Thinking About Doing A Cleanse?

Think about this old Chinese proverb:

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

Growing up, I don’t remember anyone walking around with a glass of water in their hand all day long. I don’t remember brown rice. Salad meant iceberg lettuce. And yet, all statistics prove that we were way healthier. Healthier five years ago than we are now. Healthier ten years ago than we were five. Healthier fifteen years ago than we were 10. And on and on. There are lots of points of view about why.

But according to the most recent Gallup poll on the subject, we may finally be plateau-ing, with 2012 obesity statistics remaining stable compared with 2011.

A 26.2% (ironic that this is the number of miles in a marathon) obesity rate is nothing to celebrate about, but if it turns out it’s the peak, I’ll take it. And as a health coach, I have confidence it will be. Because unlike the “fat is bad!” propaganda that spread in the 90’s and the “carbs are bad!” mantra of the ‘00s (both of which have turned out to be false and unsustainable), the health discussions of late are more intelligent debates than black and white proclamations. And it has forced us to think, research and experiment for ourselves rather than react like robots.

Organic or not?
When did high fructose corn syrup creep into the ingredient lists of 80% of the foods in my kitchen?
What do I think about having vending machines in my kid’s elementary school?
What is quinoa anyway? And am I pronouncing that right?

Asking ourselves questions like these, rather than following the latest magic bullet formula, leads to more sustainable changes in our own diets and those of our families.

It seems we might finally be teaching ourselves to fish, folks!

So when I decided I was going to take the plunge and do a cleanse, I followed this philosophy. Which meant that a program designed simply to flush toxins out of the body to wipe the slate clean (think juice cleanse) wouldn’t cut it. It could easily justify resuming bad eating habits after completion. After all, “I can just do another cleanse.”

So I opted for a different kind. For seven days, I cut out gluten, dairy, sugar, alcohol and caffeine. No, I don’t have celiac disease, I’m not lactose intolerant, I don’t have type 2 diabetes, I’m not an alcoholic and I’m not addicted to caffeine. And because of all of that, I’ll likely never cut out any of those things for good. But it was only seven days, so I was game. And it as it turns out, I was never hungry. I never felt deprived. I even attended a client dinner without experiencing any eye-rolling. But the best part? I had to experiment. Which means I had to learn new stuff. And as I slowly introduce those no-no cleanse foods back into my diet, I’m modifying here and there based on what I learned… teaching myself how to fish. It’s actually a whole lot of fun. Try it.

The “fishing” bug seems to have worn off on my family, too. Though the jury may still be out as to whether or not that’s a good thing. :)