Getting "Clean" And Kicking The Toxins Out Once And For All

Image by kaibara on Flickr

Over the past several years, I found myself settling back into a routine I thought I had left behind: eating poorly, relying caffeine and sugar as my "fuel" for the daily work grind, and kicking back at night with alcoholic beverages. My daily "ritual" didn't seem to be that much different than that of large sections of my peer group: it was all "normal" ways to stay productive, unwind, and generally "enjoy life."

My body was crap. It felt like crap.

Two months ago, I decided to attend a free "wellness" evaluation at my place of work. Blood test, body mass index, weighing, blood pressure, etc. And what the registered nurse told me shocked me. No, actually it didn't shock me at all. But it was bad:

Why Going "Cold Turkey" Doesn't Work

No matter what bad habit you're trying to break -- over-eating, over-spending, even smoking -- going "cold turkey" may be just setting yourself up for failure. How could such good intentions end up going so wrong?

"Cold turkey" -- stopping your bad habits "cold" -- is problematic because it subscribes to the Perfectionist Fallacy. Following the Perfectionist Fallacy sets you up for failure because perfectionism doesn't square away with reality. Nothing is 100% perfect. You can never be 100% perfect. While there is nothing wrong with creating lofty goals for yourself, absolute perfection cannot be achieved.