fithiphealthy: DONT YOU KNOW THAT YOU'RE TOXIC {BY SAYEH!}?

A few years ago, I took a trip to Mexico with some friends for some sun and fun. During one of the many random conversations we had while soaking in the rays, one of my girlfriends asked me what my spirit animal was, and I was stumped. What’s a spirit animal, you ask? Your spirit animal is the animal you most identify with. If someone could wave a magic wand over you, the animal you would turn into is your spirit animal. For you Harry Potter fans out there, your spirit animal would be the shape your Patronus takes. (Yeah, I said Patronus.)

I truly couldn’t think of my spirit animal. I could name animals I really adored, like the koala bear or the meerkat, but none of them fit my personality. I agonized over this question for 2 years (no, I’m not joking) before I came up with an answer: the elephant. They are loyal, steadfast, and care deeply about their fellow elephants. However, since then, I’ve been worried that I’ve chosen incorrectly. After all, the elephant-like memory thing doesn’t exactly match up, considering I can’t leave the house on my first try without forgetting something. Ever. But, alas, I haven’t been able to think of anything else I could possibly be...until I learned that Kristen Bell loves sloths. And I mean LOVES sloths. (Which kinda made me love her. Also, am I the only person who didn’t realize she was the narrator for Gossip Girl??)

So I decided to do a little research on the sloth, and see what the all the hub bub is about. Turns out that sloths are eating constantly, but they still have little energy--hence the fact they are named after the laziest deadly sin. Their diet consists mainly of leaves, which are organic and green and all, but because they are so difficult to digest (the process takes over a month), Sloths have little energy to spare--making them super slow in all they do.

The more I read about the sloth, the more terrified I became. Is my spirit animal the sloth?? After all this time? I DO just eat and eat and eat and I’m slow and my eyesight is bad, and I like to stay up late, and I’m definitely hairy! Why God?? Why? The SLOTH?? Of all the cool animals? I couldn’t be an elegant gazelle or a regal eagle? A sloth?? Awesome. Way to go, spirit.

BUT, before I went down my shame spiral, I remembered the lesson of my Lithe Detox. It isn’t ME that’s slowing me down. It’s what I eat. On a typical day, I try to make the best choices I can, but I’m certainly not regimented, and have been known to skip breakfast, eat soup dumplings for lunch and a Tiffin feast of samosas and sag paneer for dinner. On those same typical days, I often struggle to get out of bed, and feel exhausted by 4pm.

On the Lithest Level 3 detox plan, you start you day with an invigorating tea, a green smoothie for breakfast, a juice before lunch, a great Lithe Foods lunch and smoothie, another juice, a tasty Lithe Foods dinner, and then a delicious after dinner snack and soothing bed time tea. Repeat for 3 days.

Like the sloth, I felt like I was constantly consuming things all day on the plan, but that’s where the similarities ended. At the end of the first day (my favorite), after my dinner of a portabello panini and wild rice soup, I felt full and light and clean. As the second day progressed, I felt really energetic, and didn’t have a midday slump like I’m used to, despite being slightly headachey towards the end of the day. I also noticed that my tummy was still as flat as it was when I woke up--which NEVER happens. I usually wake up feeling good about my belly, but end the day with a stomach so bloated, I want to shower with the lights off! Even my friends commented about how little I looked in the middle. By the end of the 3rd day, despite being ready to rejoin the world of food, and eyeing my friends’ calorie-laden lunches, I looked even better in my midsection, and was still maintaining high levels of energy with no headache.

In all, I gained tons of energy and lost close to 3lbs! And that’s without working out, and burning any extra calories. I tweaked my knee, and only worked out once while on the detox. It was a great experience, as all my Lithe Foods experiences are. It’s not meant to be a quick weight loss fix, so I wouldn’t use it for those purposes (although you do trim down), but is more to just tidy up your insides and get yourself on track.

For me, it really was just a huge reminder that I am not slothful after all. That when I eat the right things, and take care to put whole, natural foods in my body, I feel better and look better and am a task-accomplishing machine! That’s a pretty powerful re-realization. So although the detox plan didn’t make me any less hairy, it did make me realize that the search is still on for my spirit animal. Phew. What’s yours?

See you in class!