Saturday, January 7, 2012

The January of Cleansing

For the first time in my life, I think I understand what my mom meant when she said that she was ready to put Christmas away. It's not that we could ever get sick of it--there's not much that I like better than the Christmas season, and my mom is the same. However, considering that we celebrate from the first day of Advent (a few days after Thanksgiving) until Epiphany, or the 12th day of Christmas (January 6), and this year I got hoodwinked into being much more grown-up about the whole thing (added responsibilities at home, church, and work), the concept does make some sense. Today I was ready, instead of sad, to take down the tree and all the house's trimmings.

First of all, yes. I AM that person. I don't believe in Christmas being over on Boxing Day, or December 26 for you Americans. ;) I believe in Advent and the Twelve Days of Christmas. :) Happily, I have somehow found a Love--of another religion, mind you--who feels the same, and you know what? It works for me. Who REALLY wants to take down a Christmas tree the day after, anyway? There's too much to play with, and too many yummy leftovers and stocking stuffers to gorge upon!

This leads me to WHY I am ready for a "cleanse." First of all, let's face it. It's HARD to clean around a Christmas tree! It's also a busy time of the year, which leads to less time in the house..... all in all, my house needs a good cleaning, I'm sick of the cat attacking the tree, and to be honest, now I'm ready for spring. Fortunately, I'm currently located in a climate where it's actually a good thing to be in the mood for spring in January. The dandelions have already started to bloom in my yard! It's crazy. I'm itching to get out there. (Still no word on my supposedly-shipped seeds, by the way.)

It's not just the house that needs cleaning out, however. I can't believe how much sugar I've consumed in the past few months, and when compared to how much healthy food I haven't been consuming, the number is practically horrifying. Now, I am definitely not someone who makes a New Year's resolution involving weight loss, diets, or food in general. I don't feel that restricting myself is going to do any good, and besides, to be honest, I don't need to diet. (Don't hurt me. ;-P ) However, I'm about done feeling like I'm stuffed to my ears in... how do I say it? PROCESSED "foods." It's time for a cleanse for my body, too.

I have never done a traditional cleanse, per say, but about a year and a half ago I actually started watching what I was eating, as well as how much of it was going into my body at a time, and this past summer I had a very near brush with raw veganism, before I had to go into the hospital for emergency surgery, which REALLY threw off everything--my eating patterns and habits, my yoga, and my exercise two-a-days I was doing at the time. I'm telling you, it takes a while to get into all of that, and I'm still not back to where I was before the surgery. Now, however, I'm starting to feel like it's time to check out the raw recipes again. :-D

The thing with "raw" is that I REALLY like to bake--as in, old-fashioned, yo-gramma-don't-make-it-so-good baking. I don't think I would ever actually want to be a raw vegan, but the food itself looks amazingly delicious, and when I took even baby steps in that direction, I couldn't believe how good I started feeling. It even enhanced my yoga and workouts in a way that did NOT involve calories. I repeat, however, I'm a little too old-fashioned in the kitchen to become a complete devotee. I'm more excited by the idea of my kitchen expertise and table being enhanced by raw foodism. During the summer, it was my personal goal to stay raw until dinner. I was getting good at it, too.

This means that I'm officially DONE with processed and junk food, especially sweets, for a while now. This doesn't mean that I will completely swear them off, not try the Mexican hot chocolate that Love and I bought recently, or not try out sweet raw vegan recipes that are actually packed with nutrients. It just means that, well, I kind of feel like I'm "over" junk food and really into "healthy" food. I already have my eye on a few raw recipes that look incredible! I'll definitely post what I try, and let you know what I think. :)

For a change of pace, what do YOU think? Could you ever do a raw diet? Do you know of some (simple for beginners with no special equipment) raw recipes that you think I should try? Let me know! :-D

No comments:

Post a Comment

Let's chat! :)