Let me start by saying this:
The Clean Slate Cleanse is a way to reset your relationship with food. We eat wheat-free, sugar-free, alcohol-free, caffeine-free, vegan. I am not vegan all the time; I drink alcohol and caffeine, eat gluten and sugar occasionally as well. Before you throw this post to the side, understand that even though I do eat in ways that are different than this cleanse, I do it mindfully. I take inventory of what I am eating: what is in it? Where did it come from? How does my mind feel about it? How does my body feel? Do my mind and body feel the same? I take at least two times per year to cleanse. I find that it changes my palate, boosts my metabolism, and helps me to maintain my body weight. It also helps reinforce better eating decisions on a regular basis.
Some may say that it is inauthentic for me to host a cleanse without being 100% committed to all the suggestions that are in here, but I disagree. I have been completing dietary cleanses since 2009, and since then I have continued to read more about the mind-food connection, worked with healers who help you to stay present in the body from day to day, and trained extensively in essential oils as a tool to release clogged up emotions. From all of these learnings, I created the Clean Slate Cleanse.
I recommend cleansing for a few of reasons:
- We live in a world where time and space seem to swirl around us. A quick sandwich, a cheeky glass of wine, or a dessert: we sometimes eat without quite thinking about it. We sit and eat an entire plate of food without enjoying it, or struggle to choke it down over an angry conversation with a loved one. Cleansing creates a necessary purposefulness with food and it resets us to baseline.
- We fall into traps with food. We can lose our sense of adventure in favor of the same old dishes that we always eat. Cleansing offers an opportunity to explore new items on the menu, and to bring new vibrancy and health to us.
- We lean too heavily on supplements and medicines. Seriously, eating a terrible diet will trump any supplement or any medicine every single time.
- There is very strong, albeit debatable, evidence that plant-based diets are the healthiest way to eat both for our bodies and our planet. I review it throughout the Clean Slate Cleanse, and you can decide for yourself. I have confidence that consumption of meat and animal products is (at least) unnecessary for humans and (at worst) harmful to humans.
- Just because, darn it, you feel better, your skin is clearer, and your belly is flatter.
Whether this way of eating becomes a lifestyle choice or a temporary break, it is nice to know that we have options to reclaim our relationship with food. This cleanse eliminates meat and animal products, gluten, sugar, caffeine and alcohol for 21 days. Thankfully there are hundreds of delicious plants to eat on the cleanse and the list of plant-based prepared foods has expanded extensively over the past years. I understand that this style of eating can cost more up front, especially if it is a dramatic overhaul. However, once you start and get going the ingredients in your made-over pantry will be used over and over again.
I hate the word diet.
This cleanse is not intended to be a set of restrictions that prevent you from experiencing pleasure from food, nor is it intended to be a “Phew, thank God that horrid diet is over so I can go back to cakes and coffee after my steak”. This book is intended to reset your brain to the original definition of the word diet: from the 13th century, a noun meaning “regular food, the kind of food that a person, animal or community normally eats”. Never do I use the word diet as a verb meaning “to restrict oneself to small amounts or special kinds of food to lose weight”.
The purpose of the Clean Slate Cleanse is not to lose weight, but to examine and explore our relationship with food. To look at our regular food that we eat and determine if it is serving our body to live at its maximum potential.
Are you ready to reset your relationship with food and yourself? Join the Clean Slate Cleanse.
Not sold yet? Check out my blog post about what a day of the Clean Slate Cleanse looks like!
