10-Day Green Smoothie Cleanse diet plan

 

eat only smoothies, snacks, and water/tea for 10 days
eat 2 smoothies for breakfast and lunch, 1 healthy meal for dinner, and snacks and water/tea for 10 days

The reasoning behind 10-Day Green Smoothie Cleanse

The book says that the first step in losing weight is detoxification, to remove toxic overload from the body. Toxins stored in fat cells are difficult to get rid of through dieting alone. You must first detoxify the body. Thus, the most effective weight-loss programs should focus on both fat loss and detoxification, which lead to overall improved health and wellness. Raw greens can heal the body. You will detoxify your body through elimination of certain foods for ten days and reprogram your taste buds to desire healthy, nutrient-rich foods. The author states that after you complete the cleanse, you will never have to count calories or follow complicated or expensive meal plans or measure food again, as your body will naturally crave and desire healthy, natural foods.

10-Day Green Smoothie Cleanse diet plan – what to eat and foods to avoid

• Full cleanse – eat only smoothies, snacks, and water/tea for 10 days
• Modified cleanse – eat 2 smoothies for breakfast and lunch, 1 healthy meal for dinner, and snacks and water/tea for 10 days
• Breaking the cleanse
• Repeating or extending the cleanse
• Continuing to lose weight

Full cleanse

What to eat on the full cleanse  |  Foods to avoid on the full cleanse

The full cleanse consists of three smoothies, snacks, and water/ tea for the entire ten days. This will provide the most health and weight-loss benefits, with an expected weight loss between ten and fifteen pounds, according to the book.

Don’t stay on the full cleanse for longer than 2 weeks straight.

Foods to eat in 10-Day Green Smoothie Cleanse – Full Cleanse

• Green smoothies – ingredients
  • All ingredients are raw. Only use green leafy veggies, fruits and water in the green smoothies during the 10-day cleanse
  • Use dark green leafy vegetables – greens include arugula, beet greens, bok choy, carrot top leaves, chard/Swiss chard, collard greens, dandelion greens, kale, lettuce (especially with dark green leaves), mustard greens, parsley, radish tops, sorrel, spinach, spring greens, turnip greens, watercress.
  • Remove the stems for your greens for the best taste. Rotate your greens so you don’t build up harmful amounts of alkaloids
  • Green smoothies can contain 40% greens are a source of protein. If you feel you need additional protein because of a heavy workout, you can add protein powder in your blender, and the author suggests you add 1 scoop of protein powder per day to your green smoothies so you feel full longer and will help keep your metabolism high. Use a non-dairy, plant -based protein powder, such as rice, soy, or hemp protein, and not whey protein powder, which is made from cow’s milk. The author’s favorites are RAW Protein by Garden of Life,SunWarrior protein blend, and Rainbow Light’s Acai Berry Blast Protein Energizer. There are other quality options also
  • Add fruits – e.g. apples, bananas, blueberries, grapes (seedless), mango, mixed berries, peaches, pineapple, strawberries. If you’re diabetic or have candida, use only low-sugar fruits, monitor blood sugar, and get a doctor’s permission before following the diet. Note that low-sugar fruits include apples, grapefruits , lemons, limes, cherries, strawberries, cranberries, raspberries, goji berries, and blueberries; moderate-sugar fruits include peaches, oranges, pears, apples, pomegranates, and plums; high-sugar fruits include apricots, melons, kiwis, mangos, papayas, pineapples, bananas, dates, figs, raisins, and grapes. Go easy on fruits; don’t overdo them
  • Fruits can be fresh or frozen. Use ripe fruit – if it isn’t ripe when you get it, allow it to get ripe before adding it to your blender
  • Superfoods such as maca or acai berries can be added if you want
  • Ground flaxseeds are included in most recipes
  • Stevia is included in most recipes as a sweetener
  • Use organic ingredients where possible. If you can’t find organic fruits and vegetables, wash off the pesticides and waxes as best you can, using special cleansers from health food stores or vinegar, scrubbing and rinsing carefully
  • Use spring or purified water in your green smoothies. Another option is alkaline water, which aids in detoxification and better hydration. You can add ice if you want. Tap water is not recommended for use
• Green smoothies – instructions
  • Each day you drink up to 60 ounces of green smoothies per day (you get less than this in the recipes – see below)
  • Follow the recipes in the book, as these have been designed for detox and weight loss – each recipe for the 10-day cleanse is for 3 servings – they make about 36-48 ounces of smoothie, which you can divide into 3 servings of 12-16 ounces each
  • Use smoothies, not juices – smoothies contain whole foods with lots of fiber
  • Prepare your entire day’s worth of green smoothies in the morning and pack it up to take with you
  • Keep it refrigerated as much as possible
  • Drink 1/3 of the recipe (12-16 ounces) every 3-4 hours throughout the day or sip on the smoothie as you get hungry
  • Chew your smoothies as much as possible, to avoid gas and bloating
  • If you don’t feel like drinking the entire day’s worth of smoothie, then drink at least two of them to ensure your body gets the proper nutrition. It’s important to drink a green smoothie or snack every three to four hours to keep your metabolism revved up. You will desire less food, but you still need to give your body fuel (smoothie or snack) every three to four hours
  • Blenders – Use a high-speed blender, around 1000 watts. These brands are mentioned:Vitamix, Blendtec, and Nutribullet. If you’re using a smaller blender, you may need to make the day’s recipe in two batches
• You may snack on apples, celery, carrots, cucumbers, and other crunchy veggies throughout the day
• Other high-protein snacks include unsweetened peanut butter, hard-boiled eggs, and raw or unsalted nuts and seeds (only a handful)
• Daily routine
  • Begin each morning by drinking a few glasses of water to replenish what was lost overnight
  • Follow with a cup of detox tea which will provide cleansing support for your liver and kidneys. Feel free to add stevia, a natural sweetener, to your detox tea to enhance the taste
  • It is very important to drink a lot of water each day during the cleanse. Drink at least 8 glasses of water (64 ounces) per day as well as detox tea (e.g. Detox Tea by Triple Leaf andYogi brands) or herbal teas (e.g. chamomile tea, peppermint tea, green tea, dandelion root tea, ginger tea, milk thistle tea, sarsaparilla tea, ginseng tea), as desired
• For the first few days, you will feel hungry and irritable. Snack until your body adjusts to less food. You can snack to get rid of the hunger. However, if you snack all day, you will not lose as much weight. But don’t worry about that
• Typical detoxification symptoms include headaches, pains, nausea, cravings, fatigue, muscle aches, skin rashes, and irritability. If the detox symptoms are too strong, follow these guidelines:
  • Change the ratio of fruit to vegetables – start with 30% greens to 70% fruit and work your way up to more greens and less fruit over time
  • Hydrate – drink lots of water to help with the cleansing process
  • Ease gradually into the full cleanse – on your first day, have a green smoothie for breakfast and eat light, healthy meals for lunch and dinner (big salads). Remember to still avoid sugar, meats, dairy, etc. On your second day, have green smoothies for breakfast and lunch but a light healthy meal, such as a salad, for dinner. By the third day, you should be ready to resume with green smoothies all day. If not, just switch to the modified cleanse for the remainder of the cleanse period

Foods to avoid with 10-Day Green Smoothie Cleanse – Full Cleanse

• In your smoothies for the 10-day cleanse, do not include any starchy vegetables such as sweet potatoes, carrots, beets, or any other vegetable that are not leafy greens
• Refined and processed foods
  • Refined sugar
  • Refined carbs – white bread, pastas, donuts, etc.
  • Processed foods
• Animal foods
  • Meat
  • Dairy – milk, cheese, etc.
• Beverages that dehydrate you
  • Liquor, beer
  • Coffee
  • Sodas/ diet sodas
• Fried foods

Modified cleanse

The modified cleanse consists of two green smoothies (one for breakfast and one for lunch), with one healthy meal for dinner, snacks, and water/ tea.

The modified cleanse was designed for people who are unwilling or unable to stick with the full cleanse for 10 days, or for people who aren’t looking to lose a lot of weight but want to detox. Weight loss may not be as dramatic as the full cleanse, but the book claims you can still expect to lose between 5-10 pounds in the first 10 days.

Foods to eat in 10-Day Green Smoothie Cleanse – Modified Cleanse

• See Foods to Eat – Full Cleanse above
• Eat green smoothies for 2 meals each day (12-16 ounces of liquid each), and have a healthy meal for one meal
• Suggestion is to have smoothies for breakfast and lunch and the healthy meal for dinner, but you can use any two meals for the green smoothies as long as you have one healthy meal per day
• Healthy meal for dinner:
  • The one healthy meal may consist of a salad, sautéed veggies, and fish or chicken (grilled or baked)
• Drink at least eight glasses of water (64 ounces) per day, and drink detox or herbal teas as desired. Drink the detox tea first thing every morning

Foods to avoid with 10-Day Green Smoothie Cleanse – Modified Cleanse

See Food to Avoid – Full Cleanse above

Breaking the cleanse

• Do not go right back into eating whole foods right after the cleanse. Take at least 3 days to reintroduce whole foods. Salads are a good way to start. Continue drinking your smoothies and listen to your body to see what foods work well for you. In the first two days after the cleanse, drink a green smoothie for breakfast and have a salad or sautéed veggies for lunch and dinner. The goal is to eat very light. Going back to eating whole foods too quickly can make you feel bloated and nauseous. The third day after the cleanse, you should be able to have one green smoothie for breakfast and light meals ( salads and lean, healthy meats such as fish or chicken) for lunch and dinner. By the fourth day, you should be able to eat whole foods easily, but keep your meals light and healthy
• It’s a good habit to always start your day with a green smoothie for breakfast to maintain weight loss. Even one green smoothie a day used as a replacement meal will put you on the road to permanent weight loss and better health. It will reawaken your metabolism and give you more energy

Repeating or extending the cleanse

JJ doesn’t recommend the full cleanse be longer than two weeks (14 days) straight – she says that you don’t want to run the risk of slowing your metabolism so it’s important to take a break from the full cleanse and re-introduce whole foods into your diet. A “break” would be several weeks (3-4 weeks). However, two green smoothies plus a high-protein meal per day is very healthy and can be done for life.

If you’ve been off the 10-day cleanse for a few weeks and now want to redo the full cleanse or do it for longer than 2 weeks, you have to deliberately add more protein into your diet and be sure to rotate or use different greens each week.

Also, once you get rid of toxins and waste during your first 10-day cleanse, you will most likely lose less the next time you do the full cleanse. Normal weight loss is 1-2 pounds per week after the cleanse. By doing the full cleanse longer than 14 days, you run the risk of slowing your metabolism which will just make it harder to lose weight in the long run. If you need to learn how to lose weight after the cleanse, see below.  Just trying to do the full cleanse over and over back to back is not the answer… It’s a jumpstart to weight loss… After the 10-day cleanse, 1-2 pounds per week is normal and healthy. Detoxing should not be used as an extreme diet; that is not the answer to long-term permanent weight loss.

How to continue losing weight after the 10-day cleanse

What to eat to continue losing weight  |  Foods to avoid to continue losing weight

• To continue weight loss at about two pounds per week, drink two green smoothies a day and eat one clean, high-protein meal. To continue weight loss at about one pound per week, drink one green smoothie and have two clean, high-protein meals per day (there are recipes in the book)
• If you begin to plateau and weight loss stalls (2 weeks with no weight loss), check your hormones – see JJ’s book Lose Weight Without Dieting or Working Out
• Other weight loss tips
  • Eat a big salad daily, including dark green leafy vegetables and lots of colorful vegetables
  • Drink at least one green smoothie daily. You can add some protein, flaxseeds, spirulina, coconut oil , and bee pollen to it for an extra health boost
  • Choose nutrient-rich foods, not empty calories like junk food
  • Eat protein with every meal. Whenever you eat a carbohydrate, eat some protein with it – as a general guideline, the protein should be about half the amount of the carbohydrates in grams
  • Avoid sugar, salt, and trans fat
  • Limit red meat to 2-3 times a week
  • Eat at least 30 grams of fiber a day
  • Eat 4-5 times a day
  • Buy organic as much as possible
  • Drink lots of pure water
  • Drink green tea, instead of coffee
  • Don’t give in to emotional hunger

General weight loss – what to eat to support weight loss

• Animal protein
  • Fish – e.g. bass, catfish, cod, flounder, haddock, halibut, herring, sardines, shrimp, sole, tilapia, trout, tuna, wild salmon
  • Shellfish and other seafood – e.g. calamari, clams, crabmeat, lobster, oysters, scallops
  • Poultry – e.g. cornish hen, skinless chicken, turkey breast, turkey bacon
• Veggies
  • All dark greens, asparagus, avocados, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, celery, cucumbers, collards, garlic, green beans, kale, lettuce, mushrooms, olives, onions, parsley, peas, radishes, red peppers, squashes, sweet potatoes, spinach, tomatoes, yams, zucchini
• Fruits
  • In general, all fruits are healthy for you. However, if you’re trying to lose weight (or are diabetic), the best fruits to eat are low-sugar fruits, which include blackberries, blueberries, cranberries, grapefruits, lemons, limes, passion fruit, raspberries, strawberries
• Grains (breads, pasta, rice)
  • Barley, Brown rice, Bulgur, Buckwheat, Coconut Flour, Oats (steel-cut oats), Quinoa, Wild rice
• Beans/legumes
  • Black-eye peas, black beans, butter beans, fava beans, garbanzo beans /chickpeas, green beans, kidney beans, peas, lentils, lima beans, navy beans /pinto beans, white beans
• Dairy
  • Egg whites, eggs, almond milk, coconut milk, goat’s milk, hemp milk, oat milk, rice milk, non-dairy butter (vegan butter)
• Nuts and seeds
  • Raw and unsalted nuts and seeds: almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, cedar nuts, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, peanuts, pecans, pistachios, walnuts; seeds: chia seeds, flaxseeds, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds. The next best are roasted and unsalted nuts and seeds.
• Oils
  • Avocado oil, coconut oil, extra-virgin olive oil, fish oil, flaxseed oil, sesame oil
• Sweeteners
  • Stevia, monk fruit, xylitol, agave nectar, raw honey, coconut palm sugar, sugar alcohol
• Spices & seasonings
  • Apple cider vinegar, black pepper, cardamom, cayenne pepper, chili peppers, cilantro, cinnamon, ginger, parsley, garlic, nutmeg, onion, oregano, rosemary, sage, saffron, tamari, thyme, turmeric
• Snacks
  • Fresh fruits & veggies, popcorn (lightly salted), unsweetened peanut butter / cashew butter / almond butter, organic unsweetened chocolate, nuts and seeds, hard-boiled eggs, plain yogurt, trail mix
• Beverages
  • Distilled or spring water, alkaline water, coconut water, fresh-squeezed juices, green tea, black tea, mint tea/ other herbal teas
• Cooking methods
  • Baking, broiling, grilling, poaching, pressure cooking, roasting, sautéing, steaming, stir frying
• Superfood additions for smoothies
  • Acai berries, aloe vera, avocado, bee pollen, brewer’s (nutritional) yeast), cayenne pepper, chia seeds, raw chocolate, coconut oil, flax oil, ginger, goji berries, maca root, pomegranate juice, sprouts, wheat germ (raw), wheatgrass juice (fresh or powdered), yogurt or kefir

General weight loss – foods to avoid because they cause weight gain

• Animal protein
  • Processed meats – e.g. bacon, beef jerky, hot dogs, pepperoni, salami, sausage
  • High fat meats – e.g. prime rib, porterhouse
• Veggies
  • All vegetables are generally good for you; however if you’re trying to lose weight, try to avoid eating white potatoes, red potatoes, corn, and plantains
• Fruits
  • Canned fruits, dried fruits, and fruit snacks
• Grains (breads, pasta, rice)
  • Bagels , donuts, white rice, white pasta, white bread, white flour
• Beans/legumes
  • Dried beans, refried beans
• Dairy
  • Regular (full-fat) cow’s milk, cheese, cottage cheese, cream cheese, and sour cream; condensed milk, powdered milk, powered eggs, yogurt with fruit on the bottom
• Nuts and seeds
  • Sugar-coated nuts and seeds
• Oils
  • Bacon fat , chicken fat, margarine, hydrogenated oils (trans fats), vegetable oils
• Sweeteners
  • White sugar, high-fructose corn syrup HFCS, brown rice syrup, brown sugar, dextrose, fruit juice concentrate, raw sugar
• Spices & seasonings
  • Ketchup, mayonnaise, MSG, table salt, Worcestershire sauce
• Snacks
  • Candy, pies, corn chips, cookies, donuts, cakes, ice cream pastries, potato chips
• Beverages
  • Sodas , sports drinks, store-bought fruit juices, mixed drinks, beer
• Cooking methods
  • Barbequing, blackening, burning or charring, deep frying, pan frying

Health benefits claimed in 10-Day Green Smoothie Cleanse

The diet in this book claims to reduce the risks for: allergies, bloating, brain fog, constipation, poor digestion, low energy, fatigue, food cravings, headaches, indigestion, infections, insomnia, overweight/obesity, chronic pain, sensitivities, yeast infections

As always, this is not intended to be a replacement for professional medical diagnosis or treatment for a medical condition. Consult your doctor before starting a new diet. This page describes what the authors of the diet recommend – Chewfo is describing the diet only, not endorsing it.

Get a copy of 10-Day Green Smoothie Cleanse for a detailed explanation of why a green smoothie cleanse is good for you, detox methods, testimonials, 10 Commandments for Looking Young and Feeling Great, green smoothie recipes for the 10-day cleanse, over 100 green smoothie recipes for after the cleanse, and clean high protein recipes.