10 Things I’ve Learned From 12 Days on the Crazy Sexy Diet

I can’t believe I’ve made it to what’s now Day TWELVE of being on Kris Carr’s 21-day adventure cleanse from her book, Crazy Sexy Diet. I’m feeling so good at the midway point that I’ve decided to continue my vegetarian diet after the cleanse is over! I’d like to strive for vegan, but we’ll see. I wanted to just share with you a few quick lessons that I’ve learned so far on my journey. It’s really quite remarkable how this thing is already changing my life.

1. Sometimes it takes a highly structured 21/30/31 day type of program to help you finally move forward with making needed changes in your life. If it had not been for Kris’ book coming to me at the right time, I wouldn’t have known what to do to get myself on the road to better health in such an organized way. I think that’s the benefit of my 31 Days to Reset Your Life program as well – you have a set number of days to work through your “stuff” and by the end, you’ve experienced a personal transformation.
2. Never say what you could “never” do. I’m one of those people who said I would “never” be able to go without meat. Give up my beloved fried chicken? NEVER. But after reading the book and doing my own independent research on the extremely harmful effects that eating meat and animal products actually has on your body. At this point, I don’t see myself ever becoming an animal rights advocate, but what I AM becoming is an advocate for my own body and what I put into it.
3. Once you really understand what’s in your food, it actually makes you WANT to stop eating meat. (And dairy. And sugar. And all other processed foods.) Everything that I’ve read or looked up so far leads me to the conclusion that I could be happy if I never ate another piece of fried chicken in my life. And I don’t even wanna SEE another glass of cow’s milk in front of me. Ever. Watch this slideshow presentation for a great summary of a lot of the research that’s out there: 101 Reasons to Go Vegetarian. Super scary, very enlightening stuff.
4. My body moves and feels better when it’s hydrated with plenty of water. Duh, right?! After consistently drinking at least 32 oz. of water or more every day, I recognized that many of my aches and pains have been because I was dehydrated.
5. I feel less stressed when I get at least eight hours of sleep. Another duh. But when you’re a recovering workaholic like me, it can be so hard to shut off your work flow to get in the bed by midnight. When I do, it helps me to have more energy the next day to be way more productive than if I’d stayed up until 2am writing blog posts.
6. I am extremely addicted to processed sugar. When I do get cravings, it’s not for meat, it’s for candy bars and soda. I went through a rough withdrawal phase during the first week or so of the cleanse and I had to ease it with small squares of 70% dark chocolate, gluten-free cookies and lots of fruit. I’m still getting the pangs halfway in, but they are finally starting to subside a bit.
7. I’ve really been challenged to shift my entire mindset around food and how I view my self-worth. I talked about this a little in my previous post, but it’s been a true emotional rollercoaster in trying to make better decisions about my health. You should hear some of the conversations that go on in my head. “If I can get through this cleanse, I’ll treat myself with a big brownie sundae and a pack of Snickers’ bars.” Treat? Putting bad food into my body is not a “treat.” A vice, maybe, but in no way is it a treat to flood my system with chemicals and processed sugar. When I finally started to wrap my mind around that inconvenient truth, it became easier to eat my veggies and fruits.
8. I hate exercise. And I think I always will, Crazy Sexy Diet or not. So I’ve stopped torturing and shaming myself about it. I’ve stopped going down to the dreaded gym in my building. Instead, I opt to take a 30 minute walk around my neighborhood in the afternoons. It’s more doable for me and even though it doesn’t seem very strenuous, it’s still exercise!
9. I feel so much more confident and optimistic about where my life is going right now. It could be that I’m feeling a sense of accomplishment by actually being able to stick to the Crazy Sexy Diet. Or it could actually be all the good nutrients and vitamins I’m getting from my new lifestyle. Or the feeling that I’m finally loving my body like I’ve wanted to do for so long. Maybe it’s a combination of all three. Either way, I’m feeling like a million-dollar bill.
10. Speaking of love, I’ve been on a few dates recently and the men I’ve met have all remarked upon how “happy” I seem. Most men are completely drawn to my energy, which is awesome. Some of them actually seem intimidated by it, which has surprised me. Who wouldn’t want to be with a happy black woman?! But the thing that I’ve noticed the most is my responses to certain dating situations. I don’t get attached to the outcome of meeting someone and hitting it off. I just let what will happen, happen. I am completely my best self – not shrinking or playing a part for anyone, which is very different than the way I’ve approached relationships in the past. I’m truly seeking someone to complement me, not to complete me. Because the biggest lesson I’ve learned on my journey is that I am already complete.

Want to learn more about the Crazy Sexy Diet lifestyle? Check out Kris Carr’s website for information, research, and recipes to support a plant-based vegetarian diet. I also recently came across a beautiful sister named Tracye McQuirter, author of the book, By Any Greens Necessary. I’m really looking forward to reading about her experiences as a black woman who has been able to maintain a vegan diet for over 20 years.

If you’ve done a cleanse before, what was one of your big “aha” moments? If you want to do a cleanse, but haven’t, what’s holding you back?

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