After reading his book UltraMetabolism, Dr. Hyman had me convinced to follow his 3 week detox. It seemed impossible, but I figured if Britney could make a successful comeback when all odds were stacked against her, then surely I could follow this seemingly impossible feat for 3 weeks, no sweat. No dairy, no gluten, nothing artificial, nothing processed, no simple sugars, no peanuts, no eggs. No CAFFEINE. What?!

It’s been a challenge and while I’ve had a few slip ups here and there, this chick right here who was going to Starbucks twice a day is now sipping… decaf. I’m not bloated, my skin does not look like I belong in 7th grade and I wake up in the morning with energy. Such a weird concept, I know. I urge you to read this interview then pick up UltraMetabolism and his newest book, The UltraMind Solution and give it a try.

And even if you don’t, at least promise me you will give up the Splenda and 100 calorie packs.

The Five Questions We Ask Everyone

1. What are five things you can’t live without?
My Family, exercise (I’m kind of addicted to that – I like to play tennis, basketball, cross-country skiing), my friends, enough sleep, really good food.

2) What is the most trouble you ever got into in college or your best college memory?
I never really got into trouble in college.  Although I could have gotten in trouble since I was getting stoned in the line for graduation when we were going by all the professors and we were just passing a joint along the line.

3) What is your motto or the advice that you live by?
There’s actually four things.  It’s four rules for a healthy culture, and healthy relationships.  One is “show up,” two is “be present,” three is “tell the truth [without pain of] judgment,” and the fourth is “be open to the outcome.”

4) What is your favorite song to sing in the car, or at karaoke, in the shower, at the bar, or wherever?
I really like “Crazy Love” by Van Morrison.

5) 10 Years from now, you will be…
I will be giving away my time to create, to educate and research, and to help change medicine so that everybody can get access to what I think is the most powerful discovery since the theory of evolution or the discovery of relativity theory: that the medicine that we have now really has the capacity to create health for everybody, that as soon as we understand it and apply it, it will really transform the healthcare system and our health in general.

5 Questions for Dr. Mark Hyman (and this was difficult seeing as he’s just full of really great information!)

1) Why are 100 Calorie Packs so bad for us? It seems like a great way to portion control, but you say otherwise? Can you suggest some snack alternatives?
Why are they bad? It’s very simple: because they’re not real foods, and they don’t give you real energy or real health.  They simply are chemicals put in a nice package, they taste good because they’re full of sugar and fat, and they actually do the opposite of what you want: they make you more tired and fatter, rather than give you more energy and make you thinner.

I think the calorie thing isn’t so much the issue as the quality of the food. Quality, not calories, so when you focus on the quality, the calories don’t matter so much because your body knows what to do with it all. I suggest things like whole food bars, for people looking for a quick snack. Lara bars are great, because they’re basically nuts and dried fruit – they’re just real food.  Nuts and fruit are a great snack, and I think those are real easy to get.

(Click here to check out his segment on the Today show exclusively on 100 Calorie Packs)

2) Okay so once and for all – why do we need to STOP with the artificial sweeteners we put in our coffee, in every ‘low cal food’ and the cans of Diet Coke we consume? (You know aside from all the chemicals!)
There’s actually very good studies on this.  Aside from the fact that aspartame actually has effects on your brain that aren’t great—it can cause headaches, and other problems—the main reason is that it actually makes you eat more, it makes your body confused and think food’s coming, so it gets ready by producing insulin, which actually drives your appetite, and you actually gain weight, and slow your metabolism.  You basically are hungrier, and you gain more weight, and you slow your metabolism, and you gain more fat.

3) If you could recommend five things that our readers could start doing RIGHT now, even before they have a chance to go buy your book, what would you recommend?
• Eating breakfast, and having protein for breakfast; I think choosing quality food – basically, real food – when you can.
• Cutting down on the amount of sugar and sweets, breads and muffins that people eat—flour and sugar should be eaten as a treat, not as a staple.
• I think in terms of managing weight and everything, it’s important to make sure you don’t eat too late.  If you want to look like a sumo wrestler, you should have dinner and go right to bed, because basically your body stores food instead of burns it. Stop eating 2 to 3 hours before bed.
• Exercise
• Start taking a multivitamin, Vitamin D, and Fish Oil daily

4) Is it bad to eat the same foods every day?  I read your body gets used to what you’re eating, and then it stops working and plateaus. Are there some things we should actually be eating on a daily basis?
That’s not exactly it.  We need a diversity of foods.  There are a lot of different nutrients in different foods, so if you eat the same thing every day, you might not be getting all the right vitamins and minerals, all the right nutrients. You really want to be getting a variety.

5) As college students we live on: Coffee, Alchohol, and sweets – do we need to swear these off?
Coffee: Genetically, we’re all different. Some people really aren’t as affected as much by it because they can metabolize it; some people are crawling up the walls, so you have to look at your own response to coffee.  But in small amounts, a cup a day, it’s really not going to be a problem for most people.  The problem is if you use it to give you energy, you’re actually getting false energy, because you slowly will find that you’re actually depleted and you get more tired in the afternoon, and then you feel worse, and then you need more coffee in the afternoon, and it’s a vicious cycle.  If you actually stop caffeine, you’ll actually end up having more energy in the long run.

Alchohol: I drink!  I like tequila.  I think it’s important to realize that it’s about balance, and that if you’re drinking six beers a day, or even two beers a day, then that might not be the greatest thing for you, but if you’re enjoying it on a regular basis and you’re not abusing it, then that’s ok. Beer is probably not the best because it’s very high in sugar.  Red wine is good. Tequila is also good.

Sugar: I like dark chocolate.  I think dark chocolate’s great, provided that you don’t eat a whole giant bar.

Got Questions for Dr. Hyman? Leave them below and we will see if we can get them answered! In the meantime, go pick up his books. They will really change your life and the way you feel.

Dress 10 pounds thinner.

If Reefs will make our ass look like that, we’ll take 10 pairs.

Yes, you can save money on beauty products.

Ryan Seacrest has a new girlfriend.

Hot celebs gone very, very wrong.

Do magic tricks turn you on?

More awesomely bad reality TV is coming our way tonight.

Israel refuses to stop their attacks on Gaza.

Ugh, you stepped in gum; now what?

Men are to blame for the current economic crisis.

That thought probably floats through my head a few hundred times a day. And the truth is I’m not overweight. Not even close really. But I just want to be thinner than I am, like 10 pounds thinner.

Do I need to lose weight for health reasons? No.

Am I totally out of shape? Nope.

So what gives? Why do I insist on being so un-accepting of my body?

Probably because I have this innate desire to be perfect, to strive for that unattainable “perfect,” hot celebrity body, that is the result of a) a super intense trainer and nutrition coach, which I will never be able to afford or b) a combination of drugs (no thanks) + an eating disorder.

Now I’ve never had an eating disorder, but I must admit I’ve treaded quite close to the edge with some serious calorie counting, not to mention borderline obsessive exercising. But most recently, since I’m perusing the web a lot (who isn’t?), I’ve stumbled upon the term “thinspiration.”

I’m sure many of you have heard of this. But since I hadn’t yet, I did some more digging, which led me to a TON of anorexia blogs, pro-anorexia websites, insane dieting tactics to avoid eating at all costs, YouTube videos that flash images of reallllly skinny girls so that they’ll “thinspire” you… the list goes on.

At first I was totally shocked and horrified by how mental the girls who create this sh*t are. But then, I became intrigued.

I visited these sites daily and read what they had to say about the monster that is anorexia or “ana,” which most of the girls nickname “her.” Their struggles with the “ana” voice in their heads is pretty much documented daily along with what they eat, how they feel, etc.

Then there are virtual support groups where girls exchange tips and tricks on how to lie about eating or pretend they have just eaten to avoid harassment from parents and friends.

One dialogue that really stuck with me was about one girl who was freaking about having to go out and drink with her friends. She asked how many calories are in beer and other booze and when someone responded explaining there were about 110 per drink, she wrote, “OMG I don’t think I can handle that many!”

My thought was, “Huh? I doubt beer calories have ever deterred me from drinking like 10.”

Despite my disconnect with them on the level of caring how many calories are in my alcohol beverage of choice, I did relate. I too want to be thin and beautiful. But obviously there are different levels to this desire, some that drive you to do totally crazy and unhealthy things to yourself.

Lucky for me I’m not there, but I still have a voice in my head telling me I need to weigh less, I shouldn’t have eaten those cookies, I look fat today… I want to be skinnier.

How the hell do you make that stop?

Check out this video that serves as “Thinspiration” for girls who are suffering from Anorexia. Unfortunately, there are many variations of this kind of video, all of which support looking unhealthy: