Everyone is talking about cleanses these days. As far as I am concerned, a cleanse is just another word for a diet.
Imagine going on a cleanse, let’s say it is made up of juices, shakes, and bars for five days.
The minute you wake up on the first day of your cleanse, what do you think about? Of course, your mind is filled with visions of all of the foods that you WON’T be able to eat for the next five days. But, the juices, shakes and bars, are delicious, too, so you focus on that and move forward.
Day two comes, and you wake up thinking even more about the foods you can’t have. You picture the first real meal you have once the cleanse is over.
Day three, you wake up remembering a dream you had in which you ate food. (It only took me one day of a cleanse to have a dream about eating food, but I’ll assume you don’t like food as much as I do.)
Day four arrives, and you can’t stand the thought of another shake.
Day five, you are so excited to finally be almost done. Meanwhile everyone you regularly interact with has by now learned to steer clear of you until this thing is over.
Here’s where things get hairy: Day six.
You can finally EAT! You get your first plate of food ready. Seemingly out of your control, you notice the fork is flying at your face. You barely have time to chew before another piece of food gets thrust into your mouth. Before you know it, you’ve eaten everything in sight and feel horrible.
Then it happens again at your next meal. And again and again. You feel out of control. Any weight you lost during the cleanse has come back.
The worst thing is that you have fallen out of touch with your own hunger. You have denied body food when it wanted it. Now you are giving it more than it wants because your head hunger has overpowered your real physical hunger. You feel out of control around food. And you will probably continue to overfeed yourself, until you decide to go on another cleanse.
And the cycle continues.
By Charlie Fields of kettlebody.com. Charlie is a San Diego personal trainer known for his pleasure-enhancing approach to exercise and eating. For more tips like this or to learn about Charlie’s bootcamps, eating workshops and coaching, or personal training, visit kettlebody.com.