So… What is this “Ultimate Reset” exactly?
The Ultimate Reset is a 3-week cleanse. It transitions you to a vegetarian diet in week 1 then a vegan diet for weeks 2 and 3. You eat 3 full meals a day (and there are snack options too) as well as take supplements provided by the Reset throughout the day. I’ll feature a little bit about each supplement and its purpose over the next few days. My favorite part of it is that you are clearing out processed foods (and all the residual toxins in our bodies because of them). I’ve been trying very hard over the last year or 2 to GREATLY decrease my intake of processed foods and transition to a (mostly) organic diet. So I feel like this cleanse will be a great way to clear out anything leftover from processed and/or unhealthy foods and continue on my path to clean, healthy eating (fresh, healthy foods, no pesticides, raw where applicable/possible, as little processed foods as possible, no antibiotics/hormones, and tons of nutrients and best possible quality of food).
I’m a HUGE skeptic
Prior to becoming a coach, you would have never seen me trying something like this. I was so skeptical about any sort of cleanses, detoxes, and so-called “health” shakes. But after seeing what goes on behind the scenes of Beachbody, learning the values/beliefs of the company about what should (and should not) be going into our bodies is the same as mine (no GMOs, no artificial additives/flavors/colors, no scary stimulants, and the BEST quality ingredients from all over the world from areas where they are naturally grown and the soil quality is the best), and experiencing the benefits of the products first-hand, I have a complete and total trust in any Beachbody product. They do not cut corners for any reason. They truly care about the health of the customer and want people to get the MOST out of their products and are only willing to put the best quality ingredients into any of their nutritional products.
Extra nutrition? …Me?
Now going back to my original opinion of nutritional products- quite frankly, the way I ate was pretty healthy to begin with. I never thought I needed any of these additional nutritional products. Based on my trust in Beachbody, I knew these would be good products, I just didn’t think *I* had a huge need for them. I’ve completely changed my belief about this. Shakeology was what really changed my perspective. The health benefits I started seeing from it less than 2 months into drinking it daily were incredible (reduced cravings, much easier weight maintenance, energy, fullness, overall feeling of health, and most notably, a 45 point reduction in cholesterol). I could go on and on all day about the benefits I’ve seen from it but I’ll save the specifics for another post. So after seeing these results first hand and doing a TON of research on the individual ingredients in these products, I realized there was no way I could be getting all of these nutrients from my normal, daily diet no matter how many fruits and veggies I was eating (and trust me, I eat spinach right out of those giant plastic containers- I’m not lacking on my veggie intake). Why do we wait until we start feeling a cold coming on to overload our system with Vitamin C and zinc? Why not do this everyday, for ALL of our bodies’ systems, not just our immune system? So bottom line, the biggest skeptic has now become the biggest believer and I’m looking forward to finding out what great health benefits I’m going to discover with the supplements and diet in the Ultimate Reset 🙂
A cleanse over the holidays. Could my timing BE any worse?
Now, as you can imagine, the diet that comes with the Reset is pretty strict (you’re not even supposed to use table salt, but use Himalayan sea salt instead because it’s not stripped of a lot of its minerals the way table salt is). So naturally the option to find something healthy on a restaurant menu or at a party is out. I will be cooking and eating ALL of my own food over the next 3 weeks, carefully monitoring every single thing that’s going in it. You guessed it, that means I will be bringing all of my own meals to any holiday parties and even Christmas dinner (I already warned my family not to factor me into the food count). But truly, there is never a perfect time. So why not start now and prove to myself it’s possible?
This was actually my Runner’s World quote of the day: “If we wait for the moment when everything, absolutely everything, is ready, we shall never begin” – Ivan Turgenev, Russian novelist and playwright. Very fitting 🙂
My main reasons!
So that brings me to my 3 main reasons for doing this (and starting now):
1. To be a guinea pig. As a coach, I always like to be able to give you answers and info based on first-hand experience! I’m also excited to see what health benefits I can get from this. I’m hoping for improved digestion/decreased bloating, better healthy feelings all-around, and a decrease in cholesterol (Shakeology has improved that a lot but I still have a ways to go). Heart disease, high cholesterol, and cancer run in my family (on both sides) and anything I can do to help my long-term health, I’m on board with!!
2. Force myself to learn a lot of new clean-eating recipes and the healthiest ways to prepare food. I have already learned a lot just in the grocery shopping and preparation about the healthiest possible ingredients I should be using (like the Himalayan sea salt)
3. To show it IS possible. In addition to what I already touched on about it never being a perfect time, I want to inspire people to make healthy choices even during the busiest times of year. The holidays are a perfect time to demonstrate this. I know most people wouldn’t be trying to go as extreme as this, but if I’m managing to do the Ultimate Reset over Christmas and New Year’s, I hope that can inspire people to at least get a quick workout in each day and reduce their holiday cookie intake 🙂 Remember, every little healthy choice counts so keep at it! You can do it!
This was a post to some of the women in my “busy moms” challenge group on the same topic. They are doing an AMAZING job of buckling down and sticking with their workouts and good nutrition despite the craziness of the holidays.
More to come! 🙂
So I’ll keep you posted on how this goes! I’m looking forward to feeling SO HEALTHY after the holidays instead of *so crappy* like I have in years past (or the feelings of digestive system failure I had a few weeks ago after Thanksgiving). If this is something you’re interested in, please don’t hesitate to contact me!! I will guide you through every step of it!! It would be a FANTASTIC way to kick-off good health in 2013!! For more info, check out the Ultimate Reset website: http://myultimatereset.com/KatelynLesk
Beachbody Reset Youtube channel:Check videos playlists for info specific to what you’re looking for (better digestion, healthier eating/clean eating, preventative measuers against poor family healthy history, fitness lovers looking to take their nutrition to the next level, and more). http://www.youtube.com/user/BeachbodyUltimate?feature=watch
Disclaimer Copy: Katelyn Lesk is an Independent Beachbody Coach.