spring cleanse

I'm on day 11 of a personal experiment. I'd been drinking a ton of that cleansing lemonade this spring -- the fresh lemon juice, maple syrup and pinch of cayenne recipe -- and noticed my appetite diminishing greatly. For years now I've been feeling like I've lost touch with with my body's innate wisdom. So on May 1st, I decided the time was right to try a 21 day experiment to learn more about the relationship between my body, mind and food.

I decided to drink lots of my favorite lemonade, eat only raw foods and only in response to real hunger, and exercise at least 20 minutes every day. My intention was to simplify my diet enough to clear out any cravings that were coming from addictions (sugar, in particular!) and then to listen for my body's requests. why 21 days? I dunno. I just like that number. LOL.

It's been very interesting - it took a long time to feel hungry. Plenty of days, all my body requested was one apple or an avocado. Maybe my previously frequent eating was due to the the lower quality of food I was selecting - when I eat nutritionally empty calories, perhaps my body doesn't really register them as meeting its needs, and persists in creating hunger signals in hopes that I'll feed it something useful. I had promised myself that at any point after the first three days, (the point at which I thought addictions would no longer be a major influence on my cravings,) if my body's request truly could not be satisfied with a raw food, I would let go of the experiment and eat whatever my body was asking for.

Yesterday was the first time I needed will power. I got reacquainted with the feeling of strong hunger, and it sort of caught me off guard and unprepared. Mashed potatos were handy and ready to eat, and smelled so yummy. But I've come this far into the experiment, and I wanted to honor my original intention. So instead I ate a chopped salad and a handful of raw cashews and raisins, and promised myself if that did not satisfy me, I'd snarf those mashed potatoes. To my great surprise, it never came to that. The salad was incredibly satisfying.

My sense of smell and taste are extremely heightened - kevin was eating a bowl of vanilla ice cream next to me on the couch, and I could smell the alcohol in the vanilla!! I enjoy the fragrance of so many more flowers and trees out on my walks than ever before.

My energy levels are great, I'm sleeping well, and it feels like I am thinking more clearly for whatever reason - having more insights into my own thought processes in many areas of my life. Maybe there's a purification happening on multiple levels right now.

So we'll see where this ends up. I'm kind of hoping that by the end of 21 days, processed food won't be of much interest to me anymore, because that leaves will power out of the equation. It's sort of happening already - there are so many layers of taste and texture in a sweet crunchy apple, and processed foods don't smell very good to me these days.

At the very least, after 21 days of this I should have some indication of whether there is truly a link between what I eat and how I feel, both physically and emotionally. I've read lots of research that suggests there is, and I'm excited to find out for myself.

***this is simply a recording of my experience - by no means is it a recommendation or endorsement! for some folks, this experiment could be dangerous to their health.***