And so the fruit cleanse begins

The fruit cleanse hadn't even started and I was already dumbstruck. All it took was one meal of brown rice, steamed chicken and rainbow chard for me to realize I eat like crap. I'm not sailing through the drive-through at Mickey D's, but I have not been leading the healthiest lifestyle. Seconds on cake, Chinese fried chicken, Korean barbecue? Instead of intentional eating, it was more like intentionally indulging all the time.

The first day of clean eating was hard when all I saw was cookies or SweetTarts and all I thought about was how I couldn't eat them, but I was better prepared with food on the second day and it was pretty easy. The three-day fruit cleanse started today and instead of being anxious, I'm now excited and happy about it. I can't even believe I'm saying this, but I'm not interested in the cookies.

The cleanse focuses on fruit because of the high-water content, which is much easier for the body to digest and gives the digestive system a break. Today's menu includes bananas, pineapple, coconut water, a blueberry smoothie, guacamole, cucumber chips, a tomato and avocado salad, and possibly more bananas and an apple. My refrigerator is a cornucopia of fruit, and I'm still contemplating picking up more.

 I also am learning so much about fruit. I apparently knew zilch about the fruit family. You probably know tomatoes are a fruit, but did you know zucchini, jalapenos, cucumbers, peas and avocados are all fruit? If you did, you're smarter than me. Those additional choices make for a rather delicious weekend. Since I love avocados, it'll be pretty easy to go raw all weekend, although there are recipes out there for zucchini spaghetti with tomato sauce. I'll pass.