Welcome to the forth installment of Cleansing from the Inside Out, a series about my experience participating in Amanda Moxley’s Whole Body and Mind Cleanse program. For more on my cleanse experience, read the entire series.

I tried to focus on the goals Amanda gave us for this week, as well as the goals I didn’t do so well with during the first week. I did OK, but I was still feeling a little overwhelmed by all the changes I was trying to make.

Goal #1: Build personal power.

• Understand primary foods – I made a list of the areas in my life where primary foods might be lacking and found that a lot of my primary food needs weren’t being met. How to meet these needs was the question. I brainstormed some ideas and set out to start feeding myself with love, activities I enjoy, and some long, hot baths.
• Breathe – My goal was to practice deep breathing twice each day (before lunch and before bed) for five minutes. I found that not only did it help me to relax, but it helped me to slow down my eating at lunch time. Since that was the case, I decided to practice deep breathing before each meal.
• Journal – I really enjoyed journaling this week and found journaling about gratitude to be very rewarding. It’s amazing how much good we have in our lives that we barely even notice until we force ourselves to take a closer look.

Goal #2: Nourish yourself like never before.

• Exercise – I was happy to start exercising again after my vacation. While I didn’t exercise as much as I had planned to, I found that the exercise I did manage to squeeze in certainly increased my energy and improved my mood.
• Take a bath – I only took one bath, but I enjoyed every moment of it. Unfortunately, I found that after just 10 minutes of soaking in the warm candle light of the bathroom I started to get antsy. It appears I need to practice being alone with myself more often.
• Bless your water and drink it – I had some trouble remembering to bless my water (and my food). Being mindful is hard work.
• Enjoy a daily hot towel scrub – I liked how this felt, but didn’t really take the time to do it regularly. I planned do it more often during the coming weeks.

Goal #3: Begin your colon cleanse.

• Eat seventy-five percent whole and organic food – I ate some really great meals during this week. Even my snacks were mostly whole and healthy.
• Eat seven Super Foods a day – Adding super foods to my diet wasn’t quite so easy. I realized at the end of the week that adding foods to my diet requires intentional planning.
• Begin taking the colon cleanse product – I started the colon cleanse and found it had me going to the bathroom a little too often for my liking so I backed off and decided to take it once a day instead of twice. This minimized my “movements”—and the gas, too.

By the end of the second week, here’s what I’d learned:

• Exercise makes me happy and energizes me.
• It’s an incredible feeling to be losing weight without counting calories, Points or anything else.
• I don’t need to beat myself up. Being gentle to myself helps me to avoid guilt binges.
• Even during unexpected meals out I can be flexible and make healthy choices.
• I can be present and aware of my food even in group settings.

Tune in for the third week of my cleanse experience coming soon. If you’re interested in joining one of Amanda’s 30-Day Whole Mind and Body Cleanse groups, you’re in luck. Her next group starts on March 4th. Sign up now!

(Image by D Sharon Pruitt)