First thing is first, the aloe. My first impressions were that it was nowhere near as bad as I had expected from what I have read. It's an odd flavour and texture and smell, unlike anything else. It does have bits in it, so think orange juice with pulp and that's kind of what to expect texture wise. It did not get better over the course of the 4 lots of 120ml servings, and by the end of the day it was tricky to get the whole lot down without retching.
The tablets are FREAKING HUGE. I've never been good at taking tablets, I just physically can't do it. I only manage antibiotics by eating a banana at the same time as taking them, but bananas are a no go on this cleanse, and I don't think even that would have helped. The therm tablets were just coated pressed powder, so I could easily break those down to more manageable chunks, but the garcinia I really struggled with. So in the end, I bit into them and sucked out the inside. It worked for me, it tastes a bit like peanut butter and is the same consistency. I don't know if that's ok to do it like that, but it was my only option, and I figure it's best to have them like that than not at all.
I had read someone's post that suggested that the aloe was fine but she couldn't stomach the fibre. I have no idea what she was talking about, dissolved in a glass of water I could barely tell it was in there. So nothing to worry about there in my opinion.
I ordered the chocolate shake. People say it's too sweet, but I can't say I found it ridiculously so. I had it with almond milk, and that's what I could taste for the most part. I much prefer slimfast, but it was by no means bad.
I'm not doing to go into the details of what you do and when, because there is plenty of information out there to tell you. For me, day one seemed to consist of constantly taking pills, drinking water, and going to the loo. It takes a lot of time and I'm glad I chose to start on a day off from work.
Did I feel hungry?
Yes.
Did I feel hungry enough to make it difficult?
No. I didn't eat anything but the pills until about 7pm, where I had a small bowl of fruit from the free foods list. Apple, blueberries, strawberries and grapes. They didn't particularily make me feel less hungry, but was probably useful for my blood sugar. Plus, it's amazing how the aloe nearly making you throw up kills your appetite! Joke. But really. I also had three cups of echinacea and raspberry tea, which is lovely, by the way. Total calories consumed including the pills and gel was 447, with nearly 200 of that being the tea and fruit. Very low calorie.
Did I feel energised?
Hard to say. I woke up excited, both about the prospect of starting the cleanse as well as going to my induction to the gym. So I felt very bouncy this morning, but as to whether that's due to the effects of the aloe, I have no idea. I'd say too early to tell at this point.
Did I feel faint or need a nap?
Nope, and nope. When I did the 5:2, I would often feel my energy just disappear, my blood sugar drop and would need a nap to reset my body. I didn't feel that need at all today. Sure I wasn't super active, but for the most part I felt pretty good throughout.
One other thing to note is that I'm additionally taking three Forever Bee Pollen tablets with this cleanse. I had a pack come with the trail basket I got so figured why not. The old version of clean 9 used bee pollen instead of the therm, so hopefully they don't counteract each other in any way. I've found it really useful so far in taking away the aloe aftertaste.
So in summary, Day 1 has gone well. Wasn't too hard, but also wasn't easy. I'm not looking forward to more aloe gel, but after tomorrow the dosage drops to just one serving, so that shouldn't be too bad.
Let's see what day 2 brings.
