Good morning! We are onto day 4 of the 5-Day Fall Cleanse. I am feeling great today! How are you feeling? When Sherrie and I talked about creating this short and simple cleanse, we wanted to be mindful of and gentle on our bodies to soothe our digestive system, instead of disrupting it and upsetting it. We wanted to create a simple plan that would continue to connect us with our food, but while slowly purging the toxins that like to hide out in all the little cracks and crevices. We weren’t looking to shock our systems with anything drastic like a juice-only cleanse, we simply wanted to get back to eating intuitively, to check in with our bodies, to return that conscious awareness back to what our bodies truly need right now, to reset any bad habits and get ready for the seasonal changes that lie ahead.

Cleansing and detoxifying can be quite challenging and difficult depending on your mental state at the time. It can not only bring on physical symptoms of the cleansing, but often times it can bring emotional imbalances to the surfaces, as well. I have cleansed in the past when I wasn’t quite ready for the full extent of it all and it wasn’t pretty. I simply felt deprived or left out the entire time, even angry at myself for choosing to do something so limiting and challenging to my own self. It is with so much gratitude this time, that I can honestly say the experience this time has been peaceful, to say the least. I honestly was worried that I would experience some amount of side effects/detoxing symptoms with how I had been eating leading up to this cleanse, but with how good I am feeling throughout this process, I think I can thank my general everyday clean diet for that. I possibly don’t give myself enough credit. With eating a clean diet, at least 95% of the time, it is easy for me to focus on the 5% when I am not at my best and beat myself up for it. I can tend to do that sort of thing, I am hard on myself. This cleanse has been a gentle reminder that I have been quite good to my body and that I want to continue to be as good or better to it. There truly is no greater reward than feeling good!

On the evening on day 2, I did experience some minor sweet cravings and Sherrie made the suggestion of  stuffing a few dates with coconut oil, so I did just that and added some shredded unsweetened coconut on top. It felt like I was cheating. It was so delicious and rich. The next morning, I was looking for something a bit more substantial than a juice so I made this simple smoothie for breakfast. It really set the tone for my amazing day yesterday and it was perfect given the beautiful Autumn day that it was here in Southern California.

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