It’s the middle of February and everyone that was participating in the Designs For Health 14 Day Detox/Cleanse with me is now finished. Seven people did the cleanse. Of the seven two had real trouble and had to bail out. The rest of us did really well.
The 14 day Detox comes as a kit. You get two powders, a protein powder and a “cleanse” powder. You also get the Design for Health Amino D-Tox pills and a bottle of Digestive Enzymes. The program is set up so you start taking everything the very first day.
- Two (women)/Three (men) Amino D-Tox pills before each shake and then 2 digestive enzymes while enjoying the shake. The shake consists of one scoop of PaleoCleanse and one scoop of Protein Powder. You do that twice a day for fourteen days. The third meal of the day (either lunch or dinner, your choice) is a normal meal with protein, veggies and healthy fats. You also have the opportunity to snack between shakes/meals if you are hungry. Remember, this detox/cleanse is NOT calorie restrictive, that’s why I chose it.
So, as I mentioned above this procedure worked out really well for 5 of us but not so well for the other 2. One friend had to abandon the cleanse by the end of the first day. She develop a migraine headache and just felt terrible, really terrible. My other friend made it through about 5 days and then had to stop due to headaches, light-headedness, and feeling out of it. Both of these people are tiny, not sure if that makes a difference or not.
The rest of us felt kind or out of it, tired and a bit loopy for the first four or so days. One friend thought for sure she had the flu the first two days. My husband was more loopy, saying he felt “stupid” and was sure he shouldn’t operate a vehicle. I was mostly tired and needed to nap a few times. I also needed to snack the first week. One other friend also snacked but she snacked for the whole 2 weeks. She exercises a lot so I’m sure she needed the extra calories/fuel. Aside from that one friend the rest of us really lost our appetite in the second week. We had to remember to have the second shake.
Here are a few things that really stood out:
- Pretty much everyone thought the shakes were vile the first day but after that we all LOVED them. Not sure what was going on with that but perhaps we all perfected our “blend”. You really have to blend the heck out of the shakes to avoid a grainy consistency. The fact that we actually became “addicted” to the shakes is a little weird but that’s really sort of what happened.
- By week two you do kind of lose your appetite. The shakes are very filling so you don’t feel hungry. This was a little scary but as long as you remember to have the two shakes and eat the meal each day it’s fine.
- For those that did well on the cleanse, no one wanted to stop. A little weird and a bit scary. The shakes turned out to be really, really easy, so much easier than trying to figure out food to eat three times a day. Not only are the shakes “easy” sustenance but we all felt so great I think we were a little afraid to go back to “normal” eating. That’s the part that was scary. We’ve all successfully made the transition back to food but I think everyone is still incorporating one protein shake into their daily diet. The shakes are too easy, and yummy to give up completely.
- I was happy with the outcome. Everyone felt like the detox/cleanse gave them the boost they needed to do a diet “reboot”. The approved “foods” while on the cleanse are whole, organic foods. When the cleanse is over it’s easy to continue to eat the “clean” foods that you ate during the cleanse, just more of them. Two weeks without sugar, caffeine, grains and other processed carbs really helps the body get over the cravings. It’s quite amazing.
- One friend did a prep week before she started the cleanse. She cut down and then gave up caffeine, sugar, dairy and processed carbs. She really felt like that made a difference. I would agree and I will suggest a prep week to others who plan to do the cleanse in the future.
- Although it is NOT a calorie restrictive cleanse, meaning you should eat if you are hungry, we all lost a little weight. I think the average weight loss was about 5 lbs.
I felt very badly for my two friends that didn’t do well on the cleanse, so badly that I did a little research. The Designs for Health 14 Day Detox/Cleanse is new. Prior to this they have only offered a 21 and a 28 day detox/cleanse. I began to wonder if maybe there was some information that got lost in translation, so to speak, when converting the longer detoxes to only 14 days.
As it turns out, I was right. I went back and read everything I could find about each product in the detox kit and discovered that the Amino D-Tox pills are supposed to be taken for at least a week prior to adding any detox power. The pills up regulate the detox pathway and get things moving so when the cleanse powder is added and all the toxins that are stored in the fats cells start to emerge you dont’ get overloaded with toxins and feel really, really sick (sounds like exactly what happened).
I do get it, 14 days is a really nice amount of time, that’s why I picked this cleanse. It seems do able, it is doable. At the same time, anything that can be done to make the process easier is important. Taking the Amnio D-tox pills for a week before you start the shakes is easy. You are eating normal food and maybe even doing a “prep” week so it’s not a real hardship and I suspect it will make the 14 days of shakes a lot easier.
Going forward, if I have a client that is healthy and eats a pretty clean diet and has done cleanses in the past I might suggest taking the Amino D-tox pills for a week prior to adding shakes but it will be up to them. They will probably do o.k. with the program the way it’s outlined. However, for those that eat a standard American diet, haven’t done a cleanse or have some sort of auto-immune disorder I will insist that they do a week or maybe 2 weeks of Amino d-tox pills prior to starting with the shakes.
Over all, I loved this cleanse. I had never done a cleanse/detox prior to this and now I’m hooked. My husband and I are planning on trying the Designs for Health 21 day Detox later this spring. Remember how I mentioned that none of us wanted to stop at the end of our 14 days, well 21 days seems just right. We’ll see.
If you are interested in trying the Designs for Health detox and have any questions shoot me a message through my contact button at the top of the page. I am happy to help if I can.
Here are parts 1 and 2 of this detox adventure.
Eat Well, Feel Good, Have Fun!
I’m Amy a board certified holistic nutritionist, certified functional nutritionist and lifestyle practitioner and certified Life Coach. I help women in midlife understand the changing needs of their body so that they can stop dieting and lose weight permanently. At 56 I live what I teach. Don’t believe the story that your best years are behind you. They are not. Your best years are just starting!