The only time I prescribe a totally pure diet is during the first 3 months of the canndida protocal, the rest of the time I think aiming for an 80% health/20% decadadent is a nice lifestyle. :) That includes periods of 100% clean, such as days around a liver flush, but otherwise... be sure to enjoy your 20%! Here's how to "cheat" without totally ruining all your fine efforts towards health and balance.

First of all, when you want junk, don't force yourself to "make up for it" by eating two meals - the junk meal, and the healthy meal. If you want a candy bar for dinner, then just have the candy bar! Don't think you absolutely have to follow it with salad in order to "cancel it out."

the super-best way to enjoy fun foods is to *eat them alone.* Most fun foods tend to take over one's digestive system and leave little room for anything else. So anything else you eat, no matter how "healthy," will, by the time it meets and greets that candy bar or prime rib or cake, will be just as unhealthy! One of the things thin people do that overweight people do not, is they allow themselves total junk meals without feeling like they have to eat *more*. Get your nutrition later on in the week!

Try to make your cheats a celebration, not a mindless snack. You know how it is, you open that bag of potato chips, and next thing you know, you reach into an empty bag and you can't remember eating a single chip!!!

And try to have your cheats on a special night, not every single night of the week. Fridays are my cheat night, also the nights of the full-moon, and if PMS strikes. Remember, absolutely anything that you limit for any reason or anything that breaks your "rules" is considered "dessert," even if it's red meat. For instance, anything I eat after 9:00 pm is dessert, because I'm not supposed to eat late at night (mitigate eating late at night by eating small, light snacks, fruit).

Another good thing to do is to follow a night of baccanalian delights with a day of fasting, drinking nothing but tea and The Master Cleanser drink, and plenty of bowel managment. At the very least, before you go to bed, drink lime water or lemon water with ACV to give your body plenty of PH balancing compounds to mitigate that prime rib or sugar. Moreover, P&B shakes, flax seed, and enemas are great ways to make sure the cheat doesn't sit around and make you miserable.

If you want to totally be a carnivore, then go for it! Just try to avoid following it wtih dessert or fruit or cheese, eat less of the wonderful garlicky mashed potatoes (starch + meat = NO digestion) on the side. Eat it with salad. Avoid other proteins, try to have just one animal protein in the meal. Try to eat spicy meat, Mexicali or Cuban or Cajun style with cayenne or chili peppers. And go for the very best - Ruth's Chris, not Sizzler!!!

Heavy or cold desserts with dairy are best digested wtih a bit of warming. Sprinkle cardamom on your vanilla ice cream (yum!), cinamon on your rice pudding, and drink ginger tea with the dessert. If it's white food, think hot and spicy, and your tongue will be less coated the next day. :)

If your fun meal gives you indigestion, no problem: just heat up a cup of water, add juice of 1/2 lemon and a dash of baking soda.

Chocolate is a stimulant that can depress the digestive system. Try to eat it with cardamom or cumin. Coffee is best with nutmeg, just add it right to the coffee - yum!

Tobacco can be mitigated somewhat with gotu kola, calamus root or Celery seeds.

Alcohol is best taken as red wine or very fine spirits as close to 100 proof as possible. Brandy is good too. As part of your hangover cure, chew 1/4 teaspoon of cumin seeds or 1-2 cardamom seeds. A glass of EmergenC or lime water with salt helps to rehydrate and replace electrolytes.

If your diet prohibits something, when you have it, have it in the most decadent way possible so you really really enjoy your cheat. For instance, I try to limit white flour. Bread is a complete waste of calories. I try to only have it when it is the finest french bread with the perfect crust and yeasty goodness fresh from the oven, OR I have the flour in my home baked cakes and souffles (I make a mean chiffon cake!). No Wonder bread for me!!!

So keep your pantry stocked with ginger tea and things to make Chai (cinamon, cardamom, cloves, black pepper) or Yogi Tea's India Spice. Next time you do a Baskin Robbins run, just be sure to enjoy your banana split with a cup of spicy tea and you'll be good to go the next day.

Hope that helps! :)