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[merce]

I really, really, really want to be detoxified and lean and svelte.


Now, I have always wanted to be that way but not often is it that I want to do anything about it.

I refuse to do exercise because it is stupid.
Dancing is good. When I once again live in a place where dancing regularly is a part of my life things will go well.
Faking the need to move my body is not something I can bring myself to do, however. And that's what I think of exercise.

Then I read this article in the NYTimes about going a few days ingesting only liquids made of things that are good for you. What a great idea! I thought. (Why I don't know)


So then I decided to do the detox diet thing of hot water with lemon and cayenne ingested a few times a day (I actually like this drink).  And I would try to cut back on hard foods until I was only having drinks and mainly this lemon water business with a "regulating" tea at night.

What a ridiculous idea!

I can't do this!

Apparently there is a difference between being hungry and having cravings. 
I am not hungry, supposedly. Just craving.  What difference that makes I don't know.
I've been having lemon water business and soup and pureed veggies for 4 days now. I have maybe lost a pound. Maybe. But I am dying for a big fat chocolate cake and a pizza smothered in cheese.

And to further annoy me thank you NYTimes for your stupid article on how supposedly bad it is for cheese believers to try and convert others.   Cheese is perhaps the greatest food ever.  It is natural and good and beautiful.  I love the thought of cows and goats mothering me.  Dairy products are the quintessence of love and nature in my mind.  That grosses people out but I can't help it. I love that idea. And I LOVE CHEESE so the NYTimes and everyone else who is acting all freaked out that the US Govt is promoting love and nature in a food product can stuff it!

Ok, I'm hungry craving. And cranky miserable.


Does any sane person try detoxing?
Should I just give up?

I'm gonna go juice some cukes and basil. Maybe that will pacify me.

[crowie]

That article was classic NY Times style section bulls***, bordering on irresponsible.  The problem with the Times style section is that they have to write serious articles about the latest fad, no matter how problematic the fad itself is.  The journalist has to attempt to present a balanced stance on it, but without pissing off faddish readers too much.  So the author collects, and includes, all these quotes from doctors and nutritionists explaining why drinking juice only is a bad idea and can exacerbate problems like diabetes and obesity over time, then ends by saying essentially, that none of it mattered because she liked the "placebo effect" and it made her feel "free" (eating disorder self-talk, much?) 

My broader issue with the whole idea of "detox" is the way it reiterates what I think are very derogatory and in a strange way old-fashioned attitudes towards the human body--as if my body is some kind of swamp that needs to be dredged rather than the part of me that needs and provides appropriate fuel so that I can keep going, both physically and mentally.

Sorry merce, this has turned into a rant, it's just that I read that article when it first came out and far from inspiring me it infuriated me.  I hope you figure out a course that is best for you that will help you to feel healthy and comfortable.  I do understand about feeling like you are in a rut and wanting to change something, and changing your diet is not by definition a bad idea.  But I think my views on the juice idea are pretty clear. 

Some quotes:

Dr. Colbert said: “You have to ask yourself this question: With a juice cleanse, what are you really cleaning? Really, nothing. The bowel self-cleans. It’s evolved over millions of years to do this.”

If you’re going to have liquids, said Dr. Colbert, a staunch believer in unprocessed foods, there is certainly good to be had from eating fresh vegetables and fruits and nuts pulverized into liquid. “But most people aren’t Einsteins,” he added. “Often their idea of a juice fast is having nothing but orange juice or apple juice for a week. In which case, you might as well call it the Toblerone diet, because that’s how much sugar you’re pouring into your system.”

This is pretty much what I did. And it’s dumb. “Many people are undiagnosed diabetics, and these cleanses can cause spikes and crashes in blood sugar levels that could be quite dangerous,” said Nancy Kalish, a certified health coach in Brooklyn who advises clients against juice cleanses. “In addition, even if you have nothing wrong with you, this kind of cleansing puts a lot of stress on your body. Your body wants and expects food. And as with most crash diets, which is really what this is, your body thinks it’s starving. It doesn’t know it’s going to get more food. So it lowers your metabolism, and if you do this enough, it can lower your metabolism permanently.”

Moreover, many doctors see juice fasting as just another form of American extremism — as Dr. Colbert put it, “somewhere between religiosity and craziness.”

Marianne Gillow, a psychiatrist in private practice in Manhattan who consults for, among others, the Fashion Institute of Technology, sees a lot of patients with unresolved food issues. “My biggest concern about juice cleanses is that they fuel obsessive thinking,” she said. “People who have trouble managing their weight tend to be all or nothing about things. Cleansing doesn’t allow you to make peace with real food.” 

(http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/28/fashion/28Cleanse.html)

[niceday]

Merce -- long-term fasting will poison your body, not cleanse it. Your metabolism is built on the assumption of frequent ingestion of nutrients. The word fast and detox should be banned within a mile of each other. I'll admit that over time it might make you lean but it won't make you svelte because you will lose muscle and look like a sagging bag of bones. Very unattractive, especially coupled with the falling hair and dull, flaking skin that accompanies such restricted diets.

Do not fast. It's a hoax, and a dangerous one. If you want to be lean and svelte, exercise more and eat more complex carbohydrates and lean proteins with the occasional cheese and the chocolate cake. I you ask me, being fit is the new svelte regardless of your weight but that's your decision.

::joining crowie in being infuriated with that irresponsible piece of crap::

[merce]

Merce -- long-term fasting will poison your body, not cleanse it....

::joining crowie in being infuriated with that irresponsible piece of crap::

Oh sweet darlin' there is absolutely NO risk of me doing a long-term fast unless by "long-term" you mean one hour. That I could perhaps manage.


I am definitely happy to hear I am stupid for not eating cheese pizza (that is what you guys are saying right?).

[verbena]

Do not fast. It's a hoax, and a dangerous one.

Agreed. And I'm betting it's not helping your moods either, Merce.

If anyone knows of a good book or pamphlet or webpage that would inform someone unfamiliar with complete devastating despair what it means to a person I would like to learn of it.

[...]

I'm there myself now [...]

Ideas anyone?

Eat properly, and get some regular exercise -- even just a daily walk helps.

As for that NYT article, I just thought it was a (dumb) attempt to make entertaining fun of the fools (like the author) who fall for this trend/marketing campaign that plays with people's insecurities and is rightfully criticized by every medical authority.
 

[parispundit]

Eat Cheese. Drink Wine. Have Chocolate for Dessert. Die Happy.

[hipgeek]

Eat Cheese. Drink Wine. Have Chocolate for Dessert. Die Happy.

I love you, parispundit.

[bluezebracat]

Being blessed with a fast metabolism, I never had to diet.  Except once--I did this detox with salmon and blueberries that was supposed to make your skin look great.  I thought my skin glowed (or was it the burning lights of anger shooting out of my eyes?) but I was one angry SOB. And probably, my skin was probably just a bit better looking because I was paying more attention to it.

The concept of detox, if we think of it rationally, is stupid. Why would we assume that our bodies are polluted?  There's definitely some religious/ascetic overtones to this framework. Do dogs have to detox? Cats? A happy well balanced diet makes their fur all glossy--not starvation.

Fasting shocks your system and tells it to keep the calories you will (inevitably, if you want to live) eat when you stop the fast, 'cause as far as it can tell, there's a famine. 

I feel like fasting is right up there with the popularization of orthorexia--I don't eat this and that because I'm a more evolved person--thing.  Meh.

[merce]

Well, God has weighed in.

While making photocopies this morning a guy came into the copy room with free sandwiches from the local sandwich place. I tried to say no but he kept pushing.

So I caved. It was only a quarter of the length of a normal sandwich but. Well, I ate a ham and cheese sandwich.

When does anyone ever come right into your work place to hand you a free sandwich?


I'll tell you when, when God wants to tell you to wise up!

So, I wonder what I should have for dinner!
YUM!

[bioteacher]

A healthy liver and kidneys are what you need to "detox" and they need energy to do their jobs. Eat mostly foods that remember where they came from (ie. foods that are still recognizable as being that food), moderate amounts of "unrecognizable" food for the rest, and allow some indulgences because you enjoy them.

In other words... common sense.

Glad you ate the sandwich!

[grasshopper]

I didn't read past the bit about not wanting to exercise, and getting excited by the idea of losing weight by  not eating.

Don't even joke about it.

You need to buy a bicyclette. Not a bicycle. A bicyclette. It makes exercise fun.

[daisyaday]

You ARE hungry because your body needs fuel and isn't getting it. I'll tell what I've been doing: I have moved to eating vegetarian 95% of the time with a lot of vegan meals thrown. I am dropping pounds and have improved my energy level about 25%, all in about two weeks.

Daisy

[ursula]

When does anyone ever come right into your work place to hand you a free sandwich?

Happens to me fairly often.  People just seem to like giving me food.

[spork]

If you want to gain weight, fast.  The wifey gained 8 pounds during Ramadan.

[merce]

If you want to gain weight, fast.  The wifey gained 8 pounds during Ramadan.

OMG! Are you guys preggers???

Or was it the (break)fasting binge at sundown?

Holy mackarel. I'd forgotten about Ramadan. I used to try to not eat most of ramadan when I had a muslim beau. Of course it was only out of respect for his fast so as long as I was off in town I grabbed a schwarma or a crepe with very little guilt.