i’ve been sitting on this post for weeks now – actually months (it’s already 2013!), taking in all that i discovered about MYSELF during the fall cleanse i participated in with my ayurvedic yogi friend, talya lutzker (you can follow her on FB, too, at talya’s kitchen). the cleanse helped me in so many ways: it reset my system, got me off coffee for good, and most importantly revealed what actually makes my skin breakout.

the cleanse reminded me that:

“your body is your temple…”

photo courtesy of: thesimplyluxuriouslife.com

PRE – Cleanse:

• fickle coffee fiend - i knew that it was healthier for me & my thyroid to stop drinking coffee altogether. but, that’s soo much easier said than done. i was really good for 3 months after my first visit to the naturopath in march 2012, but when summer came around, i caved in and started sipping starbucks frappuccions or philz iced mint mojitos instead. guilty pleasures… {sigh}
• more CHEESE, please! – freshly grated parmesan on pasta, abundantly showered over (gluten free) pizza, smoked gouda with wine & (gluten free) crackers, soft brie bruschetta with apples, or grilled cheese sandwiches anytime of the day & night. OMG, i ate cheese like it was nobody’s business.
• self-proclaimed carnivore – and damn proud of it! i heart steak! especially how my dad grills it: juicy, soft, medium, DEEE-licious!
  

philz mint mojito & baklava (my old favorites) • photo courtesy of: isabel zhang

IN – Cleanse:

• holy shit it [the cleanse] was so hard, but so necessary for me.
• i was so grateful to have other people going through the same experience as me. strength in numbers. having the support was priceless.
• it’s a lot of work: thought that goes into planning, grocery shopping, preparing & cooking meals. so thankful to talya for giving us a manual with recipes in it! it was such a life saver
• i don’t think i could do this alone. but definitely, i’d do it again!

POST – Cleanse:

dr. martin luther king said it best:

Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.

trust me, it would be so much easier to turn my head, look the other way & pretend that i don’t know any better. but i just can’t - not anymore. not after literally feeling the impact of eating whole foods; noticing how efficiently my body function, and how less weighed down i feel after eating.

my valuable learnings:

learning #1: i kicked the coffee craving – once & for all! - ZERO DESIRE for coffee. share my excitement, please! this has been one of THE hardest things to shake off… i’ve had such a strong attachement to coffee (the smell, the taste, the ritual) since college, although i was already drinking coffee in high school. about a month after the cleanse ended & still coffee-free, i was really curious about how my body would react to coffee in my system again after being 100% free of it for 30+ days. i stopped by philz coffee after i had a meeting with our travel agent (jeff & i are going to belize for our honeymoon!), ordered my “usual” - small ambrosia with cream & medium sweet. i was kinda excited to taste it, but when i did… it was not at all like remembered it! my taste buds were not satisfied. i didn’t want it. WTF? amazing. i didn’t even finish it. i think i had about half of that small cup of coffee and i was D-O-N-E. peace out, joe. my heart belongs to tea now. ♥

more tea, please • photo by krismarie b

learning #2: “NO thank you” to cheese & all other dairy products. sadly yes. i absolutely have to. why? because dairy MAKES ME BREAK OUT! the culprit has been revealed! i learned this in the worst way possible… on my wedding day. talya advised us to add the foods we cut out slowly back into our systems to notice how our bodies would react when we reintroduced each food type. unfortunately, jeff & i had already decided to have our wedding rehearsal dinner at our favorite italian bruschetta spot: B Street & Vine. pretty much everything on our pre-set menu had cheese in it, and i really didn’t think anything of it, although my gut was telling me to be wary & limit my cheese intake. learning #2a: listen to your gut. instincts are usually spot on. anyway, woke up the morning of my wedding (2 days later)… and i was totally broken out along my jawline. i was F-in pissed and SO devastated. luckily, i had a great make-up artist who was able to cover every spot.

learning #3 – eat out of either a bowl or a bowl plate – or which i comically refer to as a: “blate.” eating out of a smaller rounded vessel not only kept my food together, but it looked like an abundance of food on my blate. i ate less, but it was really the perfect amount of food that filled me up without making me wish i had worn my stretchy pants to dinner.

learning #4 – eat organic, local & in season – this one is a little challenging, which i have to admit, i don’t do on a regular basis. farmer’s markets are a fantastic whole foods hub. farmer’s markets bring local farmers together in one place that sell fruits/veggies that are in season, pesticide-free, organic, and fresh. those are big things! eating in-season fruits/veggies means that i’m supporting local businesses and ingesting less imported foods that have been sprayed with pesticides or coated with wax to preserve freshness & prolong life during transport. plus, on a beautiful sunday morning, a trip to the farmer’s market is a great way to start the day!

farmer’s market, mountain view • photo courtesy of killerbunniesinc.com

learning #5 - eat food that tastes good! – a cleanse is hard, but it’s even harder when i would eat things that didn’t appeal to my personal taste. what made this cleanse successful for me was not only was i was given healthier alternatives to the foods that i would normally eat, i was also exposed to foods that i never had before. yes, it involved a little trial and error, but i found some new favorites! eating healthier doesn’t mean sacrificing great taste. food should always taste good!

learning #6 – i’m eat more like a vegetarian/pescetarian (fish-eater). i’m not saying that i’ve sworn off all meat altogether, but the amount of meat (pork/chicken/steak) i consume nowadays is significantly less… 2x/week at most. now, i crave all kinds of vegetables: hearty squashes, leafy greens, and vibrantly colored salads; and proudly prefer fish over steak. i realized that eating steak would make my heart race, which doesn’t really help support a balanced thyroid. (for those of you reading my blog for the first time, i have hyperthyroidism)

learning #7 – practice patience & compassion - choosing healthier foods is not always the easiest thing to do. with so much temptation around me, i have to make the conscious decision to choose foods that nurture my body. there are days that i don’t make the wisest food choices and give into my cravings, but i believe if i’m “good” 80% of the time, i can be “bad” 20% of the time… although i am very mindful of how “bad” i want to be. for sure, a gluten cave-in is a rarity, but does happen when lumpia is involved.

looking forward to talya’s spring cleanse! 

“The body is your temple.  Keep it pure and clean for the soul to reside in.”  ~B.K.S. Iyengar, Yoga: The Path To Holistic Health

photo courtesy of Body Temple on Facebook

props to the following websites for allowing me to gather info:

• top benefits of shopping at farmer’s markets
• 
  http://eatocracy.cnn.com