them). Make a space for gratitude...a big space.  These things make all the difference in the world.
Make time for laughter. Surround yourself with positive things and people.  Be selective about the media you take in and the people with whom you spend your time.  Take care of yourself. Love yourself. Nurture yourself.  You are worth it!
I'm excited to be on this journey with you. I'd love to hear from you about how things are going.  If you're having a hard day, let me know. If you need a cheerleader, I can be that for you.  If you need a pat on the back, I'm here!  Watch Facebook for posts every day starting today!  I'll give you tips for getting prepped and guide you every step of the way.  At the end of the 3 weeks, there will be another post about testing for food sensitivities if you'd like to do that.

We're off on a great adventure together.  I can't wait!

Be well and take care,
Krista
Food Coach and Yoga Manager 
Spark Wellness