The first 1-10 days of the Pain Elimination Program (PEP) are going to be focused on cleaning up and clearing out the body. Before starting, we recommend obtaining some baseline laboratory studies, such as cholesterol markers, fasting blood sugar, waist and hip measurements, and full body composition analysis. (You can view the full list of recommended markers in the PEP workbook.)
Buying real foods, eating real foods, and keeping a log are the keys to the first 10 days. You’ll want to make a shopping list from the CLEAR Foods List and get all non-list foods out of the house. We recommend planning your meals each week and stocking the freezer with backups. It’s important that in this first 10 days you only eat the foods on the CLEAR Food List. If you stray from the list, even once, START OVER.Â
The CLEAR Food List comprises of the specific animal proteins, plant-based proteins, fruits, vegetables, spices and herbs, nuts and seeds, beverages, condiments, and good fats. As mentioned above, during the clearing faze you should only be eating foods contained on the list and if you happen to stray, start back at Day 1.Â
Keeping a food log can be a daunting task, however, it’s a key component and absolutely necessary. You will want to highlight or check everything you eat and drink, as well as noting exercise, sleep, water intake, how you feel, pain you are experiencing, or stress management techniques used. In the PEP workbook you will find Daily Logs to help you keep track of all of the above, plus more!Â
During the CLEARING phase you’ll also want to start adding in high quality supplements. These will help to fill gaps in daily nutritional requirements and provide a drug-free, low risk option to support a variety of medical conditions.
We’ll dive further into the subject of supplements later on in our blogs, so stay tuned!