The Ultimate Reset

Last Wednesday I started the Ultimate Reset to basically jump start the year and reclaim a lot of the old good habits I had when it came to healthy eating. Since then I've had a number of people ask what is it, how I like it, results thus far, so here is the breakdown 1 week in:

Why I decided to do it / how I heard about it:
Sometime in mid-november my eating habits slowly  started to change. I was craving restaurant (sit down or fast food) all the time and out of sheer laziness convenience, I almost always gave in. I noticed my weight was starting to creep up, pants weren't fitting the same, and the ultimate tester, my face was getting fatter.  I wasn't able to run as much as I'd like due to work being busy and it getting dark so early in central time zone so the decrease in mileage (whopping 27 miles for December) didn't help.

P90x, turbofire, insanity and many more workout programs are all put out by the same company, Beach Body. It just so happens that one of the girls I went to high school with is one of the top coaches within all of Beach Body (top 10 out of 97,000), so my facebook feed is always getting filled with transformation photos, testimonies, and new updates from the company itself. Shortly into December I saw her post a story of one of her coaches that wanted to quit the ultimate reset after 2 days, but she convinced her to stick it through and the coach had AMAZING results at the end of the program. I was intrigued so I read all about it, watched quite a few testimonials, and decided that I would purchase it to start after the holidays so I could get some discipline again with my eating.

What is it?

It's a 3 week system that in a nutshell focuses on different clean food and supplementation to help you get your digestion and body back in balance.  "Our targeted supplements detox, alkalinize, oxygenize, mineralize, optimize, and revitalize to restore your body to the highest level of health" .Each week is broken down into 3 different phases:

1: Reclaim: Idea here is to reclaim your body by preparing it for change. You slowly start to remove stress on digestive system and help get you body back to a healthy pH balance--- in this phase you gradually remove red meat and dairy from diet. 

2. Release: As the name suggests, you are "releasing" toxic compounds that are clogging intestinal track which block proper nutrient absorption. In this phase once the harmful substances are carried away, your body should feel lighter and energy should begin to increase. This week is strictly vegetarian. 

3. Restore: Last week you restore your body to maximum efficiency by introducing essential enzymes and probiotics as well as helping your body get the most nutrition from the foods that you eat. This week is mostly fruits and vegetables with a few whole grains. 

While on this 3 weeks you are supposed to stick as close as you can to the meals they suggest (they give you  all ingredients listing you need and exactly how to make it). There is no caffeine (bye bye morning coffee), no alcohol, and no sugar, and no artificial ingredients--- all clean eating. 

 Now here is the ultimate kicker... there is NO WORKING OUT ALLOWED. Yup you read that right. At first I was thinking--- how is this supposed to help but then they explained:. 

"The reset is already giving your body a serious internal workout. It's important to allow your nervous system to remain in a relaxed state, and to refrain from asking your body to repair muscle tissue at the same time it's cleansing and releasing toxins"

I've tried to work out while cleansing and its not fun, and although the cleanse is only week 2 of the 3 week system, I wanted to do it as close to perfect as I was able, so my running shoes remain holed up in my closet.

What does a typical day look like:

Well today is day 7, aka last day of my first week (big hoorah!) so it will change slightly, but the basic run down is this using yesterday as an example: 

• wake up and add "mineralize"  to a 12-320z glass of water. Surprisingly it does not make the water salty (Mineralize is basically himalyan salt... which if you haven't read the benefits of himalyan salt, you should really google it. I was able to pick up an extra bottle at TJ Maxx so I can keep up this good practice when I run out of mineralize after the reset.
• I then add 10-15 drops of oxygenize into my mouth - you can add it to the above water, but the solution is slightly salty so I'd rather just go directly to mouth 
• Lastly I take 2 caplets of Optimize- systemic enzymes and herbs, flavonoids and amino acids which will all help with body's natural inflammatory response. 
• I have to wait 30 minutes before I can have breakfast. I repeat this step before lunch and dinner as well. 
• breakfast varies between a plate of fruit, oatmeal, steamed kale with pinenuts, eggs, toast, baked tempeh etc. Yesterday it was baked tempeh ( I didn't do that and did 2 eggs instead, oops) 1 slice of whole grain toast, 1/4 slice avocado, 1/2 cup steamed spinach or kale
• Lunch- Quinoa salad & micro green salad (spring mix with lots of veggies + homemade dressing) 
• 2 hour after lunch I have to take an alkanalize packet, aka powdered seaweed, and mix it with a little bit of water--- this is the worst part of my day and I almost gagged the first few times doing this. The purpose of this one is to neutralize excess acid, improving alkalinity, and supporting immune system.
• dinner- Roasted root medley (carrot, yam, beet, onions - baked in oven) 1/2 serving of Zucchini Cashew soup, and 1 serving of millet. (this was BY FAR my most favorite meal yet!) 

Week 1 Results:

• First off I want to say that in the first week you're just preparing your body, you typically won't see a lot of changes / weight loss/ increased energy till the 2nd week, but I've had results in all aspects!
• I took measurements and weighed myself on day 1 and I'll re-measure tomorrow, but I couldn't resist the peaking at the scale. In 6 days I've lost 4lbs!
• I was nervous about the no coffee in the morning, but honestly I haven't been tired at all except when its time for bed. 
• I notice that I sleep much more soundly and when my alarm goes off I am up and not hitting the snooze!!

What I like so far:

• The program stressed on complete body awareness- although I'm not great at focusing on my breathing, I'm extremely focused on conscious eating and hydration. Although I'm intaking less calories, I'm not starving. I noticed I get full much more quicker which definitely helps with portion control.
• In the booklet you receive they break down every little thing you can eat, portions, and recipes. I've made some fabulous dishes that I know I'll keep in rotation after this is over. 

Source- because i'm bad at taking photos of my own food 

• This could be a pro/ con depending on how you look at it, but you are FORCED to spend a lot of time preparing your meals and really planning out your schedule. This has helped me personally with being disciplined in leaving work at a descent time so I can start on dinner / lunch for the next day. 

What I don't like so far:

• I had seen from a bunch of testimonial videos that this is the hardest thing a lot of people have ever done... it sounds so silly, but I'm not starting to see it. I had a mini breakdown on friday night when I tried to make tempeh and it sucked and tasted like fish sticks. My whole dinner revolved around that tempeh and I couldn't eat it. I had to make due and manage which left me starving by bedtime.
• A lot of people I told this to asked "why didn't you just make something else" Each meal is specifically designed with certain nutrients to work in conjunction with one another. This isn't like the Whole 30 or paleo or something where you just get a list of foods you can and cannot have- this is "here are your meals, makes these meals." (Since friday i have learned to give some more leeway, but considering that was day 3, I wanted to do it right) 
• I'm not a fan or nor will I eat seafood- period. There were 3 meals I had to modify- salmon (I did chicken), and nori seaweed rolls (2 meals had this and I just made everything that was inside the rolls and eat that) I feel that not liking seafood is a common dislike, so I would have liked to see an alternative there. 
• Flexibility- This is the other part this is REALLY challenging. Its easy to prepare when you are home, however I had a surprise trip back home this weekend for mom's 60th. I had to pack 4 water bottles to hydrate along the way (which resulted in 3 potty breaks in 5 hrs)- I had to pack part of my meals to make sure to have, and although I made it okay meeting with my gf for lunch (we did a mongolian grill so I could do veggies and brown rice), dinner with family saturday night was difficulty. The family decided on Outback Steakhouse (pretty sure there isn't much healthy food there)- aside from defaulting to the only non seafood healthy item- grilled chicken and steamed broccoli, I had to be tormented by the appetizers sitting in front of me--- bloomin' onion and loaded cheese fries. Out of sight out of mind works really well for me.... sitting in front of my face does not. I eventually had a few onions but stuck my guns and Eric felt sorry for me since I couldn't eat that much and gave me some more of his broccoli haha. During that dinner I kept arguing with myself that I should quit, that I wasn't able to fully enjoy myself with all the temptations.... I think thats when I hit the break-through and realized that my emotions were getting tied to food and I needed to break that. 

So there you have it thus far--- 1 week in, not ready to quit yet, but will be so extremely giddy when is over. I'm anxious / nervous to start the cleanse to see what that brings about.