Thursday, December 29, 2011

Time to cleanse?

I've had a gluttonous few weeks. Rum drinking in Jamaica and Thanksgiving feasting was followed by several dinners for TLOML's birthday, and then we prepared for Christmas with four days of eating steak and empanadas. Ouch (that's my waistband talking).

This morning I started on the path back to fitness. I went for my first run in ten days. And had my first breakfast which did not involve gingerbread or dulce de leche for over a week. It was not fun. And if I want to get back in shape I'm looking at several weeks of more of  the same. Surely there's an easier way?

Which is how I got to thinking about the juice cleanse option. Juice cleansing is all the rage here in NYC. I believe it's all the rage because I know one woman who's done it, and one who's considered it but decided against. Which given that I only know three women in all of New York - okay, it's a small sample, but I think it counts as a phenomenom.


A juice cleanse involves drinking only juice for at least three days, five if you're fanatical. These juices are as far away from Bloody Marys or Mimosas as you can imagine. Think kale, beet and wheatgrass - with perhaps a shot of almond milk as a special treat - and you're on the right lines. Apparently consuming nothing but liquidised vegetables rests the digestive tract and cleanses the body of toxic residue.

I guess by toxic residue they mean things like that New York strip I ate last night, and the eggnog I had for desert. Sigh. You know, if the portions weren't so big here, and the food wasn't so fatty and sugary and delicious, we'd all have a lot less toxic residue.

By the sounds of this NY Times-er's experience, the juice cleanse can be pretty unpleasant. I read somewhere that one of those unfeasibly proportioned Victoria's Secret models consumes only liquids for 9 days before the show where they parade about in their skimpies. I think the other name for that 'diet' is starvation. Since I have no plans to walk semi-naked in public in the near future, I think I will pass.

Perhaps  a daily run and a marginally healthier diet is a better option after all. The High School Reunion Diet sounds interesting (inspired name, isn't it?). Thirty days of moderation sounds a lot more manageable than five days of fasting. Frankly, I suspect I'd crack by elevenses on the first day.

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