Howdy all,
A bunch of you asked about the Clean Program, which is the cleanse that I’m doing, so here it is. First, you should know that I committed to doing this under the assumption that it was for seven days. A bunch of people from Summit Series were doing it so I figured “I’m not at the top of my fitness level and the Niners and Pats have a bye week so why not?” Well, it turns out that it lasts for an entire month which breaks down as follows. I simply committed before I read the program details and didn’t want to pull out of my commitment – so here I go. I’ll update this post daily to let you know what I’m missing (or not), how I’m feeling and tips if you decide to do it one day. The cost is about $500-600 but I got it for free as a Summit guy. Here’s the program.
1) 3 days of pre-cleanse (get your shit ready for the nonsense that’s about to happen to your body and mind). During this period you eat from the list but you do eat 3 meals a day
2) 21 days of cleanse (full on – 2 shakes with supplements and a full lunch. You can also snack some, which I plan to do)
3) 7 days of re-entry wherein you add 1 food at a time to see whether your stomach does back-flips and stuff. I don’t want to lose much weight so I’ll be doing the healthy snacks to make sure I take in enough calories. Here’s the list of what I can and cannot eat — read it and weep (for me).
Here’s the list:
OK, so for those of you who really know me – you know that I love cocktails, wine, bourbon, tequila, beer; all foods – particularly sushi and foods, beef of all kinds, bacon and other pork products, pizza, cheese, coffee, and pretty much everything that I’m restricted from eating. Here’s how it’s going:
Day 1: Friday night – not real smart. I was mostly craving a really nice tequila or bourbon straight up – sipping from a snifter. Not hungry at all – eat some nuts throughout the day.
Day 2: I woke up craving the flavor of coffee. I would have been really happy with decaf but I can’t even have that. I had a sweet tooth but was satiated by dried mangos and cranberries (they’re allowable but in limited capacity – unsweetened only). My wife, Luann, is doing part of this and came up with a make-shift cereal for breakfast which consisted of brown rice, vanilla flavored (unsweetened) almond milk, cranberries and cinnamon. I know that it sounds like shit but it was really good. I’ll eat it again. Not hungry at all.
Day 3: Breakfast was pretty easy even though I was tempted by the kid’s pizza and donut party. Green tea helps a bunch. After an amazing 70 degree day at Crissy Field we ate at Tacolicious and would love to have had chips, salsa, a magarita and a Pacifico but the craving level was only at 30% or so (as compared with tequila/bourbon at 70% on day 1 and coffee at 80% on day 2. We had grilled calamari and beans – it was really good. I wanted to stop for a cigar to smoke on the deck at night but Luann reminded me that it might not be the best idea during a detox – probably a good point so I passed (I could go for a cigar now).
Day 4: A shake for breakfast along with some dried mango filled me up and satisfied any cravings. It’s 4:20 as I write this and I’m still stuffed from lunch which was chicken with lentils and a bunch of vegetables and spices – I couldn’t finish it. I didn’t crave anything today – not even coffee. I definitely already have more energy but that could simply be from sleeping well because we didn’t drink anything over the weekend – that hasn’t happened for a decade. I’m pretty sure that day 4 of the Cleanse will be no problem at all, considering how full I am. Shake for dinner – dates and dried cherries as a sweet dessert.
Day 5: A shake for breakfast along with half an avocado and organic blueberries. I finished the chicken with lentils and a bunch of vegetables and spices. I didn’t crave anything today. Typical snacks after lunch (about 3-4pm) include dried mango and pistachio nuts. Shake for dinner. I also had some dates.
Day 6: A shake for breakfast along with half an avocado and organic blueberries. Blackened trout and vegetables for lunch. I was at a restaurant and they had Au Gratin potatoes – I would have enjoyed them, but it wasn’t too difficult to pass on I didn’t crave anything today. Typical snacks after lunch (about 3-4pm) include dried mango and pistachio nuts. Shake for dinner and some steamed spinach.
Day 7: A shake for breakfast along with some dried mango, avocado, and steam spinach (yup, random). Sliced, roasted turkey (it probably wasn’t organic, but is supposed to do — I was starving – couldn’t wait to find something organic), steamed vegetables (they sucked – couldn’t eat them – probably put of a can), three bean salad (really good). I definitely have more energy and am stronger in the gym. This is likely from sleeping better. My new sleep schedule seems to be 9-4:30 pm — not ideal but I get up at 5 for tea and work at SBUX and then go to the gym at 6am for an hour. I definitely have sustained energy throughout the ay. I have no idea if any “detox” is happening but my energy levels are stable throughout the day – probably because I’ve eliminated sugar and caffeine and other stuff. I had ground bison and steamed spinach for dinner, and a couple dates. I was supposed to have a shake but the bison looked too good and it’s on the “eat” list so I went for it. I have absolutely zero cravings (though there’s lots of stuff I would still love to eat, I don’t crave anything).
Day 8: A shake for breakfast along with some dried cranberries and pistachios. So here’s the scoop. In the top of this post I describe that I signed up for this as a 7 day fast and then learned it’s 31 days long, including the 7 day re-entry. I described that I wanted to stay on it because I committed to a group of people. Well, those people have decided to do it at a different time so I met my commitment and can stop at anytime. Here’s what I’m thinking. I’m going to the niners/saints game tomorrow and there’s a VERY good chance that I’ll drink beer. If I was still under the commitment, I wouldn’t, but given that it’s over then I very well may (95% likely). If that doesn’t completely kill the program (it likely will but I’ll email the Doc to ask) then I’ll likely continue on through the duration. If it kills the program then I’ll continue to eat at a very moderated level. I have definitely realized that I don’t need to consume all the crap that I consume and I’ll fee better for it. Even though weight loss wasn’t a goal of mine, I’ve lost 5 pounds in the last 8 days and can see and feel the difference. I’ll keep you posted – Go Niners!
Day 9: A shake for breakfast and a ton of beer for lunch, and some nacho chips. As expected – I totally blew it. I ate “clean” for lunch.
Day 10: Clean eating all day but I ran into a buddy at Half Moon Bay and had a beer. I’m waiting to hear back from the Doc to learn whether he thinks I should restart (which means end it for me) or keep going. Not much in the way of hunger or cravings. I probably could have pretty easily passed on the beer, but I didn’t 
.
Day 11: A shake for breakfast along
Day 12: Clean all day. No real cravings or hunger. Good energy, strength and I’m down 7 pounds or so (I don’t have a weight loss goal on this, but the weight the I’m losing deserves to be lost – so it’s a bonus).
Day 13: Clean breakfast and lunch. I heard back from the Doc and he said keep going but don’t drink beer. That’s not going to happen since the NFC Championship is Sunday. I’m likely going to stay clean through Thursday dinner, and celebrate the 2 weeks with a glass of red vino Thursday night. I’ll definitely stay pretty close to the program but not stay on it, given that my mates bailed so I’m off the hook. In the future, I think I’ll try 3 day juice things and see how that goes. To me, that seems like it will be really easy and worthwhile. This has been a very positive experience and much easier (given, I did splurge at the game) than I expected. I pretty much stayed true to the limitations with the exception of the game, and that one beer.
Ok – that’s it for now – feel free to comment, ask questions or anything else. Here’s the link to the program. They also have a support community and a weekly call, which I have not yet investigated, but plan to. For now on, I’ll update this daily. Oh, if you’re wondering, I fully plan to cocktail and eat the first day after completion, which happens to be Superbowl Sunday. I also expect that 3 beers and 6 wings will do me in, as compared with a dozen of each, as per typical.
Cheers!
