Category: The Ultimate Reset

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The Ultimate Reset – Days 4 & 5

THE FOOD

Breakfast on Day 4 introduced the mixed fruit plate, along with a slice of bread and some yogurt. For Day 5, I must have looked at the wrong week, because I accidentally ate a fruit plate when I should have had farina. That’s too bad, because, never having tried it before, I was looking forward to farina. I’ll have to give it a try on one of the upcoming fruit plate days, which is every breakfast for the last two weeks of the Reset.

Lunch on Day 4 was the Nori Rolls and Lentil Salad again, so I made the lentils into a stew again, threw the ingredients from the Nori Rolls into it, and at it all hot. Very tasty.

I was meeting someone for lunch on Day 5, but fortunately part of the lunch was a raw vegetable plate, so I ate the Quinoa Salad (with cucumbers and tomatoes) at home, and in place of the raw vegetable plate I had a salad at the restaurant. All good!

Dinner both nights was stir-fried veggies, but Day 4 paired it with quinoa — which I just love — while Day 5 paired it with brown rice. Very filling both days.

HOW I FEEL AFTER DAY 5

So far I am loving this. I don’t know how to explain it, but today when I was doing yoga, a particular DVD that I’ve done at least 10 times, I really felt in the zone, somehow. I just felt lighter and more in tune with what was going on. Not sure how else to describe it, but it sure felt great.

A bit of the burning in my eyes returned the afternoon of Day 5. Just a bit. I’ll continue to monitor it.

So far so good. The weekend looms ahead, as do my last 2 non-fruit-only breakfasts and some really interesting-looking meals, so I’m really looking forward to it.

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The Ultimate Reset – Day 3

Day 3 presented me with some logistical challenges, because I needed to be out of the house (I work at home) during the time I usually take the Alkalinize supplement and also when I usually eat supper.

I didn’t time things well. I took my Alkalinize packet with me, wanting to consume it around the same time I usually do — 2:30 — but that didn’t work out, and then I lost track of time. So, as it turned out, I didn’t get my Alkalinize until 5:30, which meant I had to wait 2 hours before I could take my pre-meal supplements, and then a half-hour after that to eat supper. So … 8:00 was supper time — not outrageous, but generally I eat around 5:30, so it was pretty late for me.

At any rate, I am guessing that people who work outside their homes have many more logistical challenges than this small blip for me. They probably are more used to dealing with them, though.

THE MEALS

How were the meals today? GREAT! I dunno, maybe I’m just hungry — although I don’t feel hungry — but the food so far is really good.

Breakfast was the same as day one: 2 eggs, whole wheat bread, spinach (yeah, I went and picked up some spinach, so I didn’t have to eat kale again), and a cup of fruit, which this time was a nectarine.

Lunch was pretty fantastic, the way I altered it, anyway. It was supposed to be green lentil salad and a chopped green salad, but I was like, “why do I want to eat 2 salads?”, so I made the lentils into soup. It included carrots, shallots, cilantro, toasted sesame oil, and, of course, lentils. I hadn’t used French green lentils before. They are really nice, retaining their firmness much better than their brown cousins. The soup — well, it was more of a stew, actually — was delicious.

My late supper was something I would have altered, had I been home to prep it, but, because I knew I’d be out, I made it ahead of time. The cucumber salad was very nice, with rice wine and red vinegars, plus some toasted sesame seeds and seaweed. The miso soup I made from a package. It was good. It was the nori roll that I probably would have reconfigured as a cooked and served hot meal, rather than as a cold sushi style roll. I think the rice, carrots, cucumbers, and smoked tempeh (a soy-based bacon substitute for vegans, something I had not tried before, but which is very tasty) would have made a good hot rice dish. Even cold from the fridge, though, the nori roll was very good.

THOUGHTS AFTER DAY 3

  • I feel really good. Supposedly days 3 and 4 are the bears to get through. For me it was Day 1 — Days 2 and 3 were a breeze.
  • I am extremely happy with the food I’m eating so far. I have tried several new foods already, and they have all been tasty, things I’m glad to now have in my arsenal. (Kale may become one of them — I must not be cooking it long enough.)
  • The burning sensation in my eyes is almost negligible, relative to what I’m accustomed to. Not sure what to make of that, but I like it.

 

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The Ultimate Reset – Day 2

As bad as I felt yesterday is as good as I feel today, which means great. Yup, I feel great! No burning eyes. Energetic. Meh. It’s early (12:30pm). We’ll see where the day takes me.

… LATER THAT SAME DAY …

It’s 9:00pm now, and I still feel pretty good. Getting tired. Eyes feel good. Still no headache.

Here’s the meal rundown.

Breakfast was delicious with a bowl of steel-cut oats combined with a cup of blueberries and some walnuts, plus a half-cup of plain yogurt with a bit of honey.

Lunch was a Greek salad — tomato, cucumber, lettuce, olives, homemade dressing — plus a chicken breast.

Supper of black beans and rice was so good that I put up a recipe post about it.

I again went off-book for a few things, primarily the spices. For the most part, I just don’t need them! A little salt on the chicken makes it taste fine. The homemade dressing I made today was Dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, and balsamic vinegar. I left out all the spices. It was very good!

For supper I just didn’t bother with the plan. I used all the ingredients to make some great Black Beans & Rice (with avocado, tomatoes, and shallots, plus pine nuts).

All in all, it’s nice to be able to eat on a cleanse. I haven’t felt hungry and the food is good. Of course, this is only day 2 of 21, so we’ll have to see what is coming up.

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The Ultimate Reset – Day 1

Today I started The Ultimate Reset. I have already published a post about what The Ultimate Reset generally is, but now I’m going to get into the nitty-gritty, what it’s really like to go through it.

Ultimate Reset First Meal
Ultimate Reset First Meal

As I looked more closely though the instruction booklet yesterday, in preparation for today, I noticed the schedule is very regimented. You get up, take some supplements, wait 30 minutes, have breakfast, wait at least 2 hours, take some supplements, wait 30 minutes, have lunch, wait at least 2 hours, take some supplements, wait at least 2 hours, take some supplements, wait 30 minutes, have dinner.

The instructions say to try to keep the schedule as regular as possible, so your body knows when to expect the nutrients. I can handle that, so for me, that will look like this:

7:00 — Supplements (Mineralize, Oxygenize, Optimize)
7:30 — BREAKFAST
10:30 — Light Workout
11:30 — Supplements (Mineralize, Oxygenize, Optimize)
12:00 — LUNCH
2:30 — Supplements (Mineralize, Alkalinize)
4:45 — Supplements (Mineralize, Oxygenize, Optimize)
5:15 – SUPPER

Your schedule may vary, and it may change for Week 2, but this is my Week 1 plan.

As I’ve mentioned in other posts, the meals for The Ultimate Reset are all planned out for you, so all I have to do is buy the ingredients and make them.

My first meal was Eggs, Kale, Whole Wheat Bread, and Blueberries. I would have preferred Spinach in place of the Kale, but I forgot to buy it.

Lunch today will be a salad with dressing. Supper will be Salmon with Potatoes and Asparagus.

I took some body measurements this morning (weight and waist) to compare at the end, but this is not really about losing weight for me. I just want to get my body cleaner and start from as close to a zero point as I can get. Seems to me The Ultimate Reset is a good way to do that.

END OF THE DAY — HOW IT WENT

I developed one of those headaches that starts at the base of the skull. I associate that with caffeine withdrawal, because I’ve noticed it before when I quit caffeine.

I feel burning in my eyes, which I associate with a general lousy feeling. I often have this feeling, which is one of the reasons I’m on this cleanse.

I stuck with the meal and supplement plan, no problem. Off-the-book alterations included simply not using so many herbs & spices. Maybe I’m odd, but the flavor of a plain boiled potato is just fine by me. I’d rather simplify the food-making process, as long as the food is still enjoyable.

The Alkalinize packet — it’s a once-a-day supplement mixed with water — is not tasty. I may need to have that as a hot tea, then add some stevia to it, we’ll see. It’s not that bad.

I feel about how I expected to feel. I am pretty much completely changing my diet, so my body needs to adjust.

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Resetting Your Body with The Ultimate Reset

I received an email from Beachbody last week about their “Ultimate Reset”.

Admittedly, I am a sucker for Beachbody products, but that’s only because I’ve used them and trust them. I’d rather pay a little more and know I’m getting a quality product than save a few bucks and get crap.

My Ultimate Reset package arrived yesterday, so I read through the literature and thought I’d post something about it to give you more information, if you are considering buying it.

This is a cleanse. If you are not familiar with cleanses, their goal is to clean up your body, liver, and digestive tract, to remove the toxins and impurities from your body so you can start fresh.

At $200+, the Ultimate Reset isn’t cheap, but I see a lot to like about it.

The Ultimate Reset is geared not only to the initial cleansing and balancing action, but also to setting you up for long-term lifestyle changes that you can make to improve your overall health and fitness.

Unlike other cleanses I’ve been through, the Ultimate Reset calls for three meals a day, plus snacks (if necessary). Every meal during the 21-day program is accounted for and recipes are included in the package. The recipes are not complex, but they may include some ingredients you haven’t tried before, like quinoa and millet, kale and miso, so you’ll be introduced to new foods that may change your whole approach to eating.

There are 3 phases, each lasting 7 days. The goals of the phases are reflected in their meal plans.

Phase 1, Reclaim, focuses on removing animal products and refined foods from the diet. Phase 2, Release, completely eliminates animal products, and moving more into vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. Phase 3, Restore, eliminates grains and legumes (like pinto beans) to create a cleansing fruit-and-vegetable-based diet.

As with most cleanses, the Ultimate Reset disallows sugars, caffeine, alcohol, and any unnecessary medications. That’s because we are trying to clean the body, and those things, while they may have some documented benefits, may clash with the goal of the cleanse.

Also eliminated from the diet during the Ultimate Reset are any supplements you may take. Supplements are supplied in the package and should be sufficient, if you follow the meal plan.

Chewing gum, even sugar-free, is discouraged. First, because they get your mouth moving and expecting food. Second, because they contain chemicals you don’t want in your body during a cleanse.

People who should not use the Ultimate Reset are:

  • Children under the age of 18 years. They have enough going on inside their bodies already.
  • Pregnant or nursing women.

There are no enemas or strong laxatives involved in the Ultimate Reset, although Phase 2 does include what Beachbody promises is a gentle colon cleanser. Organic foods are recommended — but not required — for all the meals. Strenuous exercise is discouraged, but walking and gentle stretching are recommended, for the 3 weeks of the program.

I should be starting the Ultimate Reset in a few weeks. I’m pretty excited about it, because the meals are quite different than I am accustomed to eating. Plus, I’m curious how my body will react to it — yeah, I like experimenting on my body.

If you are feeling run down, want to drop a few pounds, need to kick start your body, or just feel like it’s an all-around good idea, give the Ultimate Reset a try. Who knows, maybe it’ll get you started on a whole new healthy way of living!

5 YEARS LATER: I love the way the Ultimate Reset kickstarted my new body. I felt really thin and healthy after it. I still recommend it highly.

However, maintenance was an issue afterward. My weight crept back up, slowly, because my dietary habits were good, but I eventually lost touch with my fitness goals.

Recently I decided to try the Noom weight loss program. It works.

I like the way Noom introduces principles and explains them. I like they way Noom helps me build new habits. I like the way Noom causes me to be present for every food decision. I like the way Noom presents no foods as “bad” or “good”, but separates them logically by how they affect my fitness goals.

If you struggle with weight issues, I highly recommend that you check out the Noom weight loss program. It’s free to try, so what have you got to lose?