It’s Monday night; my kids are asleep on their transition mattress below me.  They have been sleeping through the night for the past week, which is a monumental time for all of us.  So are the daily toy purchases I am happily making for rewards.  Trust me, after what we have been through in the musical bed department, I’ll do whatever it takes.

David is out at the Laker game and I am enjoying the peace and quiet in bed, candles lit, face mask on, bleaching trays in, and 20 pages of cleanse literature before me.

Tomorrow I will start a 7 day cleanse under the watchful eye of Greg Joujon-Roche, my trustful trainer and partner for my fitness DVDS series. He, his wife and I are doing this cleanse together. It’s my first time and I will be blogging my entire experience.

It’s the perfect time for me after surviving a weekend in Vegas and an intense hosting gig with Chris Harrison for The Miss America Pageant.  It was a successful show, very stressful considering we were wrangling 53 hopeful women.  But it paid off with the great ratings – thank you to all who tuned in.  Live television is unique and I love it.  It’s always a relief though to make it through seamlessly when a zillion things could go wrong while the country is watching and waiting for a slip up.

So now that I am home, no social dinners are scheduled and I am ready to tune into my body, listen and challenge myself.  Just to be very clear, I am NOT doing this to lose weight.  There are many benefits to doing a cleanse.  It is NOT a fast and I will not be starving.  The true definition of a fast is “to go without food or certain kinds of food, especially as a religious duty.” So I am simply planning to remove those certain foods that are not the greatest for me and shock my system a bit.  I’m a pretty healthy eater on most days, except for my yearly burger, which you may have enjoyed via Twitter! But the holiday indulgences have lingered on a few weeks too long, and I think this is a great way to kick start a super healthy eating plan that you can maintain all year.  Wine has become one of my pleasures and giving that up this week will be my most challenging sacrifice.  I am looking forward though to the veggie soups, salads, quinoa and juicing.  I believe I am going to feel great during this super clean phase, and I will keep you honestly posted.

My plan is to get really clear in my mind and spirit, sleep eight hours a night, work out, cleanse, and heal.  It may sound extreme, but I have experienced what happens during the high holidays when we fast for just one day, and that time can be truly emotionally insightful.  I will try to do some yoga this week and meditate, which is something I have not made time for in many years.  My kids inevitably always come first.  I have learned to manage my “me-time” as well, but yoga and totally mental peace is a stretch with my family’s schedule. This week I will take care of my body and regulate my mind.  Everything about that sounds good to me and that is why I will challenge myself the next 7 days.

If anyone wants to join Greg and I, we will be tweeting info, links, and pics. There is total support in numbers!  Any of you remember when I went green with some of the ModernMom community last year?  Maybe you did it with me, if not there is always tomorrow.