After a long day of lounging I decided to make three juices for tomorrow and watch something on Netflix. I decided to feed my brain and watching a documentary called Hungry For Change by Food Matters. I was hooked by it instantly. I've spend the last two years building a better relationship with food and my health and started to see a dietician a few months ago to ensure that I wasn't missing out on anything I needed nutritionally.

One of the things the documentary showed me was that the reason I don't crave carbs or sugar anymore is because I haven't eaten them in a very long time and lost my taste and desire for them. I haven't put sugar in my coffee since about 2010 and thanks to the South Beach Diet that I first tried out in the fall of 2012. I eat only eat carbs about once every few weeks. Had I not cut myself off of carbs and sugar for 6 weeks I don't think I would be where I am today physically and mentally. I lost some weight but what it did for me was more than make me 10 pounds lighter. It helped me change the way I ate, it forced me to cook healthy meals and eat with the idea of quality over quantity.

People say diets don't work and I disagree with that 100%. Diets do work. DIETS DO WORK! But they only work if used as a jump start to a healthier lifestyle and if the diet does not consist of food and snacks that come in cans, bars, or food that is extremely high in sodium. They work if you do the right one that involves preparing your own meals or discovering combinations of food that are delivered fresh and don't have any sodium to preserve them. They especially work if you implement them into your lifestyle and even if you don't follow it exactly there's no reverting back to eating crap. End of story. Diets are not bad and if used properly there are no arguments against them.

Thanks to the South Beach Diet and doing my 3 day juice cleanse earlier this month I find myself doing things today that 3 years ago I would not have done. I woke up this morning and before I did anything I made two vegetable juices. Before my shower, before having coffee and even before looking at my phone I juiced. When I got home a few hours ago instead of making a pit stop to grab something quick and easy to eat, I juiced. But I also don't keep junk in the house and whenever I feel like I really want something fun I eat a few walnuts and call it a day.

Having said all this I will say that it's still a process. I ate a burger from Carl's jr last night because I wanted one. Will I have one again in the next few weeks? Doubt it. I eat what I want, when I want and I'm glad that I don't crave bad, over processed food more than once or twice a month. But being that I spent about 31 years eating whatever I wanted without caring about what nutritional value I was or wasn't getting I am really happy that the way I've been looking at food and their worth over the last two years has dominated my way of thinking.

I've noticed the positive effects of my new found diet from head to toe. My hair, which has never wanted to grow past my shoulders is stronger and scarily longer, my skin requires less treatments and I can go about a week without exfoliating (shhh!!) without having any flakes and maintaining a healthy glow, I'm not bloated because of the lack of sodium and I have more energy and endurance when I do cardio. I highly recommend that every take the time to look at what they have in their kitchen and make some changes. Right now my apartment is free of sugar, salt, cans and anything processed (aside from my beloved cheese) and the only fruits I have are apples and oranges. Every now and then when I want to cook something that requires carbs I buy only the amount that I need but in general I've been sticking to very non processed lifestyle and I'm a much healthier and happier person because of it.

One last thing that I have to point out is that I don't care about my weight. It's a non issue for me. Not because I'm at a point where all my clothes are fitting again but because once I finally started to take care of my body my focus shifted and it's given me the mindset I have today. I only wish that people who are unhappy with their weight take a look at what is causing it to not budge and do something about it. Winter turns into spring and spring turns into being miserable all summer because nothing fits. Friends, family, readers: don't push things off until the next day. Don't allow yourself that one last french fry or can of soda. You already had it yesterday and now is the time to make some changes so that when you break down and want a deliciously bad for you burger you can have it without it turning into two, three or four.

And now it's time for breakfast. My pineapple, carrots, cucumber and parsley juice. YUM!