A clean start - 9 days of detox

Whilst I was pregnant with my son I had pretty bad morning sickness & food aversions. For the first 3 months I could only stomach pizza and pasta. So pizza and pasta I ate every day for weeks. And weeks. Needless to say I gained 3 stone during those long 9 months. 

The first 28 pounds dropped off relatively easy but the final 14 pounds have kindly hung around to remind me of my crazed Italian food cravings. 

To add to that a week away, where we completely & utterly overindulged, has left me feeling uncomfortable, bloated and basically like a big fat slug.

On top of this my caffeine consumption is frankly out of control. Lack of sleep with the baby has led me to drink about 5 or 6 cups a day, mostly all before lunch. Just too much. Far far too much. My will-power has been rubbish. I know I need to eat better but I'm just not doing it. 

I need to make a change and do something positive. I've lost a fair bit of weight before on Slimming World, which I absolutely loved and found ever so simple. Slimming World got me to the lightest weight I've ever been in my adult life. I want to go back to the heathy balanced diet that Slimming World keeps you on but this time my motivation has been lacking big time. Boy do I need a blimin' big kick up the bum. 

I was talking to my bestie Laura Willis, about how I've been feeling (slug alert) when she mentioned the Forever Living Clean 9 programme. 

I read up some info about what it involves and decided this is exactly what I need to get back on track. My body is in major need of a break and Clean 9 could do this & more. 

Put together by Forever Living, the aloe vera specialists, their 9 day detox plan, Clean 9, sets you on the path for a "cleaner, healthier happier you whilst cleansing your body of unnatural chemicals". 

Clean 9 is basically a 9 day eating & diet detox plan involving meal replacement shakes, supplements & calorie controlled meals. In the kit you get everything you need (bar your evening meals) for the whole 9 days plus full instructions. 

My husband & I have both bought Clean 9. (There was no way I can do a detox if he were still eating & drinking normally around me!). We are actually looking forward to being on a strict controlled diet but we're also under no ill illusions. 

Cutting out coffee & all drinks, except water, skipping snacks and replacing meals with shakes isn't going to be a walk in the park, especially for someone with a caffeine addiction like mine! 

Here's what you get in your Forever Clean 9 kit:

3 x 1ltr bottles of Aloe Vera Gel

Aloe leaf contains over 200 different compounds which help maintain a healthy digestive system and a healthy energy level. 

Forever Lite Ultra with Aminontein Shake (Vanilla or chocolate, I went with vanilla) plus a shaker 

You mix this meal replacement shake powder with milk or soya milk. It's high in protein and 2 shakes provide 100% RDA of vitamins and minerals. It contains a blend of enzymes designed to break down the protein in your diet. 

Forever Garcinia Plus softgels

These aid natural metabolism, help lower cholesterol and fatty acids. They also aid the development of healthy hair, nails and skin. 

Forever Bee Pollen tablets 

Bee pollen contains vitamins C, D, E, K, beta carotene, B complex, minerals, enzymes, co-enzymes, plant-source fatty acids, carbohydrates, proteins and 22 amino acids. It can also assist in maintaining a healthy circulatory, digestive, immune and nervous system. 

(Victoria Beckham tweeted her love for bee pollen a little while ago, ohhhhh!)

You also get a full guide, a measuring cup for your aloe & a tape measure (to measure your inch loss). 

The plan has two stages, days one-two and then days three-nine. Day 1 and 2, apart from your aloe & supplements you have no food whatsoever (yikes) except a shake at lunch. Day 3 to 9 you have a shake for breakfast, another for lunch and then a 600 calorie dinner, again combined with the aloe & supplements. 

One of the great things about a programme like Clean 9 is that you don't just detox, you are also likely to loose a little weight too. Double thumbs up for me right there. However, we don't want to use this as just a quick fix weight loss. I need to ween myself of caffeine and get a much needed kick start to a healthier eating lifestyle too. So, we've already started Clean 9 but I'm going to write about the journey & our results once we've finished so this isn't the longest post known to mankind. 

Make sure you stay tuned (does that phrase even apply to a blog?) or make sure you stay logged on (?) for part 2! I'm hoping for a positive success story but time will tell, thankfully only 9 days!! 

You can read a lovely guest post Laura Willis wrote for me about 'how to feed veg to your fussy little ones' here!
If you would like more information on Clean 9 or any of Forever Living products you can contact Laura through her Facebook page (here). 

I'm off to drink some water, 

Love Emma