How To Conquer Your First (or next) Cleanse30

Many people who partake in our real food nutrition cleanse feel a major shift in their:

1. Mindset
2. Body
3. Wellbeing

They lose weight, reduce and/or eliminate chronic pain and medications, learn to manage chronic issues naturally and gain an invaluable tool: how to exercise the gift of choice. The choice to make better decisions and laugh off the outside noise. The choice to finally say “I am worth it”.

For so many Cleanse30 warriors, the feeling of finally breaking free from the shackles of the next big “diet” is worth the initial sacrifice of a lifestyle overhaul. What at first seems like the most daunting task in the world soon becomes a way of life.

But it all starts with mindset. This one variable can determine your success from the jump. Our #1 goal is to help you become a Wellness Rock Star (seriously) so read on for tried-and-true ways to make your first (or next) Cleanse30 a major success! Then, don’t forget to get on the waiting list for Season 8.

Note: Some of the tips below are from actual Cleanse30 and Lifestyle Transformation graduates!

*Ditch The “Diet” Mentality. Diets seek to generally solve one problem: weight. They don’t care how you feel, want to feel or will feel. In fact, that couldn’t be further from the agenda. There’s a reason the weight loss industry rakes in billions of dollars per year – they are perpetuating the self loathing cycle and then feeding us a “solution” that further damages. It’s an endless cycle and one that we hope you have started to escape, so:

• Don’t obsess about calories. They are an arbitrary number that only needs to be tracked if you are eating poorly. Listen to your body and stop when full. Learn what full feels like and when to stop.
• Understand your triggers. Does it feel like even looking at a bag of chips makes you inhale them? Probably a good idea to avoid them completely. We have participants take a quick “Abstainer” versus “Moderator” quiz by happiness guru Gretchen Rubin. There are likely foods you can moderate and some that you are better off just avoiding completely, and this quiz helps you uncover that!
• Don’t jump on the I-messed-it-all-up train. After the cleanse, if you indulge, enjoy every second of it. Then, get back to your healthy ways without even blinking. Don’t use an indulgence as your ticket to the land of daily indiscretions that leave you feeling defeated.
• Last but not least, love yourself enough to not be perfect. Don’t set a bar that’s impossible to reach, but also don’t lay low in the land of mediocrity. Find your balance and rock it. It is yours to shape, nurture and craft the life you deserve.

*Break Up With Your Scale Love Affair. The scale is one incredibly small piece of the puzzle. How do your clothes feel? How do you feel? When we get obsessed with the numbers on the scale, it can really mess with our motivation. Sure, it’s a way to measure progress, but it’s in no way the most important measure of success. Focus first and foremost on the consistent behaviors you can adopt for your life. The results will follow, scale included.

*Stay Focused on Your Future – Dawn, Cleanse30 Graduate
“To stay focused on our future, we have decided to stay on track with simple statements:

If we stop eating healthy or exercising, what will we look like in six months, one year or even five years from now? Will we have to be on five or six medications just to get through the day? How will we feel if we end up missing out on the joys of a healthy retirement? Knowing that our future depends on being healthy and remaining active, we do not want to ruin what plans we have to enjoy our lives to the fullest. You only live once! We have finally reached a point in our lives where we live by this mantra: we eat to live. We don’t live to eat.”

*Plan Ahead – Belle, Cleanse30 Graduate
“Through the program I learned that eating is 80% of the equation to becoming healthier. I couldn’t find food already cooked that was on the list of healthy foods to eat, so since I like good food, I have to make my own. What motivates me to eat better is the thought that without the right food, fitness is harder. Sometimes, I came close to eating the foods I love like: pizza, hamburger and fries. Having food already prepared made it easier to stick with the plan. This program is different than any program I’ve ever tried because I can eat as much as I want, so I don’t feel deprived. As long as I’m prepared, everything is much easier and the weight comes off.”

*Stay Committed – Gay, Cleanse30 Graduate
“My secret to wellness success is having a personal mantra. You??ve got stick to what you believe in. When I have a big race or event, I write positive phrases on my arms to encourage myself during the darkest and hardest parts of racing. I also have a white board near the doorway to write quotes and inspirations that speak to me. So when I am about to leave, they serve as a reminder to have a certain mental mindset and keep myself positive and motivated. We all lose motivation on many occasions, but also remember: do not let yourself slip further into it. Start slowly, be KIND to yourself, and build at your own pace. Remember your dream. Finding that hunger again and building it is a gorgeous, energetic feeling. A very beautiful feeling!”

*Uncover Your “Tendency”. What motivates you? Gretchen Rubin has an outstanding quiz called “The 4 Tendencies”. Click here to take it and uncover valuable information about what does and doesn’t motivate you!

*Learn the Difference Between Physical vs Emotional Hunger. Most people eat because they are:

*Bored
*Stressed
*Anxious
*Tired
*Depressed

Learning to know the difference between emotion and true hunger is a good skill to acquire. Finding something other than food for comfort helps you stay focused on the road ahead without unnecessary diversions that usually end in guilt and overindulgence on things that, let’s face it, really aren’t worth it as you work to cleanse your system.

Signs of Physical Hunger:
1. Comes on gradually and can be postponed.
2. Can be satisfied with any type of food.
3. Once you’re full you can stop eating.
4. Causes satisfaction, doesn’t cause guilt.

Signs of Emotional Hunger:
1. Comes on suddenly and feels urgent.
2. Causes specific cravings: pizza, chocolate, ice-cream …
3. Eat more than you normally would. Feel uncomfortably full.
4. Leaves you feeling guilty and cross with yourself.
8. Escape The Binge & Restrict Cycle

The reason we ask you to avoid junk and common food sensitivities is because they are the very foods that cause the above cycle. Ever feel like you “overdid” it on vegetables?

Did you ever feel immense guilt when “overeating” healthy food? Is that even possible when compared with the amount of overeating we can accomplish with processed food?

Probably not.

Until you find out what your triggers are, which is a major part of the cleanse, you will very likely feel restricted due to poor choices that end in regret. Often times we want something just because we feel like we can’t have it, not because it serves any purpose whatsoever in our lives. 

*Make A Meal Plan – Vicky, Cleanse30 Graduate
“At first I found doing a meal plan for the week really difficult, but now I find that it makes the entire process much easier. I know what to buy at the store, what to prep, and what to eat when I come home. I’m much less likely to be tempted by something if I’ve already gone through planning meals and have the ingredients prepared.”

*Keep Trying Even When The Honeymoon Is Over. Everyone gets excited when they start something new. It’s human nature. We like to try new things and explore. For the first couple of weeks we enjoy our new lifestyle and attack our goals with purpose; we respect them and understand what achieving them will mean to us.

Yes, some days you will feel like giving up. But that doesn’t mean you do. 

Instead, find ways to reinvigorate your journey. Come up with fun new recipes, try something you don’t normally try with your workout routine – coming to our boot camps gives you the ability to achieve Personal Records which are always motivating – try new hobbies you’ve been meaning to incorporate into your life but haven’t had the time, etc. The possibilities are endless, but you’ve got to want it bad enough. You’ve got to give your goals the respect they deserve. 

We hope you’ve been inspired by this post to be an absolute rock star on your path to achieving your goals. If you want to take things up a notch don’t forget to reserve your spot for Season 8 of the cleanse by going here!

To Your Health, 

Sham & Christina
Inspired Wellness

P.S. Have you done a cleanse? Inspire others by sharing some of your top tips in the comments! 

About Inspired Wellness

We are a wellness movement aimed at cultivating greatness in all areas of life. We believe that everything is connected and that having the body of your dreams shouldn’t come at the price of your mental and emotional health. You can catch us locally in sunny Sacramento CA inspiring lives at our wellness center with fitness, nutrition and lifestyle programs, or online doing the same thing with our new online training site + community coming soon!

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