By Fiona McMahon, DPT
The ladies of Beyond Basics challenged themselves to a new way of thinking about food and embarked on a juice cleanse earlier this month. Most of us had been a little lax about our diets over the Holidays, when the office was absolutely flooded with delectable treats, gifted from patients, that we all enjoyed a little too much. We figured it was time to make a change with all of us banding together towards a goal, and we did.
The purpose of the juice cleanse was not to starve ourselves or drop a pant size, rather it was to take some time to bring our collective awareness to what we were actually putting into our bodies. We prepped for the cleanse by avoiding alcohol, sugars, and caffeine ( all bladder irritants anyway, so good riddance). We also avoided dairy, meat, and fried foods. The prep lasted about a week.
Some things were a little harder than others. Personally, I had been on a steady supply of dark roast coffee since puberty and the first few days, it felt like my noggin was in a vice grip. For others of us, the candy dish at the front is our downfall….Amy!! But we all banded together and gave each other lot’s of encouragement to stick with the program.
When our juices arrived, there were so many of them they filled the entire gym! The cleanse lasted 3 days. People had the option of drinking nothing but hand pressed, delicious raw vegetable juice for 3 days or using the juices as a supplement to our clean eating.
We all stuck to the plan, and it was a great team bonding experience. It was difficult at times especially when we all work in the pizza capital of the world, but we had each other. The results of the cleanse were good. We felt accomplished. Some of us lost weight or kicked a nasty caffeine habit (yours truly), had cleaner skin or even stated they could breathe better (Hmmm….allergy, maybe??), but most of all we realized what great support we have for each other at Beyond Basics Physical Therapy.
