A Cleansing

What's the quickest way to bring all of your unresolved issues to the surface? Do a cleanse. Whenever I embark on this 3-60 day journey, I make sure the first 2 days are as easy, with as little social interaction as possible. Day one really isn't that hard, I just feel dizzy and a little weak. I fortify day one with lots of television and a gallon and a half of distilled water. This time I did light work from my home office, nothing taxing. Day one is a dingy day.

Day two is the motherfucker. It's the end of the world. Everything comes crashing down. I question my worth as a human being. That business deal gone wrong I stuffed with a pack of Twizzlers, the heartbreak drowned in mango sorbet...it's all right in front of me like something straight out of Hellraiser. My thinking they were gone was a sugar-induced hallucination. What to do? We never got a chance to know each other so I make friends with them. They've arrived at the party and there's no fighting it. A respectable juice of kale, apple, cucumber and a kick of ginger is nourishment, nothing more. My dessert of large red globe grapes was delicious but won't send these big boys packing.

Day 3 I wake a different boy. I want to venture out. I want to shop. Go for a drive. The beach. Anything but go home. The lid is blown off the storage vault of my creativity. I start a new writing project. My Hellraiser guests haven't gone anywhere but we're learning to live with each other a day at a time. Today their presence doesn't sting nearly as much as when they arrived. The day isn't perfect--while changing clothes at the gym, I sit on my phone with my keys under it and crack the screen. By day 4 I awake with a lighter spirit and more energy. My palate is clean and I'm not craving junk food. I go to work without the worry of doing something dingy but have to watch my mouth as I seem to have lost my filter. I already look different, 2 people compliment my complexion. I have 2 periods of hunger during the day due to poor planning. I walk on Venice beach with my boyfriend at 1am.

Now that my emotions have calmed down and my new normal has been set, I look around the house. Things need to go. How did I let this junk clog up my corners for all these months? I identify clutter than needs to be cleared, items that need to be Ebayed, donated or put on Craigslist Free. I screw one of the arms on a pair of disembodied Ray Bans. They'd been that way for almost a year. There are things in my apartment that have to change. The pair of leather red and black club shoes from years ago are illuminated by the "get rid of me" spotlight. Sometime in the next few days, I'll probably re-arrange the furniture in my bedroom.

At first, I consume nothing but produce and juice (real stuff I juice myself, not from bottles) with a sprinkling of vegan friendly protein (beans, legumes, nuts, tofu or seitan) at the end of the day. Spices and nutritional yeast are legal. This requires daily produce shopping--I buy at Food-4-Less to keep the cost down. Day six I may switch to all juice.

I will do a cleanse for one or more of the following reasons:
--Weight loss
--Feeling stuck professionally
--Emotional stagnation
--Physical aches and pains
--Creative blocks
--Re-set my palate to not crave crappy food
--Fatigue

This time, it's all of these except the aches and pains. In my "How I lost 100 pounds (and kept it off)" blog, I chronicle my weight loss journey. Losing the weight was a herculean task spread over several years. My reward was a new body. Now, I'm ready to lose the last chunk and this is my kickstart...and the other reasons listed. I'm hoping to lose this last 20 pounds. I will continue to do the things listed in my aforementioned blog with an increase in exercise. I seldom binge and if I eat something really unhealthy it's about once a month but sometimes even that is too often. I've been eating too many convenience foods, too much Taco Bell because I "don't have time to cook." Like sailing on the open sea, we can alter our trajectory ever so slightly and end up in a completely different place...good or bad.

Cleansing/juice fasts/reboots may seem extreme but they make sense to those who have done them. For anyone seeking the changes I've mentioned, watch the movie Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead and see the miracles of produce/juice fasts including dramatic recovery and cure from deadly diseases. My last major cleanse turned into a 2-month adventure. How long will I do it this time? My body will give me the answer. I will encounter a lot of armchair nutrition advice, people will spew medical "facts" based on old science and I will recieve high-5's from others who have done this. My weight loss and maintenance so far has been 99.9% portion control, lots of produce, vegetarian/vegan diet and walking. 

People do produce and juice fasts for purely medical reasons but the side effects can be just as beneficial. Am I hungry all the time? Just the first couple days. Sitting on day 4, I'm completely satisfied.