Spring Cleaning

...It's been a while.

I have good reason: four year anniversary getaway, moved the group home (after some drama), officially became 1/2 of a "starving student" household... that's right, as a type, Scotty is finishing up his fist day back to school up on Burnaby mountain).

With all this change, I've decided to capitalize on it.

When people want to change bad habits or let go of addictions one of their biggest obstacles is that their environment often stays the same (and thus, they fall back into their old patterns). This fact, coupled with my distaste for supporting those big corporate bastards getting us all hooked on junkfood has brought me to sacrifice my tastebuds in honour of good health.

I am in day 4 of a 28 day cleanse.

I'm not talking an herbal cleanse (those ones where you continue to eat crap but just take a supplement 3 times a day at the cost of $50)- I'm talking the hard-work-self-control cleanse.

My girl Sarah and I went on this incredible (and cruel) cleanse almost five years ago, and it was well worth it (I had planned on doing it once a year, but I'm a procrastinator... what can I say?). It was so hard, but after the 28 days, my energy and mood was up, and my appitite for sugar and chemicalized food was WAY down (I remember a lot of it actually turning my stomach).

I'll share the plan. Take the bait if your in for the challenge...

1. REMOVE ALL ALLEGENIC FOODS FROM DIET... COLD TURKEY
Some of these aren't bad fr you, but many people have mild allergies to them and don't know it (evidenced through depression, fatigue, headaches etc.), so cutting them out of your diet for the 28 days allows your body to work on getting all the toxins out (without having to try to digest stuff it really hates). These include:
*Wheat... yes even whole wheat products (ever heard of gluten?- it's a huge problem to a lot of people, and it's in ALL wheat). So for 28 days say goodbye to bread, pasta, cereal, baked goods etc.
*Dairy (lactose)... no milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream...boo.

2. BYE BYE RED MEAT AND EGGS
It's hard for your body digest meat and cleanse at the same time (did you know it takes up to 3 dyas for your body to pull the nutrients from meat?...yes, that's right, it has to begin to decompose in your body first... that's why people on Atkins had that bad odour- it's called ketosis). You want to stay away from Saturated fats (as in red meat and eggs) because they tend to coat your intestines (not allowing your body to get rid of the junk thats lining them).

3.NO REFINED
No sugar. It causes huge highs and lows... this one is hard for me, I'm an addict, but after 2 weeks (of hell), your cravings dissappear (and you can be one of those people we all hate who is satisfied with fruit...damn you Scotty).

4. AU REVOIR ADDITIVES AND PRESERVATIVES
This is what your cleansing out of your system... so give your body a break already! We were never created to eat this stuff, and it doesn't do anything for our health. Instead, much of it lines our digestive tract, interfering with proper absorbtion of nutrients (making us tired, cranky and endlessly hungry). Just think about it: if it is made to preserve food... what do you think it does when you swallow it?

5. PASS THE SALT
It makes you retain water... avoid it as much as you can bear... you don't want to retain anything.

According to naturalpaths, we're lugging a lot of toxins around in our bodies and because we keep adding more, our body doesn't have time to get rid of them, so they clog our intestines and some get stored in our fat (there is the theory that the storage of these toxins are largely to blame for cellulite... thats why skinny gals get it too if your body is the type that transports toxins away from the intestine). Another claim? You can lose up to 10 lbs of toxins (but that's if you eat insane ammounts of processed foods). I don't remember a bunch of weightloss, but I did get the dark patches on my back that were predicted (toxins leech out of your skin) that dissappeared in week four.

So what do you eat?
*Ooodles of Veggies
*Fruits (Fresh, dried or frozen...fresh juices and smoothies are great)
*Oats (Oatmeal, homemade granola)
*Grains and seeds (Brown rice, Quinoa, millet, barley... look it up).
*Tofu
*White meat (chicken or turkey... but try to buy organic to avoid the hormones)
*White fish
*Soy/almond milk (but not the flavoured... So Nice Natural is good).
*Nuts (you can buy natural peanut butter).
*Brown rice pasta. (make homemade tomato sauce and pesto and you're set)
*Beans
*Honey

Your main flavour enhancers will be lemon juice, garlic, vinager, olive oil, pepper, mustard, tahini (sesame paste), miso paste, parsley and Mrs. Dash... it'll be bland at first, but your tastebuds get more sensitive within a week.

For recipies I recommend vegetarian and vegan books/websites... you actually can eat a lot more than you think (homemade sushi with brown rice, fruit crisp (cook frozen fruit w/ honey and toast rolled oats w/ honey and grapeseed oil and BAM!), Stir Fry, Oatmeal pancakes w/ strawberry sauce (over cook your oatmeal then pur into fry pan)...

The final key is to drink tons of warm water with lemon, it cleanses your kidneys and liver so they can do their work of detoxing you.

If your crazy enough to do it, remember the saying: "Short term loss for long term gain"