| LINDSEY WILSON

Pre & Post Reset Guide

Do you have an OWL Reset on your horizon? Diet, lifestyle and environmental factors leading up to the reset will all impact how you feel, so don’t fret if each time you cleanse it feels a little different than it did the time before. From my personal experience, I’ve noticed that when I adequately prepare for a cleanse I feel better all around from day one. I’ve also noticed that properly exiting cleanses allows for the feel-good-cleanse-glow to last a lot longer. Ready to begin? Here’s my top pre and post Reset tips:


Magic Matcha Mylkshake


Pre-Reset:

WEEN THE CAFFEINE

Don’t panic, it’s just temporary. I also love my cup of coffee in the morning but it’s important for your adrenals to give coffee a rest a few times a year. The OWL Reset is a caffeine-lovers breeze because we incorporate matcha into your morning mylkshake. You’ll still get a light dose of caffeine that will support you throughout your day but is gentle enough to allow your adrenals to rest. If coffee is a part of your daily routine, start weaning off of it a week or two before you’re ready to start the reset. Trust me, this way is much more pleasant than the cold turkey approach (and yes, I’ve tried both):

1. Leading up to the reset start to cut down on your coffee consumption by half a cup every few days. For example, if you drink 3 cups of coffee on the reg, try for 2.5 cups for the next few days, then 2 cups… you get the jist? If you feel yourself crashing in the afternoon, reach for a cup of green tea, you’ll get a gentle boost of caffeine plus all the extra antioxidants.

2. Once you’re down to half a cup of coffee/day, give yourself a pat on the back - that’s not an easy thing to do! Then move on to green tea or matcha. I recommend making sure you’re comfortable on this lightly caffeinated beverage for a day or two before starting the reset.

3. Cutback on Caffeine — Matcha is certainly a favorite caffeine source at OWL. But if you’re looking for something a little more closely related to the coffee experience while preparing for your Reset cleanse, you might be interested in cocoa tea, or mushroom tea as satisfying substitutes.

Cocoa tea is brewed with a cocoa stick and can include other tasty ingredients like.

  • Cinnamon stick
  • Bay leaf
  • Vanilla extract
  • Non-dairy milk
  • And a gut-friendly sweetener like monk fruit

Mushroom tea might sound strange, but hear us out. Made from chaga, to lion’s mane, to turkey tail, to reishi, there are several different options when it comes to mushroom tea. Many of these ingredients come with the same energy benefits of coffee like a boost in energy and brain power, without the jitters. 


SAY SAYONARA TO SUGAR

When you eat sugar your brain releases dopamine, a neurotoxin connected to feelings of pleasure and happiness. This is why sugar can be so addictive, when we feel those happy feelings our body starts asking for more, more, more! I’ve found that I don’t realize how much sugar I actually consume daily (and how addicted to it I am!) until I have to cut it out. If you attempt to cut out sugar cold turkey during the reset you may be knocked down with symptoms of sugar-withdrawal. Take my word for it, it’s not a pleasant feeling. Here’s how to go about easing the symptoms of withdrawal in order to make your reset experience more enjoyable overall:

1. A week or so before you start your cleanse you’ll want to become aware of how much sugar you’re actually consuming. The key to this is to read every label. You’d be surprised by all of the foods sugar sneaks into, even in so-called “health foods”.

2. Spend a few days swapping processed sugar with more nutrient dense sugar substitutes such as maple syrup, honey or coconut palm sugar.

3. Sugar Alternatives — It will be natural for your body to crave what it’s used to during your Reset Cleanse. When those sugar cravings hit, try turning to some easy-to-digest fruits like blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, cantaloupe, kiwi, guava, and grapes. When you eliminate processed sugars from your daily habits, you’ll notice that fruits taste sweeter and are much more pleasing to enjoy.

Reducing FODMAPs

Before beginning your Reset, you’ll want to eliminate foods that might be considered healthy but that can also be hard on the digestive system. Many people living with Irritable Bowel Syndrome are aware of High FODMAP foods. These are fermentable carbohydrates that produce a lot of gas inside your intestines and can cause discomfort in people with IBS. The point of the OWL Reset is to give your gut a break. So in preparation for your cleanse, even if you don’t suffer from IBS, you’ll want to lay off the the following:

  • Artichokes
  • Legumes
  • Cauliflower
  • Snow peas
  • Garlic
  • Onions
  • Dairy
  • Wheat
  • Rye

Following our approved foods list will give you a better idea of what foods can nourish your body while letting your digestive system rest.


Chronobiology + Nutritional Timing

The OWL Reset combines the practices of Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda, and Chronobiology to bring you the ultimate healing experience. When referring to our approved foods list, we recommend following the principles of Chronobiology throughout the day. This means your body will be syncing with the rhythm of the sun by eating specific foods at specific times. By doing so, you’re aiding your body in optimizing digestion and absorption of valuable nutrients.

1. In the morning, consume fruits, nuts, and seeds along with a small amount of caffeine - found in our Magic Matcha Mylkshake - for clean and calm morning energy.

2. Around noon, focus on veggies that grow close to the ground and protein from land grazing animals like chicken or turkey. This paired with our Golden Ginger shake will help soothe your digestive system so it can continue to operate easily as you go through your day

3. And in the evening, veggies that grow beneath the ground, seafood and eggs for protein, and our Bold Beet shake will ground your body in preparation for healing and restorative sleep.

OWL Supplements (Pre-Cleanse)

Our holistic approach to healing the whole body from the inside out gave birth to our digestive supplements line. These herbal remedies were concocted to enhance your cleanse experience and boost the effects of the cleanse as well.


Gut sweep will help get your digestion going as an all-natural alternative to fiber powder. These tablets are meant to ease elimination and soothe the lining of your intestines to set up your body for prime restoration before you begin your Reset Cleanse.


SIMPLIFY, SIMPLIFY, SIMPLIFY

It’s nice to give the gut a break as you ease into a liquid based cleanse. Focus on easy to digest meals for about 3 days before your cleanse. One of the easiest ways to do this is to cut out condiments. The sauces and spreads that make our food so very tasty often have multitudes of ingredients, sweeteners, thickeners and preservatives. None of that is easy on the gut. Swap it out for fresh herbs and spices, which have healing properties as well. It’s a double win! Here’s a few of my favorite pre-cleanse food ideas:

1. Simple soups: take your fave veggie or two (I personally love carrots and/or broccoli for this), boil them in a saucepan with the OWL Vegan Mineral Broth (or whatever your favorite flavor is!) and let simmer until the veggies are soft. Add a splash of full fat coconut milk (the canned kind) and blend all together until the soup is a creamy consistency.

2. I also love our Savory Summer Gazpacho- it’s one of our favorite ways to incorporate our Broth Elixirs in the warmer summer months. You get all the healing properties of our Broth Elixirs plus cucumber to keep you hydrated, cilantro to help detox the body, and avocado to keep you feeling full!

Summer Gazpacho


Post Reset

You’ve made it through the OWL reset, hooray! Now what? You’ve been asking your body to do lots of deep healing work throughout the reset and it’s important to remember that your body doesn’t know it’s over on day 4. As you ease out of the cleanse be gentle on the digestive system as it will continue to detox and restore for a few days after the reset. If you celebrate making it through the cleanse with a burger, fries and a beer on day 5 it could be such a shock to the system you may find yourself feeling awful. Take a few days to gently introduce new foods into the system and let your digestive system continue to do it’s deep healing work. Here’s a few tips to follow:

AVOID COMMON ALLERGENS
Just for a few days - try to keep gluten, dairy, eggs, tree nuts and peanuts out of the diet. Focus instead on fresh fruits, veggies, whole grains, meats and fish. Use the same principles that you did on the pre-cleanse: simple, easy to digest, whole foods.

STOKE DIGESTIVE FIRE
1. Since you spent the past few days on a liquid based cleanse you may find that your digestion is actually a little slower than normal. Don’t worry — this’ll bounce back quickly. For your first few post-reset meals drink a cup of ginger tea or use our digestive bitters 30 minutes before your meals. This will get the digestive enzymes flowing so that you’re better prepared to digest your foods.

Support Your Body's Functions
When reintroducing sugar sources back into your diet it’s important to take it slow and stick to whole foods. Some people will be prone to quick yeast building after a cleanse. Referring back to gut friendly sugars from our list of Low FODMAP foods can help keep your yeast levels balanced with the rest of your microbiome.
  1. Our Yeast Buster is an excellent tool to have handy after your cleanse. This blend of healing herbs was designed to keep your candida under control. It will fight infections, reduce inflammation, promote digestion, and alleviate skin issues.
  2. Liver Boost is a big supporter of the natural functions of your liver. It helps protect against oxidative stress, damage from free radicals, and supports your liver’s ability to cleanse toxins from your blood. Post-cleans, you’ll be reintroducing foods back into your system, and your liver will need an extra hand to ensure a smooth transition out of your Reset.

DRINK LOTS OF WATER
This may seem like a no brainer but it’s an important one. Since your body is still detoxing for a few days after the cleanse it’s important to keep flushing the toxins out. Sip on warm water, detox tea or our bone broth for a few days post cleanse to keep the detox going.

I hope these tips are helpful for you! Above anything, remember to be gentle with yourself. If you fall off the wagon - get back on, your body still appreciates the work you’re doing.