When all your shirts make you look chubby, it's time to stop blaming the shirts

So I've decided to go on the "Master Cleanse." For those of you not familiar with LA Voodoo it is a ten day fast in which you ingest only water, lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper. Now, the cleanse is not supposed to be for weight loss - and I'm not really doing it specifically to loose weight.

I'm doing it as a psychological experiment on myself. I spend MASSIVE amounts of time thinking about food, procuring food, preparing food, and, let us not forget - eating food. More akin to the average panda than the average human. So - what would happen if I cleared up all that brain space for ten days? What if I just knew that no matter what I craved I would be having lemonade. I'm going to try and write and read a ton and make it more of an intellectual challenge than anything.

Also, I'd like to think that it will help me gain some control over my eating habits so that even when I go off the cleanse I can still keep up a healthy diet. Psychologically knowing that that's all it takes to survive should prevent from feeling like I'm going to pass out if I don't eat every three hours. And hopefully I will eat smaller portions.

And, let us not forget, it's a cleanse. I live in a city with a brown sky and have been battling an infestation of moths in my kitchen. (I think I've finally won the war, but they definitly won some of the battles). I eat "frozen non-dairy desserts" that I'm fairly sure are pure water, air, and chemicals. I eat Zone Bars with ingredients I can barely pronounce. Might be really good to give my system a chance to clear out.

Why now? Well, this is coming on the heals of my cousin's wedding where I ate so much I could barely move. This is coming off of the infomercial I was doing so I feel a bit at sea with regards to exercise and diet - I miss having it regimented for me. The cleanse is certainly regimented and I"m going to try and hike every day too - thus the spiritual/intellectual examination. And, well, I had insomnia one night and decided it was a brilliant idea and commited to it right then.

Why public? Because if I'm held accountable to others I'm more likely to stick with it - which everyone says is the biggest challenge. So - it begins on Monday (I figure the best day to start these things - plus it works out that I'll come off it on farmer's market day and be able to buy great fresh veggies and fruit for reintroducing food to my diet).

And so it begins. I'll keep you posted on my pre-cleanse activities and thoughts! If anyone feels like joining in I would be thrilled to have a partner!!