Inn of the Wandering Dragon

Once or twice a year on average I go through a dietary detox. Most of my friends think I am nuts and a few other friends go through it also. The premise behind this is that we eat a lot of weird and artificial stuff. Food colourings, additives, preservatives and just general unhealthy eating all combine to take its toll on the body. Not all of it is easily digested and expelled by the body either so some of it just sticks around for the longest time. At the end of a long work day it is so easy to just heat up something fast in the wave or just snack on whatever is readily at hand. I do not always want to spend an hour cooking, especially if I have not come home until after 7 or 8. Meanwhile I get more sluggish (mentally and physically), my sinuses are in overdrive and various other irritations plague me.
So the idea behind the detox is not the same as a fast, I am not denying my body food, I am simply changing what I eat. No foods that contain flour, dairy, or excess sugars are allowed. I also avoid most processed foods with the exception of soy milk and a small amount of V8. This regime lasts for 12 days. Many people initially think that there is nothing left to eat once you take out all of the "can't have"s but I disagree. Here is what I can eat:
All the vegetables and whole grains I want
Domestic fruit (apples, pears, berries, plums etc)
All the fish I want
A variety of legumes, nuts and seeds, eggs (ixnay the nuts for me but yes I have lots of sources for protien)
Beef, poultry, pork, lamb - basically I can have whatever meat I want in moderation.
Herbs and spices are all fair game!
There are some herbal suppliments that go along with this to help flush out the lingering bad stuff and thouroughly digest the rest.
And yes as you may have gathered this requires a lot more effort in the kitchen to pull of tasty and filling meals. No quick toss of a frozen pizza in the oven with this! I try to cook in large batches that will see through a couple days so that I can take lunch to work and not have to cook every single night. The nice thing about doing this in the spring or fall is that it is a great time for hearty soups and delicious stir fries. This is also a great excuse for dusting off the cookbooks and trying something new. I'm thinking of trying a couple curry dishes in the next couple of days.
Even my boyfriend, Larry is willing to give it a go this time. The last time he tried it I was VERY happy when he decided to stay at his place for the week because he was complaining so much I was ready to kill him. (he loves his carbs and meat) We shall see how things go this time around. I think he knows I'll toss him out if he gets too miserable. ;)