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.

If you haven’t heard of Melanie Edwards yet, don’t worry, you will before long. This smart, gorgeous, hilarious, and poetic singer-songwriter has been rocking it out in clubs all over NYC for the last few years. Now, she’s put an insane amount of work and love into her first album, Between the Binary. Like any project we develop and create, there is a holistic process involved that makes us grow as individuals and as a collective culture. Here, Melanie describes her own holistic reality of birthing an album, all while attempting to stay sane.

“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.

Cleansing usually feels good in the long run, but can equal a painful process in the present.
Challenges: Dramatic cleanse response, exhaustion.
Beneficial results: Insight into bodily well-being, connection with other cleanse devotees, release of heavy addiction to meat.
Adherence to the Diet: I out-dieted the diet.
Weighty Decisions
Last week, after completing a three-week cleansing program, I began a 28-day elimination diet. The elimination diet begins with two days of a liquid diet more strict than the cleansing diet, followed by a solid diet of rice, beans and fresh produce. Potential allergens such as …

Week three of my 21-day cleanse has come to a joyful close. I am guilty of several outbursts of happy dancing, a nine-pound weight loss and a significant improvement in the stress to relaxation ratio; but no glitches in following the diet. It’s the first time I’ve achieved complete adherence, after four tries! Yeah, there was the accidental banana bread ingestion, but my intention remained consistent. I’ve renewed my commitment to eat mindfully, choose quality over convenience, and prepare food with love, creativity and enthusiasm. For however long it lasts, it’s an improvement.

At this point, it’s no secret that I’ve lacked the tendency toward one-night stands and such. Even had a downright aversion to them. But I’m not sure I’ve actually explained why before, or I’ve only vaguely insinuated the reason. And I think in a way, that’s been on purpose. Sex has always meant more to me than maybe the average person. Ok, mass over-generalization there, but culturally, a fair assessment, I believe: people tend to jump in the sack pretty darn easily, whether fueled by alcohol/drugs, an addiction, or just simple horniness. Nothing wrong with that, it’s just not really been a part of my makeup.