How to lose pounds and alienate junk food

MANILA, Philippines - I lost nine pounds in two days. One night. No tricks, no overnight cosmetic surgery (no secret fat-zapping on the side). At the Cleanse & Nourish Clinic-Workshop, an overnight detox flush that requires you to go on a fast for about 24 hours, toxins became the enemy.

Fast food, soda and a generally unhealthy lifestyle take a toll on your body. “The workshop,” according to Jeannie Goulbourn who hosts the regularly scheduled clinic, “is anchored on internal detoxification achieved through a digestive clean-up (DCU), a natural, non-invasive method of cleansing the body by giving it the time and circumstances it needs to rebuild and heal. This generates the discharge of accumulated toxins allowing the body’s digestive tract, stomach, liver, gallbladder, large & small intestines and the colon to de-stress.”

With the help of Dale Flores, a holistic nutritionist, the workshop encourages everyone to leave behind the bad habits of the past (like munching on junk food, self-medicating with painkillers at the slightest hint of stress) through talks with experts in the fields of health, medicine and beauty.

At the upcoming workshop on Feb. 21 to 22 at Discovery Suites Ortigas, Dr. Eugenio Jose F. Ramos, internist-cardiologist and head of the Medical Services Group of Medical City; Felicidad V. Velandria, VP of the Nutritionist Dieticians’ Association of the Philippines and former supervising science research specialist of the Food and Nutrition Research Institute; and Dr. Madeleine F. Valera, senior VP of PhilHealth and field tutor for The Harvard Medical School will be sharing tips on how to stay healthy.

The workshop begins at about 7 a.m. when everyone is encouraged to dine on a fruit buffet and hydrate with lots of water and freshly-squeezed carrot juice. A series of organic soups (like pumpkin and mushroom broth) are served throughout the morning till about 2 p.m., which is when the fast begins.

For carnivores like myself, dining on fruits and watery soups doesn’t exactly count as a full meal. Unless I’m munching on a dead animal with a healthy helping of carbs, I don’t feel full. So don’t expect the fast to be a painless experience. My friend Maureen and I would exchange calls (we were staying in separate rooms on different floors at Discovery Suites) throughout the day to groan about how hungry we were and how, as soon as we made our jailbreak, we planned on feasting on roast duck at Shang Palace. I spent most of the day torturing myself with episodes of Iron Chef.

But the flush hinges on certain beverages we were required to take throughout our two-day stay. A goblet filled with what seemed like an Epsom salt drink was offered every two hours or so. It’s a lot like chugging seawater. One beverage, consisting of part grapefruit juice and oil, served as the palate cleanser. Imagine gulping a glass full of salad dressing. Yeah, not so nice.

Despite the awful things we had to ingest, the workshop proved a success. My friend and I purged gallstones (Dale likes the term “harvest” but it gives me the heebie-jeebies) and felt so much lighter and better.

“I really hated you when I was going through it,” my friend Maureen told me over lunch the next day at Florabel’s at Podium across the street from Discovery (lunch is part of the program). “But now I’m so glad you forced me.”

“I didn’t force you!” I protested. “I simply encouraged you to try it or else suffer the consequences.”

The objective of the flush isn’t weight loss (although lots of people participate to lose some poundage) but an immune system boost. Benefits include “reduced stress levels, clear skin, slowed-down aging, increased energy levels, rejuvenated body, improved blood circulation, reduced toxin levels, and a body primed for weight loss.”

Since I’ve done the flush, I’ve been junk food-free for about a year. That means no Tostitos, no Big Mac or even Diet Coke for me. And you know what? I feel pretty damn good.

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Cleanse & Nourish is by Global Vital Source, located at Heaven on the Fifth, Rustan’s Makati. Services include disease prevention and support, beauty and age management and stress management. For more information, call 843-2550/818-1088 and 0917-8245020 or visit www.cleanse-nourish.com.

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E-mail me at jackieoflash@yahoo.com.