If you haven’t heard the term “cleanse” buzzing about, then chances are you’ve been living under a rock. I did my first cleanse about three years ago and I’ve been a certifiable cleanse junky ever since. Well, not exactly, but I do use it to knock off a few pounds here and there when I find myself needing to fit into something a little tighter than normal! So, after giving birth to my son in July, was immediately on a mission to get my former body back! I must admit, it hasn’t been fun OR easy. Alas, I want to share my experience with you. Here it goes…





1. The Blueprint Cleanse

This was the very first cleanse that I tried. It consists of six bottles of juice that you are to consume over a three-day period. You can choose your different juice flavors (ie levels) based upon preference (ie gag reflex.) I actually really enjoy this cleanse, but I can't do it for more than three days. By day three, I'm ready for some sort of solid food, wine, and coffee! Therefore, I think it's a good cleanse to jump-start with or just shed a few pounds to fit into that dress on Saturday night!



2. Isagenix

This 9-day cleanse consists of a shake for breakfast, meal for lunch, shake for dinner, and snacks in-between. Every five days, you have two "fasting" days where you can only drink a certain liquid that they provide. The bonus to this cleanse is you can purchase green tea infused chocolate treats. These REALLY help you get through the difficult moments. I find this cleanse to be easy although the website is not easy to follow. And more important, it WORKS! And, what I really liked about it was that it was a great catalyst for a change of lifestyle which I find leads to a better long term result. For more information on how to order this cleanse, please email info@lauradaydesign.com.




3. The Master Cleanse

This may be one of the most well-known and inexpensive cleanses around. I attempted to do it many years ago but couldn't stomach it. A ten-day cleanse that involves drinking lemonade with syrup and cayenne pepper? No thank you.



4. The Clean Program

This is the cleanse that I am currently doing as I type. It became popular after Gwyneth Paltrow and since several other celebrities began doing it. As it seemed to follow the same shake for breakfast, meal for lunch, shake for dinner format as Isagenix, I thought it sounded perfect for me...WRONG! When two out of three of the meals you're able to consume during the span of a day taste like something you wouldn't give to your worst enemy, it makes life extremely difficult. At least that's what I thought after my first shake, but as with almost all of these types of things, you always get used to it. I am now on day 7 and I look forward to this shake all day! And, you have to follow the recipes on how to make the shakes "better"! On the bright side, two people have now asked me what I have done to my skin because they say it looks great! So, that's good. I only have 14 more days to go...wish me luck!

Some overall advice I would give to those of you participating in a cleanse would be:

1. Participate in groups-it makes things a lot easier when those around you are suffering as well. In fact, it's probably best to stay away from anyone NOT cleansing while you are. You develop extreme animosity towards them and it can result in violence.

2. Prepare yourself for an early bedtime-when you can't eat or drink alcohol, it only seems logical to go to sleep around 6:00pm.

3. Keep yourself AWAY from the aroma of food.

When I started writing this entry, I came across a HILARIOUS article in the New York Times written by Judith Newman. She wrote about her trials and tribulations of doing the Blueprint Cleanse. She had me laughing through the entire article! To check it out, click here: THE JUICE CLEANSE: A STRANGE AND GREEN JOURNEY.