I’ve been sticking to vegetarian eating this holiday season.  Managing to get in some greens lately.  Definitely dipping into the treats however.  That’s ok! It’s the time of year to indulge a little.  Avoids that whole deprivation thing.   It’s time, however, to detoxify from the deluge of delights. Now that this decade is nearly done it’s a perfect time to focus on being healthy for 2010.  Speaking of decades, what do we call this one? I’m in favor of, “the naughts” since naught=zero and we’re in the zeros.  I’ve been calling it the naughties.  And they have been rather naughty for me.   I’m very much looking forward to starting the teens.

I’m a huge fan of Eat to Live as I’ve mentioned before.  Dr. Fuhrman is not a big fan of detoxes.  He says there is no scientific back-up to the claims many detox programs make.  The human body is very efficient at detoxing itself without the need for supplements or super-foods.  All it needs is good nutritious fuel.  Amen to that.  Furhman published his very own 5 day detox protocol on his blog in response to the other programs.

I think it’s a great way to kick off my renewed commitment to Eat to Live (or ETL as its ardent adherents like to call it). And wonder of wonders! My lovely spouse says she wants to do the detox too.  That will be helpful.  ETL breaks down into two parts: the “Six-Week Plan” and the “Life Plan.”  The link to the Six-Week Plan explains it.  The gist is that it’s low fat vegan with a limited amount of starchy veg or grains.  The Life Plan is the Six-Week Plan with a little more leeway.  One can add flesh foods back into the diet if they are into eating that stuff.  One can also had a limited amount of dried fruit, a bit more starch, etc.

The Six-Week Plan reminds me very much of a 30 day raw challenge.  The only difference is that one eats some veggie dishes cooked and one eats a least a cup of cooked beans/legumes a day.   I can live with that.  It’s still pretty freaking cold here in L.A., and it’s still gray and rainy.  A nice pot of soup/stew and/or some steamed veggies go a long way towards making me happy.

I just found out about an online support group for ETL so I joined it to get further inspiration.  I’ve committed to doing 6 weeks. I start tomorrow – no better time than now.  No need to wait until 2010.  I’ll let you know how it goes.