December is all about the Q4 eat-a-thon and then January 1st it’s carrots and celery. Most people wouldn’t dream of eating a slice of pizza on January 1st let alone any of the things they shoved into their mouths in the month of December.

I don’t blame us, we’ve been told to “eat, drink, and be merry”. It probably wouldn’t be as much of a disaster if the saying went, “eat, drink, and ruin all the hard work you put into your health all year long.”

Fifteen years ago I would be starting some extreme cleanse after spending the entire month of December having a case of the food naughties.

I can’t tell you how effing happy I am to feel like the new year marks nothing special as far as food goes.

Because I have been on both sides of the fence, I want to help you decide whether or not a New Year’s cleanse is right for you.

Here are the 5 reasons you shouldn’t do a cleanse to start the new year:

1. Because you feel fat and disgusting.

Doing a cleanse because you feel horrible will feel like a punishment to your subconscious self. As soon as you start to feel better (which could be within just a few days) you will lose all motivation and wind up breaking the cleanse by Thursday’s happy hour.

2. Because you want to quickly undo the holiday eating shenanigans.

If you take space and allow your true inner self to talk, they will say that they want permanent change. Just as quickly as you go on a cleanse, you can go off of one. Honestly, there is no quick fix for long term change. The real work is done in your head, not on your plate.

3. Because your friends are doing it and you’ve committed to do it with them.

I’m all for support and accountability (hello, have we met?) but the energy behind you doing a cleanse has got to come from an inner place of love. I’ve done a cleanse with my friends, fucked it up and then wound up lying to them about my food diary. Talk about a shame spiral into a large bag of cookies. If you feel like this one applies to you, be honest with your friends and let them know you are going to support the hell outta them, but that you want to take a more balanced approach to eating at this time.

4. Because there’s a sale at the gym to do a workout program + a cleanse.

Pre pandemic I worked out at one of those fancy ass gyms where the towels smell like Madagascar vanilla and all the trainers are hot. I’m telling you, this place was classy. Yet everytime I passed their supplements and cleanse programs I physically cringed (I figured the cringe counted as an extra ab workout). The quality of this stuff is horrible and the only educational training these gyms are getting is from the company they are buying the products from. Avoid all gym supplements and cleanses at all costs.

5. Because why the hell not? Seems like the January thing to do.

I’m not anti cleanse. I do a few stricter cleanses per year along with an annual goal to complete four months off of sugar. I’m all for setting a goal, having extreme clarity, taking massive action and seeing results. You just have to make sure you create boundaries around food from a place of love. One example of this would be changing your mentality from wanting to look better to wanting to feel better.

Here’s the one and only reason why you should do a cleanse:

1. You took some space to get guidance from your higher self. You decided that making these boundaries around food will positively impact your life and allow you to feel greater joy. You create support, accountability, and structure around the cleanse so you ensure your success. You have tools to get through the rough parts and journal throughout the journey to stay in connection with yourself.

*Added bonus: you get a professional coach to help you far beyond the cleanse so you can make changes that last!

If you started a cleanse for one of the five reasons above, you have two choices: you can either stop the cleanse and start doing the deeper work to heal your relationship with food (my team and I can help!) or you can take some time and see if you can shift your root cause to something rooted in self love and respect.

Either way, you are still a badass and I bow to you, Wisdom Seeker.

Xoxo

Carly