The Conscious Cleanse: Lose Weight, Heal Your Body, and Transform Your Life in 14 Days

by Jo Schaalman, Julie Peláez

Transform your life and live vibrantly with a 14-day cleanse! It's not magic, it's common sense and attentiveness to your body that will yield amazing results.

In 2003, co-author Jo Schaalman was a nationally ranked diver and a pre-med honors graduate ready to start a promising career as a doctor. But while leading a 3,000-mile bike tour of the U.S., she was hit by a truck.

Her survival led to a long recovery accompanied by chronic, debilitating pain, weight gain, and depression that modern medicine could not relieve. Then came a breakthrough – the realization about the healing powers of food.

With Julie Peláez as her mentor and friend, Jo learned to be conscious of her health and the food she put in her body at a deeper level than ever before. By listening to her body, practicing yoga, filtering out the mindless eating of empty calories and processed food, by being conscious of her real needs, it was possible to take control of her own well-being. Her new conscious lifestyle brought her healing and a sense of vibrancy beyond anything she'd known prior to her injury.

Together Jo and Julie have spent years researching, developing, and refining their Conscious Cleanse program to similarly dramatic results and success stories. Participants in the program have experienced results from weight loss to relief from anxiety, depression, ADD, high cholesterol, chronic pain, PMS, migraines, eczema, acne, insomnia, addictions, allergies, and even early-onset menopause and diabetes. In this simple, 14-day program, you will    •  A day-by-day plan for weening off harmful foods
   •  Easy weight loss without starvation
   •  Guidance on incorporating whole foods in an easy and simple way
   •  Shopping lists of readily-available whole foods for getting started
   •  Meal plans for each day of the cleanse and beyond
   •  Dozens of delicious whole-food recipes
   •  Techniques for continuing a sustainable conscious eating lifestyle long after the cleanse is completed
   •  Inspiration to live a conscious, vibrant life full of vitality, humor, forgiveness, and self-acceptance

Genres: Health, Food, Nonfiction, Cookbooks, Cooking

336 pages, Paperback

First published December 4, 2012

Reviews

[Rachel Pollock · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was looking for a detox/dietary cleanse program that seemed both healthy and achievable--i'm not into weird diets or trying to fit into some special dress size or whatever, and this had a lot of positive points going for it in terms of sounding like a fairly sane approach to such a thing.

Some of the recipes have a few too many zany ingredients and you can't do this without a blender, but it's a great road map i think. At points it gets a bit repetitive with the cheerleading and the new-agey stuff, and if you are squeamish about your own bodily functions there's a big section on bowel health that will probably squick you, but hey, everybody poops.

[Michiel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the ideas are sound in this book, and I am inspired to give it a try with my son whom I am suspecting food sensitivities. However, the first part of the book is extremely repetitive, and there are very few recipes outside of smoothies that I'm thinking son is going eat willingly.

Still, it's nothing extreme. It looks safe and healthy and manageable for two weeks and then common sense for getting back into a new normal.

Despite repitition, the authors are encouraging.

[Donna Martemucci · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book about what to eat (ok, we all know what we're SUPPOSED to eat), but also why and how to help with stumbles. Love the 14 day cleanse to kickstart a weight loss journey.

[Kate Maxwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was fabulous! It was very well written and well-put-together. If you are looking for a good book on detoxing, this one is IT! Not only do they go through the steps, but they also give you so much information, you find yourself saying YES! And then... they give you 14 days of motivational readings to keep you going on the detox and what is happening with your body, to let you know that what is happening with your body is normal. And THEN - you get recipes, to boot!

It is ultimately readable. You feel like you have a best friend sitting beside you to explain what a cleanse is, why you need to do and how to do it! I am looking forward to reading this one again!

Well written, ladies! Thank you for a fabulous book, and I am so glad I saw this mentioned by Joshua Rosenthal. One of the best books I have read recently, dealing with elimination diet, cleansing and detox!

[Susan B · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really easy to read and I enjoyed the authors' conversational style even as they imparted important information about diet and health. The 'cleanse' is basically an elimination diet with emphasis on eating pure foods and detoxifying your body. When foods are reintroduced you have the opportunity to discover what sensitivities or allergies you may have. I'm planning to follow the plan after Thanksgiving. I have to return the book to the library (there are three people waiting for it), so plan to buy the Kindle version for my own reference. Will report back when the cleanse is done. It seems pretty straightforward, though, and the authors suggest daily meal plans and include recipes to keep things easy for the newbie.

[Renae · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked their approach. This isn't a starve yourself for 3 days cleanse; it concentrates on eating a plant based diet full of greens and fruits for 14 days. The recipes are great and you can eat quite a bit. You then gradually add in foods that could be causing issues such as inflammation or intolerance as a way of finding what isn't working in your diet. Best part, only $5.99 for kindle edition!

[Marjorie Elwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although the writing was engaging, there was a fair bit of pseudoscience (for instance: that absorption of coconut oil through the skin confers the same health benefits as taking it internally) throughout the book. In addition, vegetables were virtually always touted as being completely healthy; there was only one mention made of the fact that some people have allergies or sensitivities to certain fruit and vegetables.

[Brigitte · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you suffer from chronic crud, be it stuffy nose, headaches, fatigue, joint pains, etc. this is a must do 14 (really 21) day journey to heal your body and rebuild your relationship with food and hunger. No calorie counting, just whole, clean food eating direct from the source! Amazing results for me, except re-introducing dairy that strewed up my breathing big time....so now I know for sure that for me no dairy!!

[Sinclair · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beginning is theory about food and how to use this 14-day cleanse, the second half is the cleanse itself—guidance through it, recipes, preparation, etc. Written by founders of the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, of which I'm familiar and have some trust in their trainings ... I'm interested in trying a regime like this to see if I can rebalance my own system, but I'm not sure it's this one. Maybe. It's a possibility.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciate the approach in this book. Not overly scientific and easy to read and understand. The one thing that would make the cleanse really easy to launch into is a shopping list. I'm embarking in a few weeks and would have appreciated a list of the must haves to take to the store rather than trying to figure out quantities by perusing all of the recipes.

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the concept is good; and, after I got past day three, I felt light and clear-headed. However, on day seven, I fainted...guess you could say the conscious cleanse rendered me unconscious! Because I didn't have my usual hunger cravings, I don't think I ate enough. My goal is to continue to use the information in the book to make informed decisions about what I put in my mouth.

[Lindsay Hong · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book provides a very holistic approach to health. The point of the "cleanse" is not to starve yourself or lose weight, but rather become aware of what food is doing to your body. I highly recommend it!

[Brindi Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous. pair this with Calbom's juicing and fasting book and you have one heck of a cleanse. I think our bodies need this "cleaning" at least twice a year. plus all ingredients seem easily available except for the tea recipes. heading out to buy....

[Daniel Kuhlman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the fact that this is not a diet to lose weight. This is a life style choice to make the rest of your life healthy. It also gives you the choice to make it an 80/20 balance and not a 100% tow the line kind of thing. Totally doable and I feel better for it.

[Cathydny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have so much respect for Jo. I won't be sticking with this for good, but it certainly was a nice reset and has me thinking about ways to get in even more nutritious foods.

[Smplydi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably a better book to buy in print so you can go back and forth to the recipes mentioned in the daily suggestions. Plan on following the general rules 80% of the time.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cleanse was an amazing adventure. I feel great and will continue to use the book as a guide and recipe reference.

[Fay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know it's doing miraculous things for my daughter's allergies. As for me, I'm following the general principals without the cleanse.

[Launi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of good sound advice and strategies to be healthier. Learned a lot from this book!

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE the Conscious Cleanse and was happy to read the book after doing it (and before my second cleanse). I am really looking forward to the new recipes!

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good basic info. This was my first cleanse.

[Joslynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't wait to start this tomorrow.