Yes, I'm kind of one of those: I occasionally go on week long cleanses in order to shed a few recently accumulated pounds. Upon dissecting it, I think this temporary diet trend implies a few things: losing weight is more important than being healthy, cutting out certain foods is a form of punishment, and so many of us feel an eternal dissatisfaction with our bodies, a kind of perfectionism.

Sometimes these cleanses work, sometimes they don't. But they leave us to revert back to our old habits, and to gain the weight yet again. In my mind, it's like maybe a week of suffering will give me the results I want. This kind of thinking will never satisfy you.

Rather, something I've decided recently is that the food I eat shouldn't be a means to an end of being skinny. Food is fuel, and you are what you eat. Food should support your lifestyle and make your life better.

So I'm not going to have a caloric limit for each day, but think about the pros and cons of each food. Gummy worms are a good, rewarding kind of treat, but I definitely don't need them every day. In order to prevent my anemia from resurfacing, I should eat a lot of green vegetables. (I've been talking about kale every 5 minutes for the past week HELP!)

Have you ever felt guilty or sluggish after eating something? Food-related guilt isn't good, but you should pay attention to how certain foods make you feel. Everyone else may love burgers, but if they cause digestive distress for you, don't eat them! If you feel disgusting after eating half a gallon of ice cream, why would you keep doing it?

The body you are looking for starts with mindfulness.