In my journey to find better nutrition for myself and after a lot of research, I came across quite a few suggestions for cleansing. There are many different kinds of cleanses out there and they are all different. I know that after poisoning my body for decades with soda and horrible food choices that there would definitely be some residual toxins built up and stored in my body.
One of the things I learned is that the body protects itself when a toxin enters. Harmful chemicals found in soda and other foods are "abducted" and a protective shield is placed around them and then stored as fat. These toxins are tucked away and have no way of leaving the body.
Diet soda in particular had me worried. If you're not familiar with my discoveries on artificial sweeteners, specifically in diet soda... please read this blog entry first:
How Can I Possibly Quit Drinking Soda?
After drinking Diet Coke for over 25 years... I could only imagine the amount of chemicals/toxins that my body had stored up over the years and if there was a way to remove them I wanted them out!
But it's not just soda... The chemicals we use cleaning our homes, the chlorine we bathe in every morning when we shower and the polluted air filled with heavy metals and smog all contribute to this over time in our bodies causing us to feel drained and sometime even sick.
The most common type of "cleanse" that everybody has tried and usually ends up failing is the almighty colon cleanse. There are dozens of them out there and anybody can go to the store, get themselves some fresh lemons, cayenne pepper and agave to make this God awful concoction to drink for 10 days straight without any solid food or form of nutrition. That's just crazy!
Most people make it to day 3 and after completely emptying out their colons of EVERYTHING... including all of the good bacteria. You need your good bacteria!!! But most importantly you are giving your body NO NUTRITION WHATSOEVER!!! This is not recommended.
Being the guinea pig that I am, I actually tried this cleanse about 2 years ago. Does it cleanse the colon? YES. If you are thinking about trying this I hope you have a good supply of toilet paper. Never again. No thanks. Wow.
ISAGENIX 9 DAY CLEANSE PROGRAM
So what about this 9 day cleanse that I'm always talking about... Let me explain how its different and what is does for your body. First of all, it's not a colon cleanse. This is a full body cellular cleanse. I'll walk you through what is involved.
Instead of flushing out everything in your stomach and colon with lemon juice... you flood your body with micro-nutrients and special ingredients designed to attach and remove toxins and heavy metals from each individual cell in your body for a 48 hour period of time. These ingredients are extracted directly from raw fruits and vegetables without heat and provide the same benefits as juicing. It's basically a full body detox. You should not drink any alcohol, soda, coffee or tea... Only water and cleanse powder 4 times a day for 2 days. (You are also able to have a few snacks throughout the day to help you make it in between each cleanse.)
DAYS 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
On these days you give your body even more nutrition by having an isalean shake in the morning and 1 in the evening as well as a sensible meal in between that is approx 600 calories or so like a big salad or anything else healthy and fresh around 600 calories. In my case on these "shake days" as they are called, I like to go to Chipotle and have a delicious chicken burrito.
The contents of my Chipotle burrito equals a little over 700 calories, but that seems to be close enough because I don't notice a difference. (Tortilla, Re fried Beans, Chicken, Mild & Med Salsa, Lettuce & Cheese.) I do that for 5 days straight along with my shakes.
DAYS 8 & 9
Then on the last 2 days of the cleanse you fast again for 48 hours, taking only the cleanse powder, (4 times a day) snacks and as much water as you can possibly drink. Today is my last day and I woke up feeling pretty great. Not even hungry surprisingly. My body has basically had an overload of nutrition for the past 8 days and I feel really good.
It's important to not eat until you wake up the day after you finish because a lot of things happen while you are sleeping. Because you haven't eaten solid food for almost 2 days, your body is working hard to take in the good nutrition from the cleanse powder and at the same time remove unwanted toxins all while you sleep. You most likely will have to get up early in the morning to pee because that's how this cleanse works... You pee A LOT!!! And trust me... It's a good thing. The more you pee the more toxins are being removed. So make sure you drink as much water as you can possibly stand.
And that's it. The only thing that I did not mention is that for people that are doing this for the first time and have never used any of the Isagenix products before like the shakes or supplements, It's a good idea to have 2 "prep" days before starting. They are the same as shake days. This just prepares your body to detox better by first loading it up on the micro-nutrients and live enzymes that the shakes have in them. I have the shakes everyday anyways. They are loaded with good stuff.
How does the cleanse powder taste?
This was probably the first question I asked before I did it. I said straight out... If I don't like the taste, I'm not doing it. Period. There are 2 flavors to choose from: Tropical and Rich Berry. I would NOT recommend the Tropical flavor to my worst enemy. The Rich Berry flavor however tastes just like berry punch, sweet and good tasting. Well done guys. (Also, it comes in powder or liquid form. I choose powder because I travel, but I hear it tastes the same either way.)
Do you feel like your starving ever?
The first time I did the 9 Day cleanse I had no idea what to expect. And to be honest, the first day was the hardest for me. You take the cleanse powder and you know that mentally you have 4 hours before you get it again so you play this mental game with yourself that goes like this: "I don't feel hungry but I feel like I should be eating something right now." This goes on up until the time you go to bed. You're not starving, but you've never missed a meal in your life and you feel like... "I should be eating something." What's weird though, is on the second day when you wake up... You actually are not hungry. Your stomach shrinks overnight and your body is loaded with plenty of nutrition so there's no alarms going off and its easier. On day 3 you can wake up and make a shake and then go have a nice little meal around noon or 2pm and it's a piece of cake cause you get another shake for dinner. You do that for 5 days. Piece of cake.
So what do I notice different after I cleanse?
I notice lots of energy, clear complexion and my thinking is not cloudy. I feel sharp. It's really hard to explain but whenever I look at pictures of myself before and after a cleanse I can tell. You just look and feel healthier. When your body has removed toxins that have been causing you to feel sick and drained of your energy, you really notice when they are gone. It's a good feeling and you can ask anyone who has tried this cleanse. They will tell you the same thing.
But what about losing weight??
It varies from person to person but Yes. Every single time that I have done the 9 Day cleanse
I lose about 8 - 12 pounds and about an inch in my waist line. Losing weight is really not the reason I choose to do the cleanse, but it's definitely a benefit. Again... every person that I have recommended this cleanse to has lost about the same amount.
Do you keep the weight off?
You do if you eat properly. Just like any other program or diet... if your lifestyle includes over eating on a daily basis and consuming 2,000 calories a day and you're a fast food junkie, don't bother. You'll be right back to where you were in no time. Doing a full body cleanse like this will allow you to see how it feels to feel healthy and hopefully it might make you consider a few lifestyle changes. It has for me. But I'd also like to add that I am no saint. I'm a regular person just like you that loves to indulge in unhealthy foods, snacks and treats on occasion. It's very hard sometimes to eat good ALL the time.
I do have will power but I fall sometimes. I sometimes eat bad things and that's usually when a friend or a family member pulls out a camera to take a picture because they can't believe I'm eating so horribly. I'm kinda glad they do that, because it makes me realize that they think that I'm supposed to be some sort of example... Well... OK then.... I'll guess I try better then. lol Sorry for disappointing you all! I'm human guys! hahaha
Why is it so expensive?
Seems expensive? I thought so too at first... then I added up how much money I spend on myself to eat meals for 9 days. It's not that expensive at all. The money is well spent in that magical cleanse powder. Do you realize what this stuff is??
If you haven't seen the documentary "Fat Sick & Nearly Dead" you should. It's on my MUST SEE DOCUMENTARIES blog. It shows how the raw micro-nutrients from fruits and veggies can detox & heal even the sickest person into a healthy being in a matter of no time by simply juicing! The ingredients in a jar of cleanse for life is just that... every 2 scoops is equivalent to the nutrition you would get from 24 servings of raw fruits and veggies!
During your first 48 hours of cleansing you take 2 scoops of the cleanse for life powder every 4 hours for a total of 8 scoops per day. That is a crazy amount of nutrition! And THAT is why you can go without eating with no problem for 2 days straight. If you've ever tried juicing... you know that it gets expensive real quick! Like $20-$30 per day expensive on your raw fruits and veggies. The worst part though... is cleaning out that damn juicer 3 times a day. I think the cleanse powder is a little easier.
Aside from doing this cleanse, for the 4th time now, I have finally found what I was looking for as far as some good daily nutrition. In my blog entry "Vitamins... Do They Even Help?" I was searching for nutrition on a daily basis and kept coming up with all these synthetic chemical compounds calling themselves vitamins. It's frustrating because even if you read labels these days, you can still be tricked into buying something that isn't what it appears to be.
Most vitamins like the ones you buy at the grocery store or at the pharmacy are all garbage. 10% of what it is cut with 90% of some other chemical so they can make more money!! That's ridiculous. I want the real thing 100% no chemicals please!!
When I was introduced to Isagenix products, and remember... this is coming directly from my wife, I was STILL skeptical! She was telling me about everything being all natural and no chemicals blah blah blah...and I gave her a hard time. That's what I do. hahaha I said fine, order me the 9 Day cleanse and I'll let you know.
I can honestly say that after doing it 4 times over the past year, that I would recommend it to anyone that wants to feel better and regain how they used to feel. You'll lose some weight and you'll probably end up taking the isalean shakes on the daily every morning like I do. Because you just can't get this kind of nutrition out of todays food. You just can't.
I've found a few other things that I really swear by and take daily, but I'll save that for another blog. I hope this has at least given you some insight on the Isagenix 9 Day Cleanse and as always, if you have more questions feel free to ask me. I'm on Twitter day and night. that's the best place to get at me @DjInfernoLV Or you can contact me by email djinfernolv@gmail.com
Here is the link to the 9 Day Cleanse http://billytolley.isagenix.com/us/en/nineday.dhtml
Here's a great video explaining just how toxic the world we now live in is.
Are You Toxic? http://billytolley.isagenix.com/us/en/areyoutoxic-promo.dhtml
I hope this entry has helped someone.
-Billy
