While week one on my elimination diet was a little rough, the remainder of the diet turned out to be easier than I expected. The plan I followed is called a 28-day diet, but depending on how things go, it can be much shorter than that, or if you take the time to reintroduce every possible food that was eliminated, I calculated it could take up to two months. Foods are reintroduced after the 9-day cleansing period by eating the select food three times a day for three days.

“Close your eyes and follow your breath. If your mind wanders off, just come back to your breathing.” Some of us are familiar with this type of encouragement being voiced during a guided meditation session. Developing awareness about our sometimes entertaining and exasperating stream of thoughts is one benefit of a meditation practice. To experience the peace, joy, and well-being found in the present moment, we can simply follow our breath and allow our thoughts and feelings to fade into the background. Like meditation, the practice of intuitive eating allows us to become familiar with a host of vital body signals, which most of us overlook, override, or suppress.

You can bet that most of the “local” organic food you find at the supermarket is now owned and produced by an international corporation.