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And on the seventh day…
A detox week at exhale combines fitness, nutrition, herbs and spa-ing for maximum cleansing.
I spent my December cycling through an unhealthy circuit of parties, drinking, eating out, staying up late and working out less. By January, the yucky patterns felt more habitual than holidayish, and I resolved to clean up my act with the help of exhale’s 7 Day Cleanse, a year-round package that’s ideal for starting a resolution.
Day 1
I spent yesterday drinking beers, eating wings and watching my Chiefs lose in the playoffs, so I wake up ready to dig into the detox. Jennifer Bathgate, my exhale nutritionist who advises folks during the cleanse, instructs me to gradually reduce my food intake and to nix caffeine and alcohol, cold turkey. I’m also given a daily powder packet of “Toxin Absorber” to mix into apple juice (disgusting) and begin my evening ritual of herb pills, which are supposed to kick-start my digestive system. And they do—I frequent the bathroom all week long.
Day 2
Today I’m supposed to eat only 50 percent of what I normally do, which is hard (it feels lame eating half a piece of toast for breakfast). Following exhale’s regimen, I take a Core Fusion class and stick around afterward to sit in the steam room. When it’s time to hit the sack, I feel awesome: lighter and less bloated.
Day 3
This no-caffeine thing is really starting to wear on me. I wake up with a raging headache, but go for some green tea instead of coffee, per Bathgate’s advice. I don’t know if it’s the placebo effect or the trace caffeine content, but I feel better. Also, I think my hair looks shinier.
Day 4
I wake up feeling superenergetic and meet a friend for a run. Normally I’d eat breakfast while getting ready for work, but today is the first day of liquid fasting. Yippee! Now I’m mixing those Toxin Absorber packets with apple juice three times a day. Today I undergo an “acu-organ detox treatment,” an acupuncture session where needles are positioned along points said to trigger the digestive system. It ends with my aesthetician rubbing warm castor oil on my belly.
Day 5
I head into the cold for another early-morning run. I’m weak and sluggish, and suddenly can’t stop thinking about peanut butter. When I get home, I remember that Bathgate told me if my body really needs food it will let me know, and that giving in is not failure. But then I step on the scale, and—get this—I am five glorious pounds lighter than Day 1. I’m revved up, even though I know it’s just water weight. Still, I forget about the peanut butter.
Day 6
Last night I caved and had a little bit of rice with cooked veggies. I tell a sympathetic Bathgate who explains that it was what my body needed to make it through. She also tells me that we’re supposed to be gentle with our bodies during the cleanse, so running this week hasn’t exactly been ideal. By mid-afternoon I hit another dark place (crap!) , but a co-worker who’s done the much-more-intense, ten-day Master Cleanse talks me off my ledge. That night, the final (amazing) treatment is a massage with Daniel Adamski. The folks at exhale say that being kind to yourself is key to the experience.
Day 7
Bathgate tells me to break my liquid fast with an apple because it’s easy to digest. All day I find myself desiring smaller portions and—this is a breakthrough for me—indifferent to coffee in the morning and wine at dinner. I’ve definitely broken free from some looong-ingrained behaviors. In the evening, when I nibble on pizza, my stomach rumbles in revolt.
Afterward
A couple of days later, I’m back up to my precleanse weight. But losing weight really wasn’t the point for me; it was to ditch some bad habits and start fresh. While I wish my tummy would always give audible signals when I’m making a bad choice, now I’m confident I can avoid them all by myself.
The 7 Day Cleanse ($700; get $100 off with this article) includes nutritional counseling, the Blessed Herbs colon cleansing kit, seven days of classes and steaming, acu-organ detox therapy and a 60-minute fusion massage. Available year-round at exhale, 945 N State St (312-753-6500, www.exhalespa.com).
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