Spring Cleanse Phase I: Colon and Intestines

 

Week one: Colon cleanse complete.

I don’t always have the best digestion, even with a pretty healthy diet, and I was due for a good spring cleaning.  Since my typical every-day diet is primarily whole-foods without animal products or gluten, I wanted something a little more than a “clean-diet” cleanse, although there are some great ones out there.  After doing research from doctors or centers that I trust, I chose this one.  Ladies (and a few brave men), meet Dr. Group of the Global Healing Center. Intelligent, very well versed in clean guts, and could easily pass for a member of the Pitt family. As for the cleanse, I liked that it doesn’t have questionable herbs or fillers, but uses super-healthy oxygen instead.  It is designed to clean the entire digestive tract; the small and large intestines, as well as the colon. Perfect, I like to multi-task.

 

 

Dr. Group of The Global Healing Center

 

 

Pre-Day 1: (Saturday)

The evening before “Day 1” I took the recommended four capsules of the Oxy-powder.  In under five minutes I could feel it working, and within about 20 minutes I could trace where my ascending, traverse, and descending colon were located in my body.  It wasn’t uncomfortable, just a pretty strong sensation, accompanied by the sound effects of a severe thunderstorm.  I worried that I wouldn’t be able to sleep, but after I convinced myself I could make it the 30′ to the bathroom, I dozed off.

 

 

What I sounded like

 

Day 1: (Sunday)

The instructions don’t lie.  It said to expect 3-5 bowel movements per day, which should be “watery” (aka: diarrhea, which they assure you it isn’t; it’s liquified matter. To which I say: OK, but it does feel like it).  I surpassed the quota the first couple of hours, being Type A and all.  My usual morning yoga class was just not an option.  Even though the instructions tell you what to expect, I was surprised.  Since I am a pretty clean eater, I didn’t think it would be as powerful as they described.  How wrong of me.  Apparently I needed to be working on detoxing some of my ego with this cleanse, too.

 

 

 

 

Once I escaped the bathroom, I made the cleanse water: filtered water with unfiltered apple cider vinegar (ACV), lemon, and aloe vera juice.  This was for drinking liberally throughout the day, which wasn’t too bad, considering I’m used to the occasional ACV in water for digestion. Replacing hydration after the morning session, a must.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Breakfast was suggested to be fruit, as long as you properly combine, so I still made my beloved morning smoothie.  I tried not to panic thinking I couldn’t have a cup of coffee along with it.  I usually have one mug full in the morning, (black, the darker the better), but somehow made it through the morning without it, and without too much resentment.

 

 

Morning Goodness in a Glass

 

The recommended lunches were vegetables with some type of starch, suggested snacks were raw nuts or avocados, or some goji berries.  Dinner was vegetables with protein.  I’ve been fine with this, especially since the foods that Dr. Group recommends are pretty much the foods I eat all of the time.  I even cooked a big Mexican dinner for some of my extended family, and enjoyed almost everything, except sharing the wine with them.

 

Day 2: (Monday)

I woke up early.  Like 5:00 am early.  My colon was talking to me, and my mind wouldn’t shut off.  Running to the bathroom, I wondered how I would get my daughter to school, and get to appointments, but it worked out.  Once again, yoga class was not going to happen.  Everything sort of calmed down by about noon, which is the end of the daily cleanse cycle.  This cycle runs fro 4:00 am until noon, when the body is more actively purging what it doesn’t need.  Apparently I was right on schedule.  Sidenote:  From noon until 8:00 pm is the energy cycle, when the body is more actively sorting nutrients, giving you energy as needed, and storing more for later.  From 8:00 pm-4:00 am is the regeneration cycle, when your body repairs itself, which is why good sleep is so important.

 

The food for the day was still pretty easy, I didn’t feel deprived at all.  I did feel tired by about 9:00, since I had been up so early.  More capsules, more gurgling, and sleep.

 

 

 

Dinner a few times: Chickpea Mediterranean Salad over Greens with Avocado

 

Day 3: (Tuesday)

Pretty similar to day 2.  I was grateful that I didn’t have a hectic morning, and again my system seemed to calm down by about noon.

 

Day 4: (Wednesday)

Repeat.

 

Day 5: (Thursday)

For some reason, everything hit harder.  My feeling is that more of the residual sludge was coming forth, after having several days to work through it.  I did feel more tired than usual, so I went to bed very early.

 

Day 6: (Friday)

Not as tired as day 5, more like days 2 and 3.  Still no morning yoga class, which I was really missing. And date night didn’t sound very sexy. But I happily curled up with my man in front of the fire and fell asleep.

 

 

Zen Bowl from Grilla Bites

 

Day 7: (Saturday)

I felt really good all day. Morning was still close to home, but all of the running around I had to do all afternoon was fine, much like the earlier week.  I even celebrated the end of the cleanse with lunch at a new-to-Salt-Lake-City-restaurant: Grilla Bites.  I ordered the Zen Bowl, which I really enjoyed, and while waiting for my order, loved sipping on this Green Lemonade.  I asked them to go light on the apple, which they kindly did.  I added a pinch of stevia.  They actually have packets of Stevia, so I didn’t have to get my own stash out.  I hardly needed dinner, (but I did).  And, for the first time in a week, I didn’t have to take the Oxy-Powder before bed.  It felt very relaxing to have a few days off from the perfect storm, and dashing-to-the-bathroom-mornings before Phase II: Liver & Gallbladder Cleanse.

 

Green Lemonade, Cheers to a Clean Colon

 

 

Summary:  Overall, I think this was a great (first phase) cleanse.  I was able to eat a lot of great food, so I didn’t feel deprived.  (Since I don’t eat animal products or gluten, the suggested diet wasn’t a big adjustment, but even if that’s not the case for you, it leaves a lot of options open, meat included.)  I was fortunate that I hadn’t scheduled a lot in the mornings, but was still able to work from home and get to appointments with clients all week long.  And, from everything that passed I know I released a lot of crap.  Literally.  This felt great physically and mentally. I did feel pretty tired at night, since I was waking up most every day at 5:00 am, but never had the severe flu-like detox symptoms that can happen with some cleanses.  If you think you may be due for a cleanse (you are, trust me) this is a great one to do.  Even people with IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) are able to safely complete this cleanse.  I think I may have even lost my coffee addiction.  Stay tuned for how that one goes.

 

 

(This was not a paid endorsement, I forked over the cash myself, and all opinions are my own.)