The Cleanse

So, the title of this blog is "A Year in Fasting." January's "fast" is actually the cleanse that Kathy Freston recommends in Quantum Wellness. I'll be abstaining from all sugar, alcohol, animal products, caffeine, and gluten. I've decided to start on January 1st as that is an important benchmark day. The cleanse is supposed to go on for 21 days. On Wednesdays and Fridays, I will also be abstaining from olive oil. I'm hoping that doing this for 21 days will not only help me feel better, but also get me off dairy for good. I need to find some good herbal teas that aren't too fruity to supplement the coffee.

There are a number of collateral benefits to giving up caffeine, sugar, and dairy, not the least of which is the decrease in strain on my pocket book. No more Starbucks. I'm sitting here with my venti iced coffee, sweetened with a pump of toffee nut, and de-bittered with a splash of half and half. All my vices, right here, in one cup.

Right now, I'm doubtful that I'll even make it through on day. Conventional wisdom tells me that giving up ALL those vices at once will make me feel like crap and that its too much to do at once. But my question is this: why give up one thing at a time and "detox" each time? Why not feel crappy for a couple of days and deal with it all at once?

My plan is to stay as busy as possible for the first couple of days in January. Thankfully, January 1st is on a Thursday and I have that off, so keeping busy won't be difficult. Work on Friday- no trouble there. Saturday will be a Disneyland day and Sunday will be church. Hopefully by Monday, things will be better. I have to really prepare though. Going into it blindly is bound to cause trouble. Its pretty easy to avoid everything but gluten. This means no bread, no oatmeal, and I'm not even sure what else. I haven't really researched the gluten-free part of all this. Hmmm....

Anyway, this should be an interesting experiment. Looking forward to really getting started!