The 5 things are ahead, I promise, but I think its important to give you background. The Ultimate Reset is not your typical “cleanse”. You aren’t starving, you’re eating whole healthy foods and supported by very specific supplements. The only “extreme” part of this regimen may be the fact you have to eliminate caffeine, fast food, meat for two weeks. This may be extreme for some, but it really wasn’t too much for me, at least I didn’t think.
Week 1 and Week 2 were pretty smooth. After the first 3-4 days of withdrawing from caffeine, I enjoyed the food, the supplements and the regiment The Ultimate Reset offered.
Going into Week 3, which is purely vegan, and very little protein. The basis is that proteins are harder to digest and part of revitalizing your system is to decrease your protein and focus on the dense nutrition found in the vegetable based meals. (I will be using them throughout my meals now!) Three years ago, this worked beautifully. I was mildly hungry but nothing crazy and very tolerable. It was a beautiful thing.
Now, as a diabetic on insulin, I already knew this would serve as a challenge. My body not only doesn’t make insulin sufficiently, but its very resistant to the insulin I make and give myself. The high fiber vegetables are super healthy but without protein and complex carbohydrates I have to manage to carbohydrate ratio more effectively. I attempted to decrease my basal and increase my ratio (less insulin overall) and I found I was rebounding highs after meals, with no logical sense.
I returned my ratios back to where they were and I had severe lows, forcing me to correct with 30 grams of pure sugar via glucose tablets. This is a medical condition that I couldn’t ignore, I HAD to correct. Unfortunately the 3-4 days in Week 3 served as very stressful. This was NOT fitting into the framework of what The Ultimate Reset was meant to be. The Ultimate Reset was to “rest” your system and my system was certainly NOT resting. So I ended it early, and I am TOTALLY ok with this decision. I claim success in this program because here are the 5 Things I learned from ending the Ultimate Reset early.
1. Water = Energy
The Ultimate Reset required me to drink a gallon of water a day. I drank distilled water mixed with Himalayan salt. This replaces the minerals lost in the distilled process. Over the last three years, I lost the habit of drinking sufficient water, and mixed it with a coffee and diet soda habit to maximize my energy and turned into an energy zapped black hole. Come 10:30 AM and 3 PM I was reaching for a snack or a cup of coffee.
Once I adapted to drinking this much water, I realized I can now tell I was THIRSTY! There is a difference between thirst and hunger. As I guzzled my water, I realized, by 3 PM I was still full of energy. I really do think much of this increase in energy is being sufficiently hydrated.
How I will continue: I will drink at minimum 3L of water a day.
2. Caffeine Addiction is REAL
Those first 4 days were awful. The headache was unbearable. I managed to push through and I am SO thankful I did. I feel free of the chains of caffeine. I am not dependent on caffeine as a stimulant. I am already energized (See #1 and high nutrient foods). If you are addicted, I suggest decrease your caffeine gradually over a week or two to avoid the misery I experienced. Caffeine has a purpose in your health but the dependency should be avoided.
How I will continue: Limit my caffeine to my pre-workout on days I workout and 1 caffeinated drink a week. The rest will be decaf. The withdrawl was so real that I refuse to get addicted again. Chemical dependency prevents thriving.
3. Nutrient Density vs. Portion Size
Once I got through most of week one, and my body was absorbing high densities of nutrients through my meals, my portion sizes naturally decreased. It was amazing. It was as if my body knew that it had received sufficient amounts of food and would make me feel full. Again, it was after “cleansing” and breaking the cycle of mis-interpreted signals my body was sending, it finally figured it all out. It was a beautiful thing. Eating high nutrient density foods (ie. colorful vegetables, fruits, complex carbohydrates and proteins) helps you read your body more accurately.
How I will continue: Maintain my high nutrient density foods for 80-90% of my meals during the week. I also will combine the different types of foods to maximize processing and managing my blood sugar effectively.
4. Sugar = Water retention
So I weighed myself on Sunday (end of Week 2) and I was down 7 pounds in two weeks. That was a HUGE success. Over the next 3-4 days of major corrections in my sugar and swinging highs and lows, I retained over 3.5 pounds of water. I know calorically I did not eat enough to gain that much weight. It was EYE opening to realize how much sugar (I had to correct with a lot throughout) impacts my weight.
How I will continue: Avoid processed sugars and pure sugar unless I am low.
5. It is okay to modify
In all the fitness programs I help Coach and those I participate in myself, I am the hugest advocate for modification until you can master the move. I HAD to make specific modifications such as drinking a full serving of Shakeology in Week 3 to make it to noon without a severe low. I added to dinner to avoid lows at night. I live alone, it scares me to go low at night. What I should have also done is added some protein, either via soy, or lean grass fed meats. I think this would’ve made my full 21 days more successful. Making it to Day 17 was success for me. I broke my bad habits, and opened up my eyes on managing my sugar more effectively. Wouldn’t you call that success?
How will I continue: Modify everything I may feel to be too extreme in for my blood sugar. It is ok to serve the needs of your body. That is thriving. That is one of the CORE basis of thriving, to honor one’s temple that God has given us. My pancreas may be broken but I can feed my body effectively to manage it.
The Ultimate Reset is truly Ultimate. I loved it, and hopefully can redo it with better planning for Week 3 in 6 months to a year.
My *Sweet* Regards & Thrive On,
❤ Suny