How a cleanse will change your diet

I’m not one for quick fixes. A jump start for motivation I can support but miracles I’m a skeptic of. Some people may find it ironic that I support cleanses. After all we’ve all heard the devouts supporting cleanses: “I lost 10 pounds in 3 days” or “I have so much energy on the second day”. While I have seen people with these results, I have also seen people gain back water weight. I’ve also seen people try to sleep the cleanse away as much as possible because it can be challenging and uncomfortable. However, I have also seen the positive long terms effects that happen in the long term, after the 3 day “miracle” trek is over.

A first cleanse is rough, so rough that eating right is a piece of cake.

Some people have naturally healthy diets before a cleanse and that’s great! It makes cleansing easier but if you don’t currently eat well, your first cleanse can seem unbearable. The caffeine withdrawals are intense, what goes on in the bathroom is less than desirable, and by the third day anything tastes better than the same stuff you’ve been drinking the last three days. That’s when work happens, after the cleanse. Eating right after a cleanse becomes easier because not only have you flushed toxins out of your system but eating vegetables, probiotics less processed foods, and lean proteins is no longer difficult but it’s welcome. The quick and easy fix such as a cleanse is not sustainable but what seemed difficult before the cleanse is a welcome change after 3 days.

Drinking water becomes a habit...fast.

At this point, I feel it’s pretty obvious that we should all be drinking plenty of water a day. We all know this but we don’t. We eat, we drink stuff we shouldn’t, we forget, or we don’t listen to our reminders. Not so on a cleanse….water becomes something that no longer is an afterthought but a need. We start drinking tons of water because we’re hungry or we want to flush out the taste of drinking juice or cultured whey for 3 days. It quickly becomes a habit and we immediately see the benefits of drinking water because we have no other option.

We find a community.
We support finding an online or local community to cleanse with. Why? The first cleanse is difficult, it’s uncomfortable, and we all have questions. Lots of questions! Questions like is my belly supposed to be making all of these noises all the time. At our studio, we create an online community where we share stories, ideas, and tips. Nothing binds people together like talking about bodily functions. We keep the community together after the cleanse and support each other. This is part of the long term process, a cleanse is useless if we go back to eating fried chicken every night. By surrounding ourselves with people actively trying to have a healthy diet, the messages we are sending to ourselves remains positive and focused.

About Melissa Leger

After serving in the United States Army and having a successful career in finance, Melissa began to feel how the pressures work and other attachments were negatively affecting her life. After beginning to feel more detached from her own life, she found yoga was a way to stay present and avoid letting negative thoughts get out of control. She began teaching yoga in 2012.

Melissa also owns Ignite Your Bliss, a yoga and creative outlet retreat company that takes participants all over the world. She can be followed on Instagram @IgniteYourBliss