CLEAN PROGRAM REVIEW: 21 DAY CLEANSE

With all the traveling that I have done within the last month, I have decided to do a cleanse, not only to get my health and diet in check but also in preparation for the summer. For full disclosure, I have done the CLEAN program a few years ago, but I wasn’t 100% committed as it was something I wanted to do for fun. However, this time around, I sought this program out as I feel like my body truly needs it.

For those who aren’t familiar with the CLEAN program:

Clean is not just a product or a program; Clean is an experience. We believe it’s possible to feel good, every day. This involves learning how our individual bodies work and how best to fuel them. If you’re not feeling good, we can help you feel better. If you’re feeling good, why not feel amazing? There’s always room to upgrade your health.

The program lasts for 21 days because that’s the amount of days that it takes to adopt a habit. During the three weeks, your  your body will be adjusting to eliminate dietary triggers and sensitivities and removing toxins, leaving you to feel lighter, more energized, and clear-headed.  Four main results include increased energy levels, improved digestion, weight loss, and beauty factor such as glowing skin. For me, I’m a all in or all out type of girl, so I am excited for this program even though I know there will be struggles along the way.

So what does the CLEAN program consist of? Essentially, you are to have two shakes during the day, one in the morning and one at night with a lunch from the approved foods. You are also able to snack if you are hungry, again only foods from the approved list. Upon first glance, some people might be thrown off that you’re supplementing breakfast and dinner for shakes, but I’d like to reiterate that you can definitely be full from these shakes! I’ve tried them before and if you add healthy greens, protein supplied by Clean, as well as other ingredients such as avocado, nut butter, etc, you can actually feel satisfied and full from them!

 

Here is what you can and cannot eat:

 

 

Since I am doing a review on this program, I will be documenting how I feel after each day in a sentence or two:

DAY 1: I definitely felt tired by the afternoon, but I’m not sure if it’s due to the first day of the cleanse or due to my jetlag. I experienced some stomach problems, but I’m assuming it’s due to my body getting used to the cleanse shakes and supplements. I did have some kale chips and apple as a snack in between my lunch and dinner shake. Other than that, not too bad for day 1.

DAY 2: I felt extra tired today, but again I think it’s the combination of my jet lag as well as my body getting used to the cleanse and the shakes. My face broke out a little but this could be due to a new foundation or perhaps the cleanse? Not sure yet.

DAY 3: Sorry if it’s too much information, but let’s just say my bowel movements weren’t an issue at all today! Going strong and getting more creative with my shakes. I ate lunch outside, but made sure all the ingredients in my grain bowl were cleanse approved!

DAY 4: I started to get more creative with my smoothies. This morning, I had a sweet potato smoothie which turned out to be somewhat of a soup but it was quite delicious! I also had brown rice pasta for dinner and I was pleasantly surprised to know I could have this on the cleanse. I am starting to feel better with the diet, knowing that I am eating all approved foods!

DAY 5: I woke up extremely hungry!! I waited out until my first meal with the morning shake. However, I did feel lighter and less bloated, which was a great sign. Today, I had two snacks, one in between breakfast and lunch and the next was lunch to dinner to combat my hunger. My skin isn’t horrible, but I still do notice a little bit of blemishes so I’m hoping that will clear up soon.

DAY6: I had a rough day. I felt extremely disoriented and I couldn’t focus. I also dealt with some digestion issues, so I took Eliminate. I am hoping this is all part of the cleanse process. On the bright side, I have been loving making my dinner smoothies to soups at night!

DAY7: I’m so happy it’s been a week since I’ve been on the cleanse! Today, I actually just stuck with my three meals as outlined in the program and didn’t feel the need to snack. I made my smoothies more filling with healthy fats and increased my portion for my lunch. I also slept like a baby!

DAY8: I woke up feeling great with tons of energy. I am loving the cleanse so far. I don’t even crave coffee or sweets. I am also more aware of the ingredients in foods and can’t believe how many food items contain sugar.

DAY9: I woke up starving because I think I didn’t eat enough the day before and I am also training consistently. However, once I had my smoothie it was fine. I also find that it helps to drink herbal teas throughout the day to curb my hunger.

DAY10: Today seemed like a regular day and I am beginning to finally get used to the foods. I can see myself incorporating the smoothies and lunch regime into my daily routine once I’m off this cleanse! I made mac and cheese out of butternut squash, almond milk and nutritional yeast and I am so happy to have found this recipe 🙂

DAY11: I woke up feeling energized and had no issue with the cleanse. I love getting creative with my smoothies and meals. So far I haven’t craved sweets or caffeine and ever since I started to make my smoothies and lunch more filling, I don’t find myself snacking as much as I did in the beginning of the cleanse.

DAY12: I woke up starving and I feel like it’s a common feeling that I get in the mornings. I continued with my morning work out and it was a bit intense. I had to have a snack in between my breakfast shake and lunch because I felt like my body needed more protein. Other than that, I still stuck with all the approved foods!

DAY13: Feeling good today, but I must admit I was thinking about croissants and pancakes and can’t wait to have them during my reintroduction phase.

DAY14: 2 weeks down and I’m feeling great! I ate out with my girlfriends from college, but I only had roasted eggplants and chicken. I was proud of myself for resisting the bread, pasta and dessert, but in all honesty, I didn’t crave any of that. I definitely think I am going to kill this this last upcoming week 🙂

DAY15: Today was a pretty solid day as I stuck with my meals. I made sure to eat before heading to the Yankees game and wasn’t a bit hungry or craved the fries and beer that my friends had. I’m so proud of myself!

DAY16: Woke up starving as usual but I ended up going to the gym and waited till my first morning shake, which lasted me until my lunch (for me it’s basically considered dinner). I made coconut curry chicken and felt extremely satisfied with the meal and love that I can now incorporate this even when I’m off the cleanse!

DAY17: Today I felt great! I ate out at a greek restaurant but only ordered fish and vegetables so I was pretty satisfied with that. I just snacked on pineapples and tea in between meals but definitely felt energized and amazing throughout the day.

DAY18: I can’t believe this cleanse is almost done! I don’t even feel like I’m doing a program because I have been so used to the food and it’s been great for my body. I will have to admit that I am looking forward to the reintroduction phase just to see how my body will react.

DAY19: Today was another successful day on the cleanse. I didn’t really have any issues. I am feeling energized and looking back, I can see how my body has adapted as I haven’t felt the need to snack as much as I did during the first week and don’t feel tired or sluggish as I did previously.

DAY20: I’m amazed at how far I have come with the cleanse! I only ate out 3x so once a week for this program. Considering my work revolves a lot around social events, I am proud that I was able to still stick to the program as best as I could. I have no complaints with one more day left!

DAY21: YOUR GIRL JUST COMPLETED HER CLEANSE!! It’s amazing how great I feel and how easily my body was able to adapt to it. I used today to read more about reintroduction to prepare for the next few days.

*Even though the cleanse is technically over, the program recommends to use day 22-28 as a reintroduction phase so I am going to continue my experience and findings:

DAY22: Today was the first day off the cleanse and I was struggling with whether to have a morning coffee or not. I don’t necessarily need the caffeine but I simply love the taste of it so I said yes and oh how I missed my almond milk latte! I continued with a smoothie for breakfast but incorporated a side of egg whites to see how my body would feel. So far, so good.  Lunch and dinner were also cleanse approved! I did have a glass of wine since I went to a wine tasting. Overall, solid day!

DAY23: This is where it went downhill… it was a Friday and I hadn’t been out so let’s just say I had a few too many cocktails and then got pizza afterwards. I don’t necessarily feel guilty because I was basically just living my life but I did screw up the reintroduction phase since I had gluten and dairy but it’s OK. I feel like the 3 week cleanse was my priority.

DAY24: I tried to get back on track by eating cleanse approved foods. I still had egg whites because I don’t didn’t have any reaction to it.

DAY25: I’m not exactly following the cleanse reintroduction phase since I did still have egg whites, peanut butter and bananas. They’re not exactly forbidden in the reintroduction phase so I thought it was OK. Again, I felt completely fine.

DAY26: Today I ate fairly clean as well. I did introduce soy because I missed tofu but I didn’t feel that my body reacted to it negatively so I want to repeat this tomorrow as well.

DAY27: Still feeling great with the cleanse and I am resorting back to morning smoothies. I think my body really likes starting my day with a nutritious smoothie bowl and I love that I am able to incorporate it even though I’m off the cleanse. I had tempeh today and again, no bad reaction!

DAY28: Even though I didn’t follow the reintroduction phase to a T, I feel like I still took away great knowledge of food and have been making more of an effort to pay attention to how my body reacts. I have yet to introduce gluten and I will be doing that in the next few days.

Overall, this cleanse was amazing and I’m so happy that I committed to it and completed it. It was by no means easy and I definitely struggled the first week, but it’s amazing how easy your body can adapt to the foods. You simply have to train your body to not crave certain foods like gluten, soy and dairy. Even though I always thought I ate pretty healthy, this program opened my eyes as I became more aware of all the ingredients in the foods that I ate previously. It’s all about balance and I’m not saying that I am going to restrict myself from indulging every now and then, but this program was a great reminder to be extra careful of what I put into my body.

I can’t begin to rave about the benefits and I highly recommend all of you to try it if you want or need a reset. I think we an all benefit from it because with all that goes into our daily lives, we sometimes neglect our bodies.  This is perfect to do right after the holidays or right before summer in my opinion. I am a fan and definitely look forward to doing this once every year. I would love to hear your thoughts if you ever completed the CLEAN program or if you have any interest in doing so!