Chapter 1

Why I Created This Cleanse--for ME

I want to tell you a story, but it’s a little embarrassing--okay, really embarrassing--especially for a weight-loss and anti-aging specialist who’s been helping patients get healthy for more than twenty years. However, I’m going to tell you anyway.

Why? Because, right now, I know you’re not the “you” that you want to be. You desperately want to lose weight, to look better, and to feel better. And I want you to know that I’ve been there, too. Boy, have I.

You see, this cleanse is going to do amazing things for you, but I actually created it because I’m the one who needed it big-time. That’s because I’m just human, and sometimes I blow it . . . I really screw up. And I blew it spectacularly a little while ago.

My Wake-Up Call

Normally, I take good care of myself. I really do practice what I preach--I exercise, get plenty of sleep, eat a natural diet, do all the right stuff. As a result, I’m slim and super-healthy . . . or at least I was.

In 2017, I let everything slide. I was running nonstop. I was writing a book. I was flying from coast to coast every week. I was seeing patients. Doing TV appearances. Running a business. Stressing out, losing sleep, and skipping workouts.

If you’re in good shape, which I was at the start of 2017, you can get away with this kind of stuff for a while. But keep it up long enough, and your body will tell you, “What in the world do you think you’re doing? Pay attention to ME!”

In my case, I ignored the early warning signs. I was putting on pounds, my skin looked like hell, my eyes were dull and sunken, and my energy level hovered near zero. I was wearing three pairs of Spanx to smooth out my butt and thighs when I went on TV. (It’s true that the camera puts on ten pounds, and they’re in all the wrong places.) Yet I still kept running.

Then my body finally sent me a message I couldn’t ignore.

It was the fall of 2017. I was on an American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to New York. I’d felt tired and unwell all day, and suddenly I knew something was very, very wrong.

I became dizzy--so dizzy. It was as if I were in a tunnel being sucked away from reality. I was sweating profusely, and my heart was doing some weird kind of calisthenics.

All I knew was one thing: I was going down.

I turned to the passenger next to me and said, “I think I’m going to pass out. My name is Dr. Kellyann Petrucci, I don’t take any medications, and I don’t have any illnesses that I know of. Please get the flight attendant.”

The next thing I knew, I was on the floor looking up at a flight attendant who was packing ice around my back and head and asking, “Are you okay? Are you okay?” As the flight crew dragged me back to the galley, I drifted in and out of consciousness, hearing the attendant call urgently for any medical professionals on board. Even though I was in a different world, I remember thinking, What have I gotten myself into this time?

(Okay, little digression here. Did you know that even in a situation like this, there are bright spots? Well, as I’m lying there, fading in and out, I hear one of the flight attendants saying, “That can’t be her. It says on the passenger manifest that she’s fifty-two. This woman is not fifty-two!” So, yeah. I’m lying on the floor of an airplane, feeling like I’m gonna die . . . but even half dead, at least I don’t look my age. Woohoo.)

Anyway . . . back to the story. After the plane landed, they put me in a wheelchair and told me I needed to get checked out--basically saying, “No arguments.” (They were already on to me.)

I wound up in a hospital, and then in a clinic. I was anemic. I was exhausted. I was both physically and emotionally drained. I’d gained twenty pounds, which is a HUGE weight gain when you’re five-foot-nothing like me. My hormones were totally out of whack. I was a mess.

Sure, maybe I looked younger than my age (I love you, flight attendant!), but I still looked terrible. And to make matters worse, it was time to start promoting my brand-new book.

What’s more, I didn’t just look terrible; I felt terrible. And I suddenly realized that I’d felt that way for a long time, even though I was meeting wonderful people and having great experiences. I should have been having a blast, but instead I felt numb and disconnected. That’s not “me,” because by nature I’m a happy-go-lucky Italian girl with a big zest for life.

I realized that I needed a reset--and I needed it fast. I needed to reset my metabolism, my hormones, and even my mind. I needed to “push the compost button.” Clean house. Take out the trash. Get my life back.

I needed RESTORATION.

As they say: “Physician, heal thyself.”

Getting “Myself” Back

Right then, I went to work creating the cleanse detailed here. I knew that it needed to be incredibly powerful, because I was in deep trouble. I knew that it needed to be quick, because I was sick and tired of feeling sick and tired (and fat). And I knew that it had to be simple, doable, and comfortable, because I was at the breaking point and couldn’t handle any more stress.

I distilled into this plan every bit of knowledge I’ve gained over two decades. I loaded it with cell-cleansing, metabolism-boosting, fat-burning superfoods. Then I experimented until I got it just right.

What happened? Within days, I started feeling like “myself” again. My belly slimmed down, I lost the bloat, I got my energy back, the dark circles under my eyes went away, and I started feeling happy again. I’d jump-started my journey back to health, and now I was on a roll.

I was so excited about my plan that I started trying it out on my patients. Like me, they loved the results they got--both the weight loss and the energy and mood lift. They loved how they looked: younger, sexier, more vibrant. And they loved how they went from feeling depleted to feeling restored.

In short, I know that this cleanse can help you take back your life because it helped me take back mine--and now it’s changing my patients’ lives as well. What’s more, it’s fast, simple, and stress-free. (Because the last thing you need is more stress, right? I’m just not going to do that to you.)

So ask yourself: Are you exhausted, overweight, and feeling sad? Then this is your wake-up call. You can ignore it until you have a crisis, like I did, or you can take action right NOW.

Take it from someone who learned the hard way. Your body is telling you that it’s time to hit the reset button--to pay attention--and it’s easier than you think. You can restore yourself. Soon, I’ll tell you exactly how to do it--but first, let’s see just how much your body is craving a cleanse.

Before You Start . . .

This cleanse is an ideal choice for anyone who wants to slim down and get healthier quickly. However, if you fall into one of the categories below, you should postpone the diet for now or only do the diet under medical supervision.

Are you pregnant or nursing? If that’s the case, wait until later to do your cleanse. When you’re eating for two, you’ll need more food than you get on this diet. However, this cleanse is a fantastic way to take off those extra baby pounds later on! It’ll also help you restore nutrients lost while you’re nurturing your little one. 

Are you diabetic, or are you taking drugs to lower your blood sugar? This cleanse will lower your blood glucose, and that’s a very good thing. However, if you’re taking insulin or a drug like metformin, you need to be careful not to become hypoglycemic. Get your doctor’s approval before doing the cleanse and check your blood sugar numbers frequently each day. 

Do you have other chronic health problems? Get your doctor’s okay to do the cleanse and ask if you’ll need to adjust any of your medications. 

Are you taking a blood thinner? This cleanse contains lots of healthy greens. These greens are rich in vitamin K, which can interfere with anticlotting drugs, so check with your doctor to make sure it’s safe for you. If not, you can swap out your evening soup for plain bone broth and replace your green smoothies with shakes containing fewer veggies. 

Are you under eighteen? If so, make sure your parents and your doctor say it’s fine for you to do the cleanse.

Do you have a history of an eating disorder? Check with your doctor and make sure this cleanse will be safe for you to do.

Do you have an illness right now or are you recovering from an injury? If so, your body needs to direct all of its resources toward getting you well. Hold off on the cleanse until you’re better . . . I’ll wait for you!