So do you REALLY want to lose weight permanently. Debunking the perfection myth (with pictures of Sasha in Seusical)

Why do we all believe that we have to be perfect when we diet?

The JOOS Cleanse is about stepping out of perfection and learning which way of eating is best for your body-type so that you can develop sustainable, healthy s
Time to debunk a couple JOOS Cleanse myths:

Myth: "I just broke the JOOS Cleanse because I've eaten the wrong foods."

When I ask someone who tells me what they've eaten, they typically respond with a list of foods that are totally acceptable on the JOOS Cleanse, such as Larabars, raw nuts, Mary's Gone Crackers with hummus, brown rice vegetable sushi, corn tacos loaded with sautéed vegetables and tofu, a falafel sandwich with brown rice tortillas to name a few. Sometimes they've even gone out for a glass of red wine. Frankly, so what if you've snuck in a piece of chicken or a sip of coffee? Just make it the exception and go back to the cleanse the next day. There are so many foods that are acceptable and delicious on the cleanse.Your Lifestyle Counselor can help you with this.


Myth: "I only ate one meal and I'm starving."

I just spoke with a woman who is doing the cleanse and did a very intense workout. She thought she could only have one meal and was feeling starving and deprived. Ideally, part of the cleanse is having one meal and unlimited fruits and vegetables throughout the day, but some people may need more. If you work out intensively and/or have a busy lifestyle, you may need a bowl of oatmeal in the morning or a Vega shake with a banana and almond milk afterwards. Again, your lifestyle counselor can give you suggestions.


The JOOS Cleanse is NOT about starvation or deprivation; it is about learning mindfulness and how to pace yourself. If you are genuinely hungry, then you need to
eat more. If you are not hungry, but eating out of habit or boredom, again your Lifestyle Coach can give you strategies how to deal with that.

I can assure you that the JOOS Cleanse is not complicated, unless you allow it to be. In fact, once you get the hang of it, you may find that you will be able to follow the principles of it for months to follow. Sure you will probably fall off track. We all fall off track if we don't practice anything regularly, such as exercise...and healthy eating habits. So the key is to plan ahead


Most of you are familiar with the 90/10 rule in your daily eating: 90% whole foods and 10% whatever. This also should be taken into account when you plan your year; that is, know that 10% of the time you are going to go "off track," such as periods during the summer and holidays.

My recommendation is to do a minimum of 3 cleanses per year and plan when you're going to do them at the beginning of each year. That way, if you fall off track, as we all inevitably do, you know you have a schedule in place to help you regroup.

The line below is an insightful blog by a woman from Healthworks who just finished a one week cleanse last week.

http://livewellwomen.wordpress.com

Remember, this isn't about perfection, which is an illusion in our minds; it's about learning how to incorporate sustainable healthy eating habits into our daily lives.