The cleanse: the exit interview

Yesterday was day 21, the final day of the cleanse for J. No animal products (meat, eggs, dairy), gluten, refined sugars, caffeine or alcohol for three weeks and he made it! So lets see what he has to say about the experience.

Q. Why did you want to do this cleanse to begin with?
A. Because T brought it up. And I've been feeling run down and getting sick, so I wanted to feel better.

Q. What was the hardest part of doing the cleanse?
A. The first four days were a hard transition to pick food and bad headaches from no caffeine. Towards the end I really wanted things like bread and the birthday cakes people were always bringing in to work.

Q. Was there anything you thought would be difficult and wasn't?
A. I thought I'd want cheese more, but I never really did. It's in everything though, so it was hard to avoid. Even in salads.

Q. Why do you think you were able to stick with it and T wasn't?
A. I have the willpower of an ox. Of two oxen! And I think T had a hard time because she was at home with the kids in a more stressful environment.

Q. What did you think you would miss the most and what did you miss the most?
A. I thought I was going to miss coffee the most. And what I did miss the most was coffee, but also bread.

Q. Favorite meal and snack?
A. The warm potato salad with cherry tomatoes was really good. My favorite snack was peaches! I hadn't eaten a peach in a long time, and they were really good.

Q. Least favorite?
A. The squash squewers. Blech!

Q. What have the benefits been of doing the cleanse?
A. I feel really good. I feel like I have more energy and am healthy. I liked exploring new foods and learning that its easy to eat healthy and that I don't miss the crap food. And I lost 10+ lbs!

Q. What changes/habits will you be keeping in your life now that the cleanse is done?
A. I'm going to try to eat a lot more fruits and vegetables and a lot less meat. And I'm going to try to keep the caffeine lower...because I was freaking out today after one cup, oooh man!

Q. What was the first thing you wanted to eat/drink when the cleanse ended?
A. Drink coffee and eat bread.

Q. People want to know: if you managed without coffee for 21 days, then why go back to it now?
A. I love the taste of coffee. I love having a warm drink in the morning. And its nice to have some caffeine when I'm tired.

Q. Was it as good as you remembered?
A. Even better!

Q. Will you do it again next year?
A. Yeah. It'll be easy.