I had a number of people contact me about my spring cleansing process, and many more that thanked me for introducing them to the “Green Smoothie”, who knew that celery, kale, avocado, strawberries, and coconut could taste so good!
For those of you just joining in on the site, welcome and here is a recap, I committed myself to a week-long cleanse of green smoothies and I had never felt better (since the last cleanse of course). The thought and feeling of fresh nutrients seeping into the bloodstream and taking the fast lane to my brain is indescribable. I was energized, alert, and clear.
But, to be fair, there are two sides to the story, as energized as I was I lacked power and this was clear when I attempted to Crossfit one evening. I found myself struggling to lift even scaled weights and on the verge of passing out, definitely do NOT recommend you try that.
So moral of the story, cleansing is a time to slow down and turn inwards, to nourish your body and mind with simple foods and simple movements. Doing a stressful workout during a cleanse is counter- productive and can cause injury.
With that being said how does one come off a cleanse? To be honest I can’t say I have completely come off mine, in fact I’m trying to revel in the benefits as much as possible and taking this opportunity to slowly introduce foods back into my body that are nourishing for me at this time. Rushing back into your typical routine is a sure fire way to have a body backlash.
A good rule of thumb is to take as many days to reintegrate into “normal” life as you did to cleanse. Regardless of what type of cleanse you did break your cleanse consciously by slowly adding foods that were eliminated. If you were on intense water or master cleanse take extra care to not move too fast into solid foods.
Here are some tips to follow to safely and effectively end a cleanse:
1. Start by introducing blended foods (green smoothies)
2. Slowly add raw veggies
3. Add cooked veggies
4. Finally add proteins
With each introduction of foods, observe how your body responds and determine if that food is right for you and your body. If your tummy begins to rumble or if you feel nauseas or experience diarrhea, it may be too soon. Remember meats, dairy, and gluten foods are mucous forming and are more difficult to process, move into these carefully.
The beauty of the body is that it’s constantly evolving, what is right one season may not be right the next season. After a cleanse take the time to identify your current “diet”.
Although my cleanse officially ended weeks ago I am hooked on my green smoothies and have reduced the amount of poultry in my diet… for now…
Have you done some spring cleaning? How do you feel? How did you break your fast? Share your tips and tricks and post to comments…
n!
ritu riyat
Recipe of the month:
“Green Adventure” Smoothie
- Crack open a baby coconut (you need a hatchet or a really sharp knife and some CF skills)
- Pour fresh coconut water into blender
Scoop coconut meat with spoon and add to blender
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Add grapes, Reishi mushroom tea, chia seeds, kale, avocado, banana
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Blend until smooth
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Enjoy J
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