NEWSLETTER

From Fast Food Nation to an Inconvenient Truth
by Tamara Lovere

When my brother contacted me about wanting to do his first cleanse I jumped for joy. I have been concerned about his health ever since he told me he developed a digestive problem resulting in the need for a colonoscopy at the age of 29. A little bit about him…he's a firefighter, a super nice guy, and a major junk food junkie. Once, when I made him an awesome organic dinner he said he thought the food tasted like the stuff that is spit out of a chipper. I had to laugh about that for a while... But seriously, where to begin with someone who thinks natural food tastes like dirt?

I believe that every healing journey must begin with forgiveness. If you know you haven't been taking the best care of yourself, then it is important to forgive yourself first, and then commit to a new start. The organs and cells of your body are healed with thought and intent just as much as with the healthy foods you choose.

One time a woman approached me in a restaurant, someone I had seen around town for years, and she said “I've been noticing your glow of health for years, what is it that you do to stay so vibrant?” The first thing that came to mind to say was that I stay in balance, get rest, do yoga every day, and only eat when I am hungry. But the truth is that ‘well-being-ness' is a mystery, and the things we do in the physical world to maintain our bodies are only part of the whole picture.

Wow, now that's what I call sidetracked. My brother would need an interpreter to get through that airy fairy nonsense.

My first recommendation was for him to buy a book about cleansing and at least read the introduction, to begin to get an understanding of what happens in the body during a cleanse. I like the one called Juice Fasting and Detoxification. Start the reprogramming process! The fact that I have read many books about health and the body is a big reason why I make good eating choices in my day to day life.

I jumped into adult life becoming vegetarian at age 18, on a diet of macaroni and cheese and diet coke. Because I'm a vegetarian and we don't eat anything with eyes that's why! By 20 I had fallen for a vegan chef who taught me the ropes. Once, he found a candy wrapper in my car and nearly ended the relationship. I'm serious. Never forget, it is always possible to become too extreme.

I designed a 5 day “beginner's cleanse” for my brother. He wrote to me that he made it through the first 3 days…and he was even leaving the ‘husks' on his vegetables. Well it's a start.

There is great potential for having a powerful, life-changing experience while cleansing. To change one's habits, even temporarily, is harder than it sounds. It is through exercising our will that we build strength and power; we clear out the cobwebs occasionally and allow our spirit's light to shine even more brightly. Feel proud of yourself for whatever level of cleanse you choose to do, even one day is a big challenge!

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Days 1,2,3, and 5 will be the same: 1 tbsp of psyllium powder, (or, if sensitive to psyllium, you can use an herbal colon cleanse formula from the health food store) in 8 oz of water (or ½ juice/ ½ water) in the morning and evening each day. 2 organic grapefruits in the morning. Fresh squeezed veggie juice in the late morning and afternoon, one example would be “parsley, spinach, celery, beet, and carrot”, heavy on the greens! Brown rice with lightly steamed vegetables for lunch and dinner. This will taste really boring without seasonings, but don't do it! A side benefit of cleansing is getting insights into food addictions. Processed food is very salty, so your taste buds may have become dulled. Fast on day 4, except for the psyllium, use water to mix it with on this day. Drink 1 gallon of purified water every day of your cleanse, drink it between meals so your food has time to digest. And that's it!

Tamara Lovere was vegetarian for 13 years, and now chooses to listen to her body (instead of her mind) to tell her what to eat. She is also a yoga teacher at WMYC.

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