Beachbody’s The Ultimate Reset: My Complete Journey & Review

Why Cleanse?

In general, doing a cleanse at least once a year is beneficial physically, mentally, and some claim, spiritually as well.

– makes the digestive system more effective
– maintains regularity
– increases energy
– increases the body’s absorption of vitamins and minerals
– improves concentration and mental clarity
– kick-starts weight loss
– increases fertility
– maintains pH balance in the bloodstream
– helps with emotional release
– creates a deeper consciousness (since your physical body is muted through a smaller caloric intake, your mind and soul are more alert, or rather, you’re more aware of them)
– getting answers to deeper questions/epiphany

What is the Ultimate Reset?

The Ultimate Reset The Ultimate Reset is Beachbody’s 21 day food based cleanse with three different phases:
– Reclaim: which “balances [the body’s] inner chemistry, preparing it for a change
– Release: which releases “the toxic compounds that are clogging your cells and stored within your tissues—like a purifying surge of clear water that flushes away years of impurities”
– Restore: which restores “your metabolism to maximum efficiency, while fortifying your body with the nutrients, enzymes, and probiotics it needs to maintain healthy performance in the future”

It also comes with six different supplements (detox, alkalinize, soothe, mineralize, optimize, and revitalize), some are used in all three phases, some are just in one or two of the phases.

Another thing it comes with that is a surprisingly powerful tool is a reset bracelet “symbolizing your dedication to transforming and ultimately resetting your life—and reminding you to give thanks for all you have”. And it’s true. When the journey felt a little hard, I looked at the bracelet, and it gave me power. It’s a mental thing, I know, yet it worked.

Why Did I Choose The Ultimate Reset?

I decided to do a cleanse after a six week vacation in Hungary, where I’m originally from. It’s funny how food is not just a physical, energy providing something, it’s emotional, brings back memories, it’s social, it’s enjoyable. And I enjoyed it a bit more than I do in the U.S. where health food stores are more readily available and foods are affordable compared to the standard of living. So I had white bread, cheese, butter, and sweets. Way more than I usually do. Surprisingly, I did not gain any weight, but I did feel “blah”. My inside just wasn’t feeling healthy. So I wanted to give it a fresh start.

There are many many different cleanses out there. I once did a nine day cleanse that started off with vegetable juice for a day and a half, then salad once a day for a few more days, adding back starch eventually. And I did benefit from that too, though I purely did it to lose weight. Completely the wrong reason.

The Reset works the other way around. It slowly eliminates animal products, and goes completely vegan for the last two weeks. While I knew the Reset was quite restrictive, with a major reduction in caloric intake, I felt ready. I felt like this was what I needed. I wanted to test myself mentally as well. I may have a little sugar addiction problem. 🙂

My Journey in Short

I loved the Ultimate Reset. There were days when it got harder, there were days when I was a bit more hungry, but I did not starve. Dinners were always amazing, and sort of made me keep going. Eating fruits for breakfast for almost two weeks straight got a little boring, but overall, the experience was so more than worth it.

I learned that I do have the self control to resist foods I before had thought I didn’t (for my toddler and husband, I made their usual foods: eggs, pancakes, bread, cheese, etc).

I learned that while I felt like we were having plenty of veggies and in a good variety, that wasn’t the case. The Reset had such flavorful vegetable dishes as main entrees, that I will be using as side dishes in the future. Different cuisines, like Asian, which I haven’t experimented with much, made me realize I had a lot more to learn.

I learned that I can let the emotions out (it was an emotional journey, I was more sensitive, for sure) in a healthy way.

I did kick-start my weight loss.

Before & After

Like I said, I did not do the Reset to lose weight, and that wasn’t what I had in mind. But physical results are of course, part of any cleanse. So here we go. I started the Ultimate Reset on June 9, 2014. I normally only measure my weight once a week, but I measured myself more in the third week, as I promised myself I would stop if I got below the 120lbs mark.

May 27, 2014: 128.1lbs
June 9, 2014:   127.9lbs  |  21.6% body fat
June 12, 2014: 126.3lbs  |  20.8% body fat
June 22, 2014: 121.7lbs  |  19.5% body fat
June 29, 2014: 120.3lbs  |  19.6% body fat
June 30, 2014: 120.4lbs  |  19.2% body fat

The Best Part

By far the foods and learning discipline.
The feeling of lightness (not just because of the weight loss, but light on every level).

The Worst Part

Badly missing my workouts. I can’t tell you how difficult this was. I did not have the energy for them anyways, but I was really looking forward to getting back to my routines.

A Look Back At The Foods

I documented every day here on my blog, so you can check it out, but here’s the short version.

Ultimate Reset Day 1: The Excitement

Ultimate Reset Day 2: The Anger (‘I’m sorry for what I said when I was hungry)

Ultimate Reset Day 3: The Relief (ah, today was so much easier)

Ultimate Reset Day 3: The Craving (Which I resisted)

Ultimate Reset Day 5: The Low On Energy

Ultimate Reset Day 6: The Eh

Ultimate Reset Day 7: The Week 1 Is Done Pride

Ultimate Reset Day 8: The “I Feel Like I’m Starting All Over Again”

Ultimate Reset Day 9: The Wife Wants to Date Again

Ultimate Reset Day 10: The Should I Keep Going?

Ultimate Reset Day 11: The I’m Definitely Getting Mentally Stronger

Ultimate Reset Day 12: The Not My Week for Friendships

Ultimate Reset Day 13: The I’m Cold

Ultimate Reset Day 14: The At the Two Week Mark

Ultimate Reset Day 15: The No More Cucumbers for Me, Please

Ultimate Reset Day 16: The Day My Husband Told Me Not to Lose More Weight & When I Needed to Go Out

Ultimate Reset Day 17: The I need to have a Better Equipped Kitchen

Ultimate Reset Day 18: The “You’ve Done Your Thing”

Ultimate Reset Day 19: The Final Push

Ultimate Reset Day 20: The Finish Line

Ultimate Reset Day 21

 

Thank you for reading my The Ultimate Reset journey!

Sources:

http://www.ultimatereset.com
http://life.gaiam.com/article/10-benefits-colon-cleansing
http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-9818/5-unexpected-awesome-benefits-of-doing-a-cleanse.html

Ultimate Reset Day 21

Ultimate Reset: Day 21
The Craving

The last day!!! I think The Ultimate Reset is the perfect example of “it’s the journey, not the destination”. Cause sure, we should always have a goal in mind, mine was to get back on the healthy track after our awesome trip to Hungary (photos to come soon, I promise); but I got so much more. Though I am not going to stay vegan as I have been eating during the last two weeks, I most certainly see many opportunities for us to incorporate even more veggies. The food during the Reset has been amazing, very flavorful, inspired by different cuisines including Asian, which I haven’t much experimented with at all. I’ve always enjoyed cooking, but because I looked forward to every meal so much, I got to enjoy it even more. I learned to have discipline (resisting foods right in front of me which is a huge deal for me), and I learned to differentiate hunger from thirst. I did lose weight. But that’s only the side effect. It’s a lifestyle.

With that said, lunch was awesome, but dinner…. WHY, Ultimate Reset, why??? My taste buds have not been trained hard enough (luckily) for this avocado cucumber soup. Chilled or warm or hot. So I did not eat it. I had mashed avocados and baked tempeh strips instead. Still Reset approved food, completely vegan, but, edible to me. I tried hard though, to finish the soup.

Aaaand. You are who you are. I always say denying ourselves only leads to binge eating, overdoing it, and eventually falling off track. I think three weeks are very reasonable for a cleanse like this. Within three weeks, our bodies get rid of most of what we put in it – so when one is to do an elimination diet, for example, it is advisable to go for a minimum of two weeks, but three, or even four are recommended. And the it takes three weeks to develop a new habit comes to mind as well, though I personally believe it’s different for every person and habit, and depends on circumstances, the type of habit, etc. Point is though, I mentioned before that huge box of chocolate I brought back from Hungary that I did not touch once during the Reset. I did put it on my mind though so much, that I literally couldn’t fall asleep. When you feel the taste in your mouth, the texture…. I had that chocolate on my mind, and only that chocolate. Around 11pm I walked to our bedroom door, to test if my husband was awake. He whispered to me: “what are you doing?”. I told him I was testing him cause I just can’t fall asleep, I can’t stop thinking of the chocolate. So 51 minutes before day 21 was over, I went to the kitchen cabinet, opened the door, found the box, reached in, and took a single square from this:

It was pure satisfaction. My husband told me he could see the smile on my face when I laid down next to him again. I was asleep within minutes. That was all I needed for my happiness. And I loved how it melted in my mouth. Thank you Milka, thank you Oreo. And thank you Reset, for teaching me that a small bite can satisfy my sweet tooth just as much as a whole bar can (ouch, I know).

Ultimate Reset Day 20

Ultimate Reset: Day 20
The Finish Line

Yay, almost there!!! Though the day wasn’t a huge success. The pears I got were not ripe yet, so my breakfast consisted of one tiny apple. Not enough at all. And I swear I took a picture of my lunch – it was an avocaco jicama salad, quite yummy, actually, but it seems I deleted it. For Sophie and my husband I made salmon patty for lunch with mashed avocado. It smelled good. 😛

And then came dinner. Look at those colors (#nofilter). Dark green veggies, with red bell peppers, orange carrots. That’s variety.
Dark green veggies boost the immune system, help fight free radicals (those nasty little ones “often injure the cell, damaging the DNA, which creates the seed for disease” ~WebMd), and support vision, among many other benefits.
Red veggies lower blood pressure and reduce LDL cholesterol (the bad one, that leads to the formation of plague within the artery walls which puts pressure on the arteries, making it harder for blood to rush through, leading to heart problems).
Orange veggies promote healthy joints, are high in magnesium and Vitamin C.

Conclusion: eat your veggies. And don’t just eat one. I think all these veggie dishes taught me that there’s million ways to prepare them. In the meantime, I’m giving some to Sophie every day. She’s still picky and won’t eat them all, but she loves soup, no matter how vegetable tasting it is. That is my secret mom weapon. 😀

Elimination Diet Days 13-21 “The End”

I told myself we’d do this elimination diet for two weeks if we saw no changes. But when you’re a mom, you want the best for your child – even if it’s not so great for yourself. So when we saw no changes after two weeks, we kept on going. For one more. And we still saw no changes.

We did learn a lot though:
1. Variety is key. I love me some eggs in the morning with dry toast and orange juice. I could it it…. for a really long time. Omelet, by itself when in a hurry, with red onions and garlic and bell peppers, eggs over easy, eggs prepared in the oven. But this is not variety and we run the danger of lacking important nutrients in our diet. So while eggs are great, we need to switch it up. Welcome oatmeal, pancakes, toast with jam, oh the list goes on.
2. Adequate intake is not only important because somebody (USDA) said so, and because nutritionists and health coaches adhere by some form of nutrition platform, whether that’d be “MyPlate” (please don’t use that) or the real food diet, which I advocate; but, also because when your body is used to getting a certain amount and macronutrient distribution of energy from food, when that drops, you become more susceptible to illnesses. (Case in point: me catching cold). Especially when you’re active – and P90X2 is more than just being active. It’s crazy, I’m telling you. And don’t think for a second that I lost weight. I didn’t. My sugar intake went up, I’m assuming that helped, or my body started reaching for its reserves. Good thing though, because losing weight is not a goal of mine.
3. Balance kind of goes with variety. This elimination diet was such a numbing experience for me. I love cooking and baking. But with the usable ingredients being so limited, I was a pretty terrible cook. For example. I bought this gluten free boxed pasta. It tasted awful at first, but Sophie loved is, so I realized it wasn’t that bad. But that’s all I did. Followed the instructions. Until I made that for lunch when my husband was home, and I made some shrimp for it (just quick saute on butter with some lemon and garlic) – added the whole thing to the pasta, including the bit of butter sauce that formed (soy free earth balance) and bumm – completely different dish, surprisingly tasty.
4. I can do anything. I’m a foodie. But when there is something at stake, something important, like, Sophie’s eczema, that becomes first. She comes first. And for that, I put down my favorite foods and experimented. It was hard, I’m a planner, and this one was really tough to plan (as in, I didn’t), but I did it. We did it. And while there was no improvement for her, it was a great experience.

And let’s be honest. This is great. Her eczema not improving with the elimination diet means she is not sensitive to foods. She maybe to a small degree, but not enough for us to have to be concerned. Because when there is a severe food allergy, that just elevates the problem to a whole new level.

Potato, Leek and Mushroom Soup

This soup is awesome. It really is. It’s just like a vegan chicken soup for the soul. And the best part? Sophie loves it. Sure, first time around, she didn’t even want to put the spoon in her mouth, so we had to trick her and give her some with a straw, and it worked (don’t believe me? I have proof 😛 http://instagram.com/p/gdlB3tqR5X/). Since then, spoon is fine as well.

The recipe:

2tbsp olive oil
Heat in medium stock pot1 large leek trimmed, cleaned, and chopped coarsley
1 cup white mushrooms
Add to pot, let soften until mushrooms start to release liquid
Add the following:
1lb red potatoes, peeled and chopped
4c vegetable stock
1c water
1tsp dry ginger
Salt and pepper to taste
Bring to boil over high heat, cover and reduce heat to medium, cook until potatoes are soft (~15-20 minutes). Transfer to food processor/blender, and puree the soup. Garnish with parsley and enjoy.

Gluten Free Vegan Zucchini Bread

I apologize for the delay in posting recipes. I woke up with a really bad sore throat Tuesday morning and I still can’t stop sneezing and using up all the Kleenex. I partially blame this elimination diet for it (by the way, still no improvement with Sophie….); because, while I do try to keep up and it wholesome, quality foods, I’m nowhere near what I usually eat: the amount, the macro- and micronutrients, none of it. And that’s gotta take its toll somewhere, right? (On the upside, I was able to take a pic the other day during my workout where it looks like I have a visible six pack. Not impressed? Neither am I. I’d rather eat normally already. Soon though. Soon)

Anyways. This recipe has been an absolute life save for us. It’s yummy and filling. We like to eat with organic apricot jam (I usually prefer red fruits but for some reason, with this bread, apricot is the winner.)

Here’s the picture – scroll down for the recipe. But before you do, please do me a favor. I posted this pic on Instagram as well, and it got one (1) like. From a friend who likes pretty much everything I post (yeah, she’s awesome like that). I know they say pictures on Instagram should be staged (who has time for that???), but really? One like? Is the picture so bad? Be honest. I won’t get hurt. I’m here to improve as well.

And now the recipe:

2c gluten free flour (I used King Arthur)
1/2c coconut flour
1tsp baking soda
1tsp baking powder
dash salt
1tsp cinnamon
1/2c flaxseed
Mix dry ingredients with a fork
Add wet ingredients:
3/4c coconut milk
1/4c maple syrup
1/2c coconut oil (not melted, but not solid either, should be “summer” room temperature)
2tsp vanilla extract
Mix all together, then add:
1 3/4c shredded zucchini

Divide into two equal parts and portion into two separate bread pans (10×5-ish) and bake at 350 degrees for ~50 minutes depending on your oven.

Gluten Free Almond Butter Pancakes

I promised recipes, and here’s one. This is what we had for breakfast this and I gotta tell you, it was soooo good. Sophie ate more than usual as well. I’ve made something similar before with regular flour; but, I like the gluten free version so much better. I think it’s because of the texture – it goes a lot better with the almond butter.

Recipe:

– 1/2c gluten free flour (I used King Arthur)
– 1/2c coconut flour
– 1 1/2 tbsp packed brown sugar
– Dash of salt
– 1tsp baking powder
Mix all with a fork
– 1/4c smooth almond butter
– 1 1/2c almond milk
Mix until smooth
Mix all ingredients, prepare pancakes (I greased the pan with a bit of coconut oil).

Any fruit works, I like strawberries the best, but we only had pears, so that’s what I used. I topped each layer with coconut milk yogurt.

Enjoy

Elimination Diet Days 7-12

Oh how could I describe the first almost two weeks of our elimination diet. Tough? Not at all successful? Starvation?

Okay. It’s not that bad. But since we don’t eat meat, I do find myself hungry a lot. The other day I think I only ate around 1,200 calories (I did not count) and burnt probably at least 400, so I was below the recommended intake even for weight loss, let alone for the performance stage I’m currently in with my workout. No complaints though, and please look for some of the recipes I use next week, as I’ll be sharing them here.

The worst part probably is that there still is no improvement with Sophie. None, whatsoever. Her skin is still red and rashy, flaky. We’re trying now pure calendula oil with levendar, so we’ll see if that helps.

In the meantime, I figured I’d share some of the snacks that we actually like.

Elimination Diet Days 4-6

Oh I wish I could post every day, but it’s nearly impossible.

I’ll share my Evernote Food Diary with you, so you can see how and what we eat right now. If you’re interested, and if you are, please comment below so I know to take prettier pictures 😛 https://www.evernote.com/pub/apple21hun/dailyaccountabilitytimea#b=9478d24b-4cb7-433a-99af-035719889184&st=p&n=6ae69b4e-d320-4eb7-a1d7-c854766251af

So. Our experience so far: this is probably the hardest thing I’ve ever set out to do. We don’t eat meat, so the eat organic, grass fed meat with veggies is a no go for us. And everything is manufactured in a facility that also handles one or more allergens. Case in point: I wanted to make a red lentil dish. Well guess what. Red lentils are processed in a facility that also handles wheat and dairy. Gluten free oatmeal? Sure. But processed in a facility that also handles soy and tree nuts.

On the flip side, experimenting so far has been a success. Elimination diet zucchini bread – perfect with organic apricot jam. Elimination diet biscuits – yumm (except for a bit too much salt). Pastas are good too. So it’s a work in progress.

No improvement with Sophie yet though. It takes 6 weeks for everything to leave the body. 8-10 days to (hopefully) see improvement.

Elimination Diet: Days 1-3

Planning. Planning planning and planning to have enough food and variety to meet our needs. I normally eat every 2-3 hours and get over 100g of protein a day. I think protein is going to be the challenge for me.

Here’s what we’re eliminating:

– dairy
– wheat
– egg whites
– peanut butter
– corn
– tomatoes
– soy
– shellfish

It’s a real challenge to plan (I’ve been planning our meals for two days now), and shopping is a challenge, maybe even more so than planning. What’s gluten free isn’t necessarily egg or soy free. I think I might need a second round to the story without Sophie to sort through everything properly. She was extremely patient (I did bribe her with an organic fruit pouch 😛 )

So for now, planning is down. Elimination diet goes live tomorrow. I kind of hope there will be no change in Sophie’s eczema because, while I know she’ll most likely outgrow any food allergies, it’d be easier if she did not have any. A lot easier.