Cleanses seem to be to the fitness world what false lashes are to the beauty world—THE hot-ticket item of the year. Who else but Americans could manage to package, market, and sell a product in which the whole point is the absence of consumption?
Cleanses most often include pre-packaged juices, perhaps some supplements or commercially produced nutritional adjunct, and an otherwise extremely limited caloric intake and restrictions around sodium, alcohol, sugar, and processed foods. Juice cleanse bars and product lines are popping up all over Scottsdale and the surrounding Valley, and garnering celebrity attention as well.
No doubt they are trendy, but are cleanses a healthy weight-loss option? In order to answer that question, we must define what expectations we may be looking for from a cleanse. While cleanses are touted as providing a total “reset” of the body by ridding toxins and giving the body’s organs a break from processed food, in practice I’ve most often seen people utilize a cleanse as a jumpstart to a healthy new lifestyle—really, a quick fix by drastic measure to overhaul months or even years of poor eating and sedentary habits.
And used in this way, I’ve rarely seen them “work”. Most often these bandwagon believers spend a couple weeks tweeting about how hardcore they are (which, as a marathon runner myself, I have no problems with looking for some kudos for hard-earned effort!), and maybe lose 5 to 10 pounds for upwards of a few weeks.
The effects of the weight-loss and health makeover, however, are typically short-lived. Not only does the temporary nature of the program not offer enough staying power to keep the weight off once normal life is resumed, but—even worse—the caloric deprivation that leads to the temporary weight loss can in fact begin to break down muscle mass in the body. Losing muscle not only robs your body of vital performance power, but actually leads to an increased rate of weight gain once a normal amount of calories are taken in again. Muscle loss slows down the body’s metabolism, and I’m guessing that a slower metabolism is probably not on anyone’s wish list. (Particularly those who cleanse to lose weight in the first place!)
If you are more interested in cleansing for its healing properties than losing a few pounds, there are gentler ways to give the body a break from the steady stream of harsh agents that are so prevalent in the American diet. Simply cutting out sugar, alcohol, and salt-laden fare for a couple weeks is a zero-controversy way to restore energy and break addictions to these substances as daily must-haves. Replacing these additives with low-processed whole grains, fruits and vegetables, plain lean meats or tofu and legumes, while keeping some healthy fats such as nuts, olive or coconut oil, and avocado will no doubt make a rapid difference in how you feel while still providing your body with plenty of energy to maintain muscle.
But if your goal, like the vast majority of people I speak with, is simply to begin the journey of getting healthier and leaner after a long period of being less-than healthy and lean, I suggest the “Wellthy Boss” philosophy for lasting results. I believe that gradual, consistent changes are the very best way to get and stay fit for the years ahead. Starting a drastic program or looking for a quick-fix is like turning on a bright light when you’ve been asleep—because your eyes don’t have enough time to adjust to the sudden change, your instinct is to cover your eyes or flip the light back off. If it’s taken years to develop your unhealthy habits, why should it take any less time to develop more difficult healthy habits? Create a plan to implement specific, consistent changes that elevate you to the next level, one level at a time, until you find a sustainable lifestyle that gives you the results you want with a system you can maintain.
I freely share with clients that in my early 20’s, I thought running a mile without stopping was completely out of reach. I was a comfortable size 4 and enjoyed gentler activities such as hiking, but I wanted to take to running after class as a mental release from my rigorous studies as a philosophy student. There was no way I could have suddenly flipped on the lights to just suck it up and be a runner by sheer short-term willpower, but I did work at it a little bit at a time—beginning with walks interspersed with short bits of running. After months and even years of this, I eventually fell into a stride that worked for me. Without even realizing it, I had become a runner.
Embrace slow changes, measured indulgences, manageable effort, and ruthless consistency. Patience will win out over hype every time. And keeping those results consistently over the next decade? From personal experience, I can tell you that that’s something to feel good about!
