Over this holiday vacation, I am doing a cleanse. Yes, you heard me correctly: a two-week nutritional plan in which I eat no dairy, gluten, sugar, soy, alcohol, caffeine, or nightshades (read: tomatoes). In other words, I will be abstaining from all of the yummy cheese dips, fudge balls, New Years Eve toasts, and the best pizza on the planet, which happens to hail from my hometown of Urbana-Champaign, Illinois.
Why in the world would someone choose such agony? A cleanse is bad enough at any time of the year, but during one of the ones with the best eats on tap? Aside from the fact that I’ve had the kit for 6 months, and it’s getting embarrassing that I haven’t done it yet, I chose the holidays for several reasons:
1. I use food as a distraction.
To me, food is a convenient replacement for dealing with just about any situation. Feeling bored? Eat. Mad at someone? Eat. Feeling socially awkward? Eat. Heck, happy with my life? Let’s celebrate and eat! So what ends up happening is that I get very present to my palate, and very much not present to the people and experiences going on around me. And that’s not what the holidays are about.
2. My body usually feels crappy during the holidays, come to think of it.
After an hour of gluttonous bliss, my body typically falls into a bloated, cranky, antsy, flabby coma. Is it really worth it? And if the eating continues, my body doesn’t emerge from said coma until I get on that plane ride back home. When I wonder if I should have booked two seats for myself instead of one. Is that really how I want to spend my holidays?
3. I can share my body bliss with some of my dearest people.
Supposedly, this cleanse makes you feel really good (after the first few days, in which you are constantly hungry and craving anything but the cleanse foods). Who better to share blissed-out Samantha with than some of my nearest and dearest friends and family? Would I rather give them flabby, cranky Samantha?
4. I am choosy about where I spend my calories.
I adore Manhattan dining. I adore my social life, which often revolves around dinners and drinks and coffees. So if I had to pick where to spend my caloric buck, it would be on that life, and not on the Christmas binges, no matter how good they are.
5. What a great way to start off a new year.
It’s going to be quite a journey to stick with this ascetic eating plan, no doubt… solely because of the bands of waring thoughts that will wage battles in my head, at least for the first few days. But I will beat back the barbarians and prove to myself that “yes I can” and feel so darn proud and happy with myself… and it is in that mental space that I will ring in 2012. I can’t think of a better way to ring in the New Year, aside from in the arms of some gorgeous, witty gentleman… but why not have both? The cleanse allows such things.
So cheer me on for my Christmas cleanse. It’s going to be an interesting adventure, and one thing I suspect is that I will emerge from the experience feeling more present, happy with my body and myself, and connected to those around me. Stay tuned 
Happy Holidays, everyone.
Samantha
A blog by Dr. Samantha Sutton, VP and Senior Coach at the Handel Group
Image courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/elycefeliz/
So how did it go? was it worth doing it and would you do it again
Hi Kera,
It was definitely a worthwhile experience. I learned a lot about what foods do and don’t feel good to eat… and also, how some of the foods I would eat were sacrificing 30 seconds of chewing bliss for hours (maybe even a day) of discomfort. I am preparing a blog post about it, and will post it on my blog. So check back in about 2 weeks… or I can email you when it comes out, if you would prefer.
Are you considering doing a cleanse, or have you done one before?
Warmly,
Samantha