A Spring Cleanse

It seems that "cleanse" has been the buzz word in the natural health community this spring.  I kept running into articles about it, and the boxed cleansing systems are on sale at the health food stores and at my chiropractor's office so I decided to do some thorough research into detox cleansing.  I have done a couple of different cleanses before.  This one were you buy the little box, take the vitamins and powder. Since I didn't really have to change the way that I ate it was easy but also pricey.  I don't want to spend money if I don't have too.  I also have done a basic bone broth cleanse where you drink a cup of broth before ever meal and try to avoid the "bad stuff."  Again, a pretty painless way to cleanse.
 There is a lot of info out there that is not really worth it, and so I stuck with a couple sites that I trusted. Livestrong had a many articles on detox diets and cleansing and Well Grounded Life where they were offering a cleansing course.   These sites were really informative and beneficial.  The basic premise of a cleanse is that no one's diet is perfect and neither is the environments that we live in.  Toxins that get built up in our bodies need to be flushed out. 
Then I got the crazy idea that I should do a series of blog posts while cleansing.  I told my husband my idea, and he said that I may want to rethink that.  In his mind a cleanse would be something that you do before a colonoscopy, and that would be gross to blog about!  There are actually many different kinds of cleansing and I would not be doing a colon cleanse but a kidney/liver cleanse.
I then did something that I have read I should do, but I have never done: I consulted a health care professional before beginning.  (That little warning is on every diet and exercise dvd, but does anyone really do that?)  We discussed my goals for the cleanse and the practical way to do it.  She listened to my plan and tweaked it a bit.  She said that I could probably attain my goals faster in I changed my diet along with a boxed cleanse, but my plan was to use diet alone.  Here is what we came up with:
My Goals:

• More energy (what mom wouldn't say that?  I am curious if my fatigue is just because I am a mother of many little ones, or if I need to take better care of myself.)
• Hormone balance after 4 pregnancies
• An overall feeling of cleansing after a winter of eating comfort foods.
• (I didn't put weight loss on the list, and I didn't weigh myself before the cleanse so that I wouldn't be sidetracked from my goals if I was or wasn't losing weight.  Weight loss through this cleanse wouldn't be maintainable since I don't plan on eating this way for the rest of my life.)

My plan:

• 7 days of fruits, veggies (as much green ones as I can) and protein (meat, eggs and nuts-the liver needs protein in order to function properly and the liver plays a major part in cleansing and detox.) 
• Apple cider vinegar (diluted) three times a day.  The doctor could take or leave this part, but I had read a lot about the health benefits and decided to go for it. 
• No dairy, grains, sugar or coffee. 
• Try to keep active and also get a good amount of sleep. 
• After the cleanse I need to assess how I feel, (the assumption is that I will feel good!) and slowly add things bad in while trying to maintain feeling good.

I almost chickened out and didn't blog about this.  I curiously excited but also am afraid of failure!  How do I blog about it if I fall off the wagon?  We will see how this goes!

NOTE: Part 2 has now been posted.
This posted was linked to Quick and Easy Cheap and Healthy and Frugal Ways Sustainable Ways