I’m getting ready to start the UltraSimple Diet on Sunday, and among other things I’m eliminating caffeine…a very BIG deal for me!  Seriously, I should have a sign around my neck warning people to approach me at their own risk!

I don’t really think the plan should be called a diet though (too many negatives associated with that word)!- it’s really a cleanse. Or, as Dr. Mark Hyman, the creator of the UltraSimple Diet, explains:

“I wrote The UltraSimple Diet because I wanted to give you an experience—one that would show you how much power you have to create illnesses or health and how much power your body has to heal itself when you stop eating foods that wreak havoc on your systems and start nourishing yourself with the real, whole foods your body was designed to eat.”

This will be my second time doing the Diet – last time I lost 4 lbs, 1in off my waist and 1in off my hips. But the real payoff was in how I felt! I had great energy, slept soundly and generally felt terrific, while never feeling hungry! It was really interesting to see how my body responded without all the stuff (read processed foods, sugar, flour, alcohol and, yes…caffeine). Once I finished the week on the plan, I was feeling so good that I continued with the plan for another couple of weeks. Eventually I did start to miss some of my favorite foods (and coffee…and wine!) so I moved further and further away from the plan.

Of late I’ve started to feel like my eating habits have not been the best so I thought I’d do the Diet again to get back on track.  My husband’s going to do it with me again and a couple of our friends are going to try it too. I’m looking forward to how I’ll feel by mid-week. The first couple of days were hard for me last time, largely because of the coffee factor so I’ve tried to do a better job of tapering this week.  I also wasn’t running the last time I tried the Diet so I’m curious to see if there’s any effect there.