Feeling Cleansed

I'm doing something this week that I've always wanted to do.

Doesn't that feel good? Getting something off of your life list? Like paying off student loans or road-tripping to Vegas...

I'm doing a juice cleanse.

Beer bottle in the back not included.

 I often saw other girls (always girls) in college doing the Master Cleanse (water. maple syrup. cayenne pepper. lemons. laxatives.) and I couldn't quite wrap my head around it. Since then the cleanse fad has only gotten bigger with more and more types appearing out of the blue like crazy whack-a-moles. We even had a juicery open up down the street- that would be an entire store devoted to cold-pressed juicing. Sure, their drinks were tasty, but they were also 7$ a bottle. No, thanks.

This cleanse is apparently Gwyneth Paltrow approved. It's her Organic Avenue Diet, but- AND THIS IS A PRETTY BIG BUT- I did not buy organic, ya'll. Nope. I bought Costco and I bought Trader Joe's and I don't think I'll ever do this again. Apparently I'm drinking spinach and celery and parsley and Romaine lettuce for 7 days.

So why? Why am I subjecting myself to this?

To challenge myself- mind over matter.
I'm curious to see if it works the way they say it does: clearer skin? energy?
I finally found a juicing-buddy with a coworker. Mr. E plans to stay within his chewable diet, chomping away on everything non-leafy in our fridge.

I don't think this will lose any weight for me.
I don't think this will "clean" my gut- of all the biota who are SUPPOSED to live there...
I don't think this is a long-term diet, but at least this one contains food. Plusalso I may splurge a little and eat some sort of meat/protein dinner instead of more veggies because I really don't like broccoli/cauliflower/zucchini.

So we'll see how this goes! I'm excited.

But maybe I'll just chalk that down to stage fright.

I bet tomorrow I'll feel like crap.

Step Seventeen: Timing is Everything

You know that feeling when everything seems to be on your plate at once? When you can't possibly add one more thing to your to-do list because you might keel over from exhaustion (and possible inappropriate coffee dispensing)? Imagine someone asked you to for that one more thing- chances are you're a little predisposed to say no, even if it's perfectly reasonable.

It's all about the timing.

This is a skill that most people learn at home first. There was always a good time and a bad time to ask my parents for something: immediately as they walked in the door? Not so much. After they found out I did extra chores and started dinner? Lookin' better.

The same is true for my husband. If I ask him to...write a guest post for my blog...after a 12-hour day on set, before he's eaten and right in the middle of an argument with our handyman, the best I can get is an irritated "Uh-huh" that never really gets done. But if I time my question so that he's in a better mood or frame of mind, then the odds that he'll do what I ask are already in my favor.

I just happen to stack the odds pretty often, too, with things like this.