Cleansing & Intermittent Fasting

Cleansing and intermittent fasting are definitely two topics that come up with health and nutrition. There are many ways to approach either of these. Cleansing can be an intensive and restrictive way to help your body remove toxins. It can also be simple and daily like have a warm lemon water to start your day off or heading to the sauna in the afternoon to sweat it out. Intermittent fasting has become more popular recently especially in the world of longevity. This too can be eating in a 4 hour of window of time, a 12 hour window of time, or taking 5 days every so often to restrict your calories.

After listening to a podcast on longevity by Valter Longo I ordered up Prolon. Which is a version of intermittent fasting. What I liked about it is that it all came in a package for the 5 days, so I didn’t have to think about it or figure anything out. I never take anything as a magic cure to everything, but rather I find it fun to experiment and see what works in my own body. If it does great! If not then I don’t need to try it agin.

So here is my experience with 5 days of intermittent fasting.

Day One

It stinks making food for my whole family when I am eating something different. I also don’t love the mixed messaging for my kids when I don’t eat what everyone else is eating. I am not truly hungry at all, but I am shocked at how often I think I am hungry, reach for food, or think of food. All 3 kids are home with distance learning and I have to be very patient ALL day long while trying to squeeze work in. The afternoon and evening are more tricky. By the time I get the kids to bed I also crawl into bed with a movie. I am exhausted.

Day Two

I eat my breakfast and am satisfied with my bar and a cup of coffee. I get the kids off to their pod learning and the baby to daycare. The house is quiet and calm.

I order a Turkey burger and fries. It was really good.

What I learned.

I have tried cleanses, resets, programs, and so many ridiculous things in my past. These aren’t innately good or bad. They are all just tools to use. Here is the thing though. If it has never worked for you, you aren’t broken, the tool you have chosen is. Any sort of rigid plan or restricting my eating instantly puts my disordered eating on high alert. It takes everything in me to follow through and then I swing back exhausted and willpower depleted. Here is what I learned with trying this. I don’t EVER need to do it again. It has never worked for me, it still doesn’t work for me, and it will probably never work for me.

If you do decide to commit to something for 5 days, do it when your life is the easiest. When your 3 children are all home, trying to work, and do distance learning while cooking for your whole family and your partner isn’t home is NOT a good time.

Ask yourself if you really want to do a cleanse or do you want to be the type of person who does a cleanse?

I really want to be the type of person who does cleanses and resets. I want to glow after 5 days. I want to instagram beautiful images bragging of my success. If a cleanse or reset works for you than great! It can be such a beautiful opportunity to come back to yourself. If it doesn’t then that is ok too. Your life can’t exist within a 5 day cleanse forever. It isn’t you that is flawed, broken, or that doesn’t have willpower. You just picked the wrong tool. Life is full of lessons learned. This time I hope I learned this one for good.

What is something you really love the idea of and it is time to let it go?