10 Day Cleanse (Fruits and Vegetables)

Posted on January 11, 2017

I decided to start off the year with an intense cleanse just to clean up the body a bit and as an attempt to get rid of my cat allergy. For ten days I ate NOTHING but organic fruits and vegetables. That is absolutely no processed food or products that claim to be healthy or that comes in a box, no powders or vitamin pills, no salt or any type of seasoning.

As a result, here are the changes that I noticed:

Felt better and lighter internally.
Energy levels boosted after a few days.
Ability to focus better and get more things done.
Memory improvement. I was able to remember small things easier than normally. For example, losing the train of thought in a conversation. Things of this nature did not happen.
Cat allergy improved drastically towards the end of the cleanse.
Lost 9.2 lbs
Body fat dropped by 2%
Muscles density increased by 1.3%

This was not the first time I did a cleanse and I did not follow any recipe or online guide. I hope that you can get some ideas out of this post and that it inspires you to have a more active lifestyle. If you decide to try anything shown here, know that you are at your own risk.

I do not recommend you try this cleanse if your main intention is to lose weight. The reason is that by drastically lowering your calorie intake for a few days, may prompt you to gain all the weight back if you don’t focus on adopting a healthier eating habit.

I recommend making good plan or at least have an idea of what you want to accomplish and what you plan on eating. Also, make sure you buy lots and lots of fruits and vegetables before you start to avoid getting to a grocery store and not finding what you are looking for. Example: ripe bananas, avocado, or anything really.

Because you will be eating less calories and protein than normal, it is important that you eat LARGE amounts of vegetables and fruits. You definitely will need a juicer and/or a blender to be able to do this type of cleanse.

The best tip I can give you during the process is to never wait until you are very hungry. That will affect your mood, your cravings will get super strong and you will feel like quitting. In order to avoid that, make sure you are always eating a fruit, drinking a smoothie, or munching on vegetables. In addition, it is crucial that you some exercise to clean up the toxins your body will be releasing.

As for the fruits and vegetables, I recommend checking out Costco first to see what you can find organic wise. That way you can buy large amounts and save some money as well. However, Costco’s organic fruits and vegetables selection is very limited so you will need to go to a Whole Foods Market and/or Trader Joe’s as well.

Here’s a list of all fruits and vegetables I consumed in the process:

Fruits:

Apples
Mangoes
Bananas
Oranges
Blueberries
Blackberries
Strawberries
Pears
Grapes
Coconut
Açaí berry

Vegetables and Roots:

Spinach
Kale
Broccoli
Chard
Beet
Carrot
Celery
Ginger
Tomato
Onion
Cucumber
Avocado

Here’s the breakdown of what I did and the effect it had on my body.

Day 1 - Monday

Lemon water (1/2 lemon squeezed on a glass of water)
Exercise (30-minute fast-paced walk)
Breakfast smoothie (spinach, kale, mango, blueberry, strawberry, banana)
Lunch smoothie (same as lunch)
Lightly steamed vegetables as snacks (carrots and broccoli)
Dinner smoothie

The first day wasn’t as hard as I expected to be. Energy levels were fine and cravings weren’t that strong.

Day 2 - Tuesday

Lemon water (1/2 lemon squeezed on a glass of water)
Exercise (30-minute fast-paced walk)
Breakfast smoothie (spinach, kale, mango, blueberry, strawberry, banana)
Lunch smoothie (same as lunch)
Lightly steamed vegetables as snacks (carrots and broccoli)
Dinner meal (diced tomatoes, onions and cucumbers wrapped in chard. I also added a bit of lemon for taste)

The second day was rough. I struggled keeping the day balance. I could not focus due to external unexpected circumstances and the cleanse directly affected my mood and energy levels throughout the day to the point that I thought about quitting even.

Day 3 - Wednesday

Lemon water (1 lemon squeezed on a glass of water)
Exercise (skipped morning exercise due to the heavy rain)
Morning juice (batched for the whole day. A huge amount of spinach, chard, and kale. A little bit of ginger, 1 tomato, 1 apple, half of a pineapple, 8 carrots)
Lunch smoothie
Pre-workout snack (1 banana, coconut water)
Gym (Light weight lifting)
Lightly steamed vegetables as snacks (carrots and broccoli)
Dinner juice (same as morning juice)

Up until then, this was the best day in the process. I felt great the throughout the day and made sure I was never super hungry. Making a lot of juice in the morning also helped me get through the day without thinking much as to what to make. So “less cooking" and less cleaning compared to the past two days.

Day 4 - Thursday

Lemon water (1 lemon squeezed on a glass of water)
Exercise (15-minute stairs, walking up and running down)
Morning juice (batched for the whole day. A huge amount of spinach, chard, and kale, 2 apples, 8 carrots)
Lunch smoothie (Mango, blueberry, strawberry and orange)
Pre-workout snack (1 banana, coconut water)
Dinner smoothie (same as lunch)
Lightly steamed vegetables as snacks (carrots and broccoli)

This day was also challenging as I had a hard time dealing with the mood changes. I felt some migraine throughout the day that gave me a sensation similar to the one we have when we are just about to get a cold.

Day 5 - Friday

Lemon water (1 lemon squeezed on a glass of water)
Exercise (intense 30-minute stairs - bigger and higher steps, walking up and running down)
Morning juice (Left over from yesterday’s morning juice)
Lunch smoothie
Pre-workout snack (1 banana, coconut water)
Gym (Light weight lifting)
Lightly steamed vegetables as snacks (carrots and broccoli)
Dinner juice (same as morning juice)

Day 6 - Saturday

Lemon water (1 lemon squeezed on a glass of water)
Morning juice (Left over from yesterday’s morning juice)
Lunch smoothie
Lightly steamed vegetables as snacks (carrots and broccoli)
Dinner juice (same as morning juice)

Day 7 - Sunday

Lemon water (1 lemon squeezed on a glass of water)
Exercise (30-minute fast-paced walk)
Morning juice (batched for the whole day. A huge amount of spinach, chard, and kale. 8 carrots, 1/2 cucumber and 1 apple)
Lunch smoothie
Lightly steamed vegetables as snacks (carrots and broccoli)
Dinner juice (same as morning juice)
Sipped on ginger water throughout the day whenever I was thirsty.

I felt just ok today. My body is already used to the cleanse and has adapted to eating a low-calorie diet.

Day 8 - Monday

Lemon water (1 lemon squeezed on a glass of water)
Exercise (15-minute stairs walking up and running down)
Morning fruit smoothie (Left over from yesterday’s morning smoothie)
Lunch smoothie (Same as morning smoothie)
Gym (Light weight lifting)
Lightly steamed vegetables as snacks (carrots and broccoli dipped into a fresh made tomato sauce with a bit of onions and basil)
Dinner juice (A huge amount of spinach, chard, and kale. 8 carrots, 1/2 cucumber and 1 apple)

Felt great today! The fact that I am about 9 lbs lighter makes it easier to exercise in the morning.

Day 9 - Tuesday

Lemon water (1 lemon squeezed on a glass of water)
Exercise (1h 10m walking)
Morning smoothie (Whole Foods Market - spinach, kale, banana, blueberries, flex seeds)
Lunch smoothie (Whole Foods Market - Kale, spinach, pineapple, mango, orange)
Lightly steamed vegetables as snacks (carrots and broccoli without any sauce)
Green juice (Spinach, chard, and kale. 8 carrots, 1/2 cucumber and 1 apple)

Although I felt really good today, I kind of wished the cleanse was already done. The fact that is just one more day to go gives me the strength to keep it going for just a bit longer.

Day 10 - Wednesday

Lemon water (1 lemon squeezed on a glass of water)
Exercise (15-minute stairs walking up and running down - faster pace)
Morning juice (Kreation Organic Pressed Juice - parsley, spinach, kale, romaine, celery, cucumber, apple, lemon, carrot, beet, cayenne, ginger)
Lunch smoothie (spinach, kale, chard, coconut water, coconut meat, mango, blueberry, strawberry)
Afternoon snack (açaí bowl from a local juice spot near my house - I asked them to make it without guaraná and granola so they just blended pure açaí berry with bananas)
Dinner smoothie (same as lunch)

Today I felt superb! Maybe because I knew it was the last day, but the ironic thing is that I am really not excited about that. I have had a few days which I felt like quitting, but based on today I could easily keep going for a few more days. In fact, I don’t really know what I will be eating tomorrow. I will just slowly introduce sweet potatoes, black beans, quinoa, corn, avocado, etc.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately this was a great experience and I will be soon trying a different type of cleanse. Was it worth? Absolutely! There’s nothing better than cleaning your body and to lose many pounds along the way. But most importantly, the best part of this experience is being able to fully control your body. Resist and ignore the cravings and additions. Whether it’s sugar, caffeine or whatever else, having the willpower to say no to them just makes you feel in full control of yourself.

If you try this out or if you were able to get some ideas from this post, feel free to share them with me. I would love to hear your experience!