By Andrea
I’ve been getting my body clean. Not in the scrubba-dub-dub kinda way, but on the inside, with detoxes and cleanses.
I’d heard about cleanses where you drink grassy, unprocessed concoctions for weeks at a time, and I wasn’t excited. Sure, they’d probably do me some kind of good, but they definitely didn’t sound like fun. Because the thing is, I enjoy food. And I love to eat, preferably in a crunchy, munchy rather than a ‘just add water’ kind of way.
So while ignoring my natural instinct to run screaming in the opposite direction, I recently embarked on not 1 but 3 different cleanse programs. And let me tell ya, I really learned a few things about my day-to-day eating habits.
So read on as I share the pros and cons of all 3 of them, plus some handy tips you can take away if you’d like to tidy up your eating habits too.
Note: I should mention up-front that I am not a dieter. Something about having to follow strict instructions brings out the rebellious-girl-in-the-back-of-the-bus in me. To that end, while each of these cleanses called for absolutely no caffeine and no alcohol for their duration, I adopted a more ‘flexible’ approach 😉
Cleanse 1: The Potions
14 day NuLife Cleanse Detox Kit by The Wellness Factory
My friend went on this cleanse and swore by it. She followed the 2-week program to the letter and by the end had smooth skin, bright eyes, and had even lost a few kgs. So I dutifully handed over the cash to naturopath Savannah Daisly, who kindly sent me a package with a collection of powders, potions and tablets to take daily, along with a bunch of eating tips and recipe ideas.
This cleanse was literally a shock to my system, as I had to give up my daily coffees cold turkey (I was having 4 each day before that!), and suffered horrid headaches as a result. After the second full day of a thumping head, I called Sav nearly in tears, who told me to make myself a weak coffee and ease myself into the caffeine part.
This system involved a some mixing and measuring of potions and powders, and drinking them with water prior to breakfast and dinner. Like a medicine that’s doing you good, they did not taste great, though I’m assured they have since been reformulated to taste better.
After the first couple of days, these potions seemed a little more bare-able as I could feel my body responding positively to the plan (more energy, more mental clarity) and I started getting used to the taste.
The eating plan was straightforward: no sugar, no salt, no caffeine, no alcohol, no white flour, bread or grains, no junk or processed food (which was the same for all the cleans programs that I tried) and it also recommended organic foods. Simple in theory, and not actually as difficult as it sounds in practice.
The plan came with a bunch of easy-to-make recipes, and I also received an inspiring text from Sav each day with a tasty meal idea that was super easy to make.
What I liked about this plan:
Going into this, I thought the ‘all natural’ food approach would be a snap. I like to think I eat quite healthily and have limited processed foods. But this program quickly revealed to me that I’ve been kidding myself.
As I had to make all my own meals according to the strict limits of what I could and couldn’t have, it made me realise just how much processed food had crept into my diet, and even more alarmingly, into the diet of my children. That little pack of popcorn here, that string cheese there, a handful of wasabi peas and my secret addiction to late-night Doritos – it all adds up.
The recipes were simple, easy and tasty, and I’ve continued to regularly make a bunch of them for the family.
I also loved the daily support that Sav provided, and that I could give her a call or send her an email for motivation or tips.
Not really a fan of:
The taste of the potions, but like I mentioned before, they’ve since been reformulated.
Best for:
Retraining your eating habits – it forces you to prepare your own meals and therefore makes you very conscious of the amount of processed food that can sneak into your bod.
Cost:
$130 for a 14-day detox kit.
Contact:
Savannah Daisley at The Wellness Factory
Cleanse 2: The personal shopper & chef
5-day cleanse by Eat Fit Food
Going into my 5 days of trialing this cleanse, I was hoping to look a bit like Miranda Kerr by the end – apparently she uses this regularly. Alas I didn’t, but it sure gave me a taste for how awesome it is to be a celebrity. Because you get all of your meals and snacks delivered straight to your door every single morning – you don’t have to lift a finger! Picture me blearly-eyed padding onto my front porch around 6am to find a neat little cooler bag filled to the brim with fresh, healthy food for the entire day. And then picture me looking very smug indeed.
Preparation for each meal was as simple as placing the food onto plates or bowls or heating up some items. It was all good.
What I liked about this plan:
There was absolutely nothing to do – everything I needed was hand-delivered ready to eat each day. The food was beautifully fresh and it tasted great – as you would expect for the price.
Not really a fan of:
Having nothing to prepare! Ok, I know that might sound weird, but after a few days of eating ready-made food, I was itching to be a bit more involved in the preparation of my meal.
Best for:
Times that you are so super-busy that you wish you had a personal shopper and a personal chef. Or when you just want to pretend you are Miranda Kerr.
Cost:
$330 for 5 days, all-inclusive.
Contact
Eat Fit Food: 1300 30 29 30
Cleanse 3: The restaurant at home
Dietlicious 10-day cleanse by Gourmet Dinner Service
I’ve tried Gourmet Dinner Service before, the last time during a particularly busy period last year – and their meals are truly delicious.
All meals for the duration of this 10-day cleanse are delivered at once – a whole lot of fresh fruit & veg, and individually-bagged meals marked for each day of your program. You just pop them all in the fridge (or freezer) and use as you go.
There is a small amount of preparation involved in dinners – namely cooking the meat or fish that has already been prepared with a marinade or herbs. Most of these take less than 10 minutes to cook in an oven or a couple of minutes in a frying pan.
What I liked about this plan:
All the food is delivered and ready to go. I liked knowing exactly what was on the menu for the week “mmm Salmon chermoula on Wednesay night.” And I enjoyed the small amount of food preparation required for dinners, so I still felt like I was creating my own meal. “Check out the amazing salmon I cooked tonight,” I would boast, only slightly disingenuously.
Not really a fan of:
Having all the food delivered at once meant my fridge and freezer were chock-a-block, which didn’t leave a lot of room for the rest of the family’s food.
Best for:
When you want to have a clear plan on what you’ll be eating day-to-day. You can also easily switch around the daily meals if you don’t feel like eating a certain thing on a given day.
Cost:
$370 for 10 days (excluding delivery)
Contact:
Dietlicious: 1300 131 070
And if you want to give your system a quick vacuum and mop, but don’t have the extra cash to spare, here are some easy tips that you can action straight away.”
7 ways to DIY a cleanse at home.
Start the day with a big drink of warm water with a squeeze of lemon.
It gets your body pumping, acts as a filter for your liver, and is a great way to start getting water into your bod first thing. Sleeping is thirsty work!
Cut down coffee.
I still love it, but after these cleanses, I don’t feel as reliant on it as I did. Feeling the pain of the caffeine withdrawal made me realise how much this stuff is impacting my body, and it can’t be all good.
Delete the white stuff.
No sugar, no salt, no white flour, pasta, potatoes, and white rice. You’ll feel lighter and brighter instantly.
Take a break from booze.
A good idea to do regularly anyway, and you’ll be surprised at the increase in mental clarity if you’re a glass of wine with dinner kinda gal like me.
Have small healthy snacks ready to go.
Fill little containers with mixed nuts and seeds that are easy to grab and pop in your handbag when you’re on the run, or nibble at your desk while working. It’ll stop you reaching for the bickies.
Eat non-processed.
If you commit to this for a period, you’ll soon realise how much processed food might have crept into your diet, and it’ll go a long way to breaking a go-to habit. For me it was wasabi peas which I was loving as a regular night-time treat. I thought these were a reasonably healthy snack, but skipping this nightly delight has made a difference to my waistline. It’s also made me much more mindful about the amount of processed food that had inadvertently snuck into the diets of my boys, so the nutrition of their meals and lunch boxes has improved.
Meal plan.
Those two words sound super-boring to me. But what I learned was that when I have a plan for healthy meals to make for a week, and I shop to my plan, I’m less likely to reach for less healthy quick fixes or call for some home delivery.
Note: If you’re eating take out regularly as you are just too busy to cook, I’d highly recommend stocking your freezer with some of the healthy meal options at Dietlicious as they are healthier, tastier and cheaper than your local Thai takeaway.
Have you ever done a cleanse or detox? What lessons did you take away and still use today?
And are you like me and find it near-impossible to stick to a food regime?
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