I’m sure they serve cabbage in Hell…

It is finally beginning to look and feel like summer here in White Rock, which is untruthfully dubbed as the city that is always sunny.

Now normally, people – namely women – will attempt some sort of trendy detox diet to shed pounds before bikini season. But not the ladies in the Woodin household.

Here we are, almost a week into August, and I’ve barely had the time to go to the beach, and hadn’t had a socially commitment-less week so I could lock myself in my house and munch miserably on celery for 168 hours. I know I’m supposed to work my lifestyle around healthy eating habits, and not just squeeze in my daily servings of fruit and veggies in between parties and birthdays and other celebrations that involve cake and eating out. But it’s summer, and I do pilates once a week. And really, it’s all about justification.

But in preparation for our trip to New York, my mom, sister and I decided to go on a seven-day cleanse.

Last Sunday, we began the Cabbage Soup Diet, also known as the Sacred Heart Diet. From what I’ve heard, it’s created for heart surgery patients who need to drop weight fast before an operation.

During the cleanse, you are allowed to eat as much homemade cabbage soup as you’d like, whenever you’d like.

Each of the seven days has a strict list of what you are allowed to eat along with the bland and watery meal. For example, day one allows you to eat all of the fruit you’d like, on day four you can eat three bananas and drink an unlimited amount of skim milk and on day seven, you can indulge in veggies and two cups of brown rice.

Luckily, I’ve made it to day seven, and can honestly say I feel great. That’s not to say, however, that the journey did not put the three of us through hell.

You don’t realize how much you eat in a day until you’re consumption is limited. You don’t realize how many carbs you crave, you’re snacking habits or how much fat and sodium seeps into your daily diet through dipping sauces, cooking oils, butter, seasonings, etc.

What you also don’t realize, is how full a vegetarian diet can make you, and how little fuel you need to make it through the day. The diet forced us to find unique ways to prepare vegetables and how to make the most of limited ingredients.

Tomorrow will be my first day back in the “real world.” I’ll be trying my hardest to not completely undo the work I’ve done when I go to The Keg for a celebratory dinner tomorrow, and for an Indian food buffet the day after for a birthday.

But as long as I keep up my pilates and stay far, far away from McDonald’s, I’m sure I’ll be just fine.

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@HayleyWoodin

(PS: I should probably mention the diet’s effectiveness. Apart from being a dietary eye-opener, each of us has probably lost between five-10 pounds.)