The fourth iteration of Bon Appetit magazine’s Food Lover’s Cleanse is underway, and if you’re looking for help changing your diet in the new year it could be a great place to start.
Don’t be scared off by the term “cleanse” — you’re not being punished for your transgressions. You’re not even missing out, really — this cleanse has chocolate! It also has dairy, and allows for alcohol — but no refined carbs like white bread and pasta. And no skipping meals — they want you to eat everything on their produce-heavy menu.
For two weeks, Bon Appetit has four cleanse recipes a day — three meals and a snack — developed by magazine contributor Sara Dickerman with nutritionist Marissa Lippert. It obviously involves cooking, but Lippert and Dickerman have brilliantly incorporated leftovers into the lunches, so it’s like you need to be slaving at the stove every minute of the next 14 days. The complete collection of recipes and the shopping list are available here.
Dickerman does the cleanse and posts daily blog posts, and you can follow along with other cleansers on Twitter at #BACleanse. There’s even a podcast.
They’re not trying to get you to lose weight, just to recalibrate you from that all-cookie diet you were on through the holidays.
They started on Jan. 2, but that doesn’t mean you can’t start a few days behind. Can’t commit to the whole shebang? Try making some of the recipes for dinner, or sticking to their snack between meals.