The power of a cleanse

Cleanse.

The word can often conjure up images of all-day juicing, fasting, unrealistic portion control, and constant calorie restriction. Sometimes just hearing the word is enough to instantly feel hungry, or rebel and immediately grab a donut or a slice of pizza. I want to help change that.

When we cleanse, we release toxins from our bodies and our digestive systems are given the chance to heal.

Often, overall inflammation within the body is lowered, and many experience benefits within few short days: less belly bloat, more regularity with bowel movements, radiant skin, increased energy, a strengthened immune system, and weight loss. Not to mention an improved overall sense of wellbeing.

Sounds amazing, right?

In addition to these incredible changes that are possible with a cleanse program, I firmly believe that the most powerful benefit to cleansing is often overlooked and goes by unnoticed.

Let me start from the beginning.

Why you should consider cleansing.

As a holistic health coach, I’ve seen the power of food first hand, both in my personal life and with my clients. Just a few short years ago, I was chronically inflamed – itchy skin patches on my eyelids and elbows, poor sleep, constant bloating, and nails that were so brittle they’d break almost every day – and I didn’t know that what I was eating (and drinking) on a daily basis was slowly making it worse.

Piece by piece, I began making food-centered shifts in my life, and I started to feel good for the first time. I truly didn’t know my body was capable of functioning at such a productive level. My energy soared, my skin issues cleared up, and I finally slept through the night without waking up. The best part? I wasn’t restricting, counting calories, or slaving away at the gym. I was taking care of my body, nourishing it, giving it time to heal, and occasionally eating some dessert (because, let’s be real here, you can’t not eat dessert.)

Why am I sharing this with you? I wanted to share my story because I believe it’s so important to know what your body feels like when you feel your absolute best. To know what it feels like to wake up without bloating, to not run to the bathroom after meals, to sit comfortably without gas bubbles rumbling in your system, or worry about people staring at the scaly patches on your face.

We all deserve that.

When we know how our bodies and minds feel when they’re functioning properly, we develop a more efficient system for dealing with symptoms if they should arise. We know when something is going on and we know when to seek the proper care.

If you’re living a chronically inflamed life, and those symptoms are an everyday occurrence, it’s that much harder to know when to stop and ask for help. How can we know just how much we’re hurting when we don’t even know what it feels like to feel good in the first place? I think this mindset can be applied to more situations in our lives than just food.

A cleanse can help to build this long-lasting and ever-evolving relationship with yourself and your body. A cleanse can help to finally be connected with our bodies on a deeper level, and to know how to listen when it speaks. To feel good, quite possibly for the first time in your life. Not to mention, you’ll most likely see a handful of the physical benefits that come with cleansing out toxins and reducing overall inflammation within the body.

How to start cleansing.

If you’re wondering where to begin, I can help. I developed The Fresh Start Cleanse to make cleansing more user-friendly, so you can finally feel good again without counting calories, portioning your food, and worrying about whether or not you’ll be hungry. Just simple, pure, whole foods. And a lot of self-love.

Cultivating awareness and mindfulness within your body is not something that happens in a few days, this journey takes time, patience, persistence, and the willingness to try. To fail. To get back up, dust yourself off, and learn. This process is never-ending, but I know from personal experience, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I truly believe that learning what it feels like to feel good in your own body is the most powerful benefit one can get from cleansing. I want to help you feel the same way.

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Carley Schweet

Carley Schweet is a holistic health coach living in Seattle, Washington by way of New York City. In 2015, she founded Coaching by Carley (http://www.coachingbycarley.com) to help busy men and women bring balance, fulfillment, and joy back into their daily lives through nutritional coaching, holistic support, and lots of laughter. She is a graduate from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and also holds a Culinary Nutrition certificate from the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York City.

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