Happy cleansing!
I love cleansing! I often cleanse my body by doing an Easy Pasy Detox. All I do is omit dairy, meat, fish, sugar and alcohol from my diet and avoid chemicals in cosmetics and perfumes for a few days. In that time, I focus on eating raw, whole and fresh foods. But every once in a while I take things a little further…
When I really want to cleanse deeply, I’ll only eat foods in liquid form for three days. And by that I don’t mean alcohol and coffee; I mean juices and smoothies. Why? It’s not for fun and it’s definitely not to lose weight. No, a juice fast is a great way to help your body rid itself of accumulated waste products and to give your digestive system a bit of a break. In my case, the results of a cleanse like this are so good that I make sure to do it twice a year. It makes my skin glow and it gives me an enormous energy boost. So that’s why I did a three day cleanse two weeks ago, just in time for the shoot I had in New York for my new book. And of course I wanted to be radiant for that!
I have a fantastic blender and a good slow juicer at home, so I can whip up all the juices and smoothies I need myself. Trust me, it really isn’t that much work. You don’t eat anything other than the juices, so the time you would otherwise have spent on cooking, you can now spend on prepping your detox. Ha!
Who’s with me? I’ve put together a mini-cleanse for you: a Cleanse a la Rens ; ) You can also repeat the plan and do three days right away. If you’ve never done a detox, I’d advise you to start with one juice-only day and then two days of the Easy Peasy Detox.
Try to plan ahead and start eating easily digestible foods about two days before you start the cleanse. The day before you begin, eat as much fruit and as many vegetables as possible so that you can prepare your body for what’s to come. You can drink herbal tea during the cleanse, but it’s best to avoid green and black teas as they contain caffeine.
Good luck!
TIP: Are you going hardcore and doing the cleanse for three days like I did? If you are, it makes sense to double the recipes so you have juices for two days. I divide up the juices in 12, 250 ml bottles (I collect them over the course of the year from the juice store). Keep them in the fridge. It’s no problem, especially if you use a slow juicer since the vitamins remain in the juice for up to 48 hours.
Are you pregnant, breastfeeding or do you have (serious) health problems? Then I advise you not to do a detox. Also, never cleanse for longer than three days without seeking the advice of a specialist first.