If Oprah can do it, so can I

I have been considering trying a cleanse for a while now. Not for the purpose of wanting to drop 10 or 15 pounds in a week, as some of those people that do the crazy juice cleanses do, but rather to detox, give my digestive system a break, determine if I have any gluten or dairy sensitivities, and to give the caffeine and alcohol a rest for a bit. The other main reason is to say goodbye to processed sugar. A lot of food like fruit has natural sugar in, which gives us those natural doses that we need. The guideline for a 2,000-calorie diet is around 32 grams of sugar a day and with a regular diet of most of us on the go, it’s nearly impossible to accomplish this without being overly conscious about it.

Take for example the following foods that are fairly popular and that I am guilty of eating every now and then:

Jamba Juice 12 oz Chunky Strawberry: Strawberries, bananas, yogurt, soymilk, and peanut butter with organic granola blended in and topped with fresh bananas and organic granola. Sounds healthy, right? Stats: A 12 oz version of this (and that’s the smallest size) contains: 520 calories, 17g fat, 82g carbs and…46 grams of sugar…eek!

Starbucks Chai Tea Latte: Spiced black tea blended with steamed milk Stats: A 16oz grande size has 240 calories and 41g sugar

Starbucks Apple Bran Muffin Stats: 1 muffin 350 calories 34g of sugar

Dairy Queen Medium Mint Oreo Blizzard Stats: 1 Medium size has 740 calories, 89g sugar

Think about if you have even one of those items in any given day. You not only surpass your daily sugar limits, but also will find yourself well into several days’ reserves.

My research into the whole cleansing frenzy took me in the direction of several almost-starving-yourself options such as the Lemonade Master Cleanse: Consisting mainly of a diet of cayenne pepper, maple syrup, lemons, filtered water, and sea salt. I’m very active and love my food so this would have been disastrous for me and would have most likely ended up with a trip to the ER, or at least the local clinic. Ironically, my soon-to-be mother-in-law emailed me and told me about this Quantum Wellness Cleanse by Kathy Freston that was featured on Oprah after she decided to give it a try herself. The plan is to eliminate the following from your diet over a period of 21 days: alcohol, gluten, sugar, caffeine, and all animal products.

I’m going to give this an attempt for a lot of reasons, but one of the main ones being self-control. I’d like to be able to get to the point where I am able to pay more attention to what I am putting into my body before I go ahead and grab that convenience, overly processed, and sugar-packed muffin from Starbucks when I am in a hurry and on my way to a meeting. At the very least, I’m hoping this is going to remind me to reach for a piece of fruit and challenge me to remember to incorporate fresh veggies into my diet. I’m looking forward to the challenge of creating some new recipes and pushing away my “go to” lunch and dinner meals.

Day 1 officially has kicked off:

I just ate a grapefruit. I don’t remember the last time that has happened. Delicious. I also discovered gluten free bread. Not the best but with some peanut butter and a banana on top it got the job done.