It has been 3 weeks since I started this Cleanse Adventure. Once I found a cleanse I thought was right for me, I followed the direction, eliminating dairy, meats and caffeine from my diet for 3 days. I followed that with another 5 days where I stopped eating all together. My diet for those days consisted of some special herbal packets mixed with apple juice. I ate no solid food during this time. On my 9th day I reintroduced food into my body but started slow with simply grains, vegetables and fruits. On the 10th day I began eating solid food and have been back to a regular diet for almost 2 weeks. Here is a summary of my experience and the results that followed.

As you know, I was skeptical about putting myself through one of these. Now that it’s over I’m glad I did. When I started I weighed 207 lbs and had 14% body fat. On the 8th day (the last juice day) I had lost 6 lbs, weighing 201 lbs with 11.6% BF. This was a pleasant surprise as I did not consider weight loss to be one of my priorities. Today, almost 3 weeks into this, my weight has gone back up to 203 lbs but my body fat is down to 11%. That’s a total loss of 3% in 3 weeks -pretty awesome!  Mind you, I have been doing 40 minutes of cardio 3X a week along with some light strength training but this is the same exercise program I did before the cleanse. The difference is that my body is acting more efficiently and changing whereas before I was pretty stagnant and not seeing as much muscle definition. My metabolism has definitely been turned up a notch. The other really big thing I’ve noticed is how consistent my energy levels are throughout the day (and I’ve had some long days). I feel as fresh at 7am as I do after 1pm, all the way up to 9pm when I get home. This wasn’t the case before. I frequently needed naps after lunch and would have highs and lows throughout my day. My diet hasn’t changed much, but I have cut my portions down by 1/3. Out of everything, this seems to be the most noticeable change my body has made. Pretty impressive.

In summary, I feel more energetic, less tired and healthier today than 3 weeks ago. I have lost 3% of my body fat and a total of 4lbs. I sleep well and poop regularly (Yea I know, “Too much information!”). Food tatse better and I have renewed motivation to work out more consistently. Those first 8 days were challenging but I am happy I stuck to it and finished (with the support of my wife, of course). For me, this was definitely an adventure that was worth every bowel movement (Sorry, I had to throw that one in). Thank you for coming along for the ride, now go out and seek your own healthy adventure.

….If you missed it, here is the rest of my cleanse adventure.