Detox

Starting Monday the Husband and I are embarking on a 21-day cleanse.  I predict this is going to be much easier for me than him, but I anticipate we will both be hungry.

The Husband is very much a meat and potatoes guy, although he has been slowly integrating fruits and vegetables into his diet over the 7 years we have been married.  His gateway vegetable was asparagus, oddly enough.  He is a product of his environment - no one else in his family eats vegetables, either.

I have a couple of goals for this cleanse.  First, I want to eliminate my sweet tooth.  I am hoping the dietary changes for the next few weeks will clear my body of those cravings.  Awhile back I read The End of Overeating by Dr. David Kessler, which discusses the evolutionary reasons for why we eat the way we eat.  Basically, our bodies are built to hypereat in certain circumstances.  When we encounter a calorie-dense food source, high in fat and/or sugar, our bodies drive us to eat more and more.  This is a remnant from a time when high calorie food sources were few and far between.  Our ancestors needed to eat as much as possible when they encountered these food sources.  Who knew when they would eat again?  Unfortunately now foods high in fat and sugar are plentiful, so we are driven to hypereat frequently.  We also don't have to do any work to get our food.  This adds up to all those extra pounds.  Dr. Kessler argues the food industry preys on this predisposition to hypereat by creating foods layered with fat, sugar, and salt.  But that's a whole other discussion.

Secondly, I want to determine if dairy or gluten contribute to my ongoing struggle with fatigue.  The cleanse starts out eliminating everything from the diet except fruits, vegetables, lentils, seeds, nuts, and oils.  By week three, eggs, fish, and soy are added back in, but dairy and gluten are still absent.  I am hoping my energy will be increased.  Even though a life without cheese seems dismal.

I am preparing by stocking the fridge with lots of fruits and vegetables and totally gorging myself this weekend.  After my Little Sweetpea goes to bed, I will settling down with some wine and Girl Scout cookies.  Kind of against the point, I know.