The Chris James Cleanse - Phase Four

So I'm cruising into the home stretch.  Three more days of this cleanse, and I have to say, I can't remember a detox I've enjoyed so much.  Even during the last three days of juicing, I have not felt hungry, and although I felt a little dull, it was nothing too harsh and apparently, I wasn't too much of a monster to be around!

Although I'm now allowed to eat food again, Chris James recommends keeping it very light on the stomach, keeping to fruits at first.  Bizarrely, on Day Ten I find breakfast and lunch end up being smoothies and juices, mainly because I've got so much fruit and veg left over that need to be used up, so I guess that's a good thing. I made a carrot and lentil soup from the Chris James recipe which was so yummy that my husband wanted some too.  This part of the cleanse feels easy now, and I find I can't eat as much as I used to - finally, some portion control!

Day Eleven and the body has returned to the normal regularity - it's amazing what a little fibre will do.  This cleanse has really taught me that my body needs way more fibre than I was previously feeding it.  Another juice for breakfast and smoothie for lunch, with some soup and salad for dinner is ample food for me today.

Day Twelve and it's the last day of the cleanse.  Eating according to the guidelines (sounds better than rules, don't you think?) is easy and almost like second nature now.

The results:

Unlike previous attempts to detox, I'm not feeling an urge to go mad and eat all the foods that I had eliminated during the cleanse period.  On reflection, I've really enjoyed eating an effectively vegan diet for 12 days and didn't crave meat or dairy at all.  I'm eating a much more varied diet now - it's all too easy to eat the same foods over and over again.   I have way more energy, both physically and more importantly for me, mentally too.  I now feel that I have the energy every morning to face the day and I certainly didn't feel that before undertaking this cleanse.  My only regret is that I was too much of a coward to do a colonic and I can't help but keep on wondering how much better I'd feel if I had.

I'm finding it really easy to continue so many of the principles - no wheat or dairy is easy for me, as I'm intolerant to both anyway, and there have been no coffee cravings, so I won't be going back to that either.  I'm loving my muesli and maple syrup every morning and I find I'm hardly drinking alcohol when I go out.

One week later, and I'm still making better food choices, not craving meat, coffee, cakes, crisps, cheese (my usual downfall!), and I'm not picking at at rubbish food between meals.  It's been an eye-opening experience (I know now that my body needs far more fibre than I was giving it), it's made me change my habits (I'm going to bed slightly earlier and not staying up late just for the sake of it) and it's made me really look at my portion size and exercise portion control - something I've never been good at, and it's still an uphill struggle).  Everyone around me is constantly commenting on how well I look and I can honestly feel the difference.  

I know you're all wondering, "But how much weight did she lose?"  Well, the numbers are in, and it goes like this:

I lost 3.8 Kilos and 3% body fat ( the latter is more important to me).  As I said right from the start, I didn't start this cleanse to lost weight - there were so many other reasons why I chose to do it.  But losing a little of the excess weight is always a bonus.

Would I do this again? Hell, yes! And it's been such a pleasure to do, my other half is also going to do it with me. Even cynical ole him can't get over nor deny the difference he can see in me.  And there's no fad dieting involved here, just sound, nutritional common sense.  You can't argue with that.  And you can't ignore it either.

I'd definitely recommend this to anyone who feels they need to recharge their batteries, give their body a nutritional overhaul and clean out the toxins.  Can you think of one good reason why you shouldn't?