becoming's posterous

•    Sustained weight loss
•    Greater and steady energy
•    Better sleep
•    Love of new, healthy foods  
•    Feeling lighter / better digestion

These are just a few of the benefits reported by previous participants.

This cleanse definitely met my desired results and really changed my perspective on food and eating.  I lost 11 pounds, broke some bad habits, reminded myself of some foods I enjoy that had fallen off my radar, and found new foods I love.  I was pleasantly surprised that it was easier than I thought it would be.  After a couple of tough days at first, my hunger (a fear I had going in) decreased. Before, I would get hungry all the time, was steadily putting on pounds even though I was exercising, and had fallen into a bad food rut.  Now I am re-energized to pay more attention to what I cook and eat. 

As someone who loves food and cooking, I must confess I was concerned this was some hippie-type cleanse where I would be told that all the foods I love are bad.  Instead I learned that they are ok in moderation, and I learned about a number of new, whole, foods I will keep in my regular rotation.

I loved having everything laid out and organized for me.  It was nice not to have to think. I was a little apprehensive about how the cleanse would work remotely, since I was in DC, but the phone calls were great and I did not feel deprived being 3,000 miles away!

~ Greg

Marnie is the perfect leader - her zest for life and health is contagious.   I had no idea how wonderful the Saturday session would be.  For people who live in the Bay Area, I highly encourage you to attend and give yourself plenty of time so you do not feel rushed.  I found it to be incredibly valuable and it was an awesome way to kick off the cleanse.

This is how the body was meant to eat.  My only regret is that I didn't do this sooner! Thank you Marnie!”  ~ Michelle D. 

“When you truly believe in something, and you carry it in your heart, you accept no excuses, only results.” – Ken Blanchard.  That’s the kind of passion that Marnie has for others. She guides you in realizing that you can eat healthy foods and still have them be yummy and delicious. My partner and I did Marnie’s cleanse for the second time for so many wonderful reasons. Most importantly, we have more energy. I use to be the type of person who needed to take naps in the middle of the day – no more! I realized during and after the cleanse that it’s not me, it’s the foods that I was consuming. After the cleanse I learned that I could still eat amazing and delicious foods but without feeling like a slob afterwards. We are now eating foods that we didn’t even know existed. We both lost weight with the cleanse which was a plus but the knowledge and support we received from Marnie is priceless. It’s been two months since our second cleanse and our refrigerator is still full of delicious healthy goods. No more foods that have labels that say the right things, but foods that are actually vigorous. We both continue to receive support from Marnie and we’re sustaining our health and weight that we lost. It’s amazing, powerful and life changing! We look forward to doing the cleanse once a year with Becoming Health and would introduce her to family and friends in a heartbeat. Thank you Marnie for being so amazing passionate about what you do. 

The virtues that the Becoming Health 13-day cleanse bestowed unto my life were many. Personally I derived many health benefits immediately and was instilled with practices that will continue to inform the way I view, enjoy, and consume food for years to come. From the perspective of a health care practitioner, it reaffirmed my notion that diet ought to be our primary medicine and helped me embody the message that indeed, many forms of suffering are optional if we strive to find balance in our lifestyle. 

Personal

* I was able to break away from the notion that more food will give me more energy,  and in short develop a lot of self control around tendencies to emotional eating.

* On whole my energy levels were very balanced throughout the day. When I cut out the extraneous food distracters such as refined grains and coffee, I suddenly had more sustained energy levels and moods throughout the day.

* While by virtue of my wife working for a farm I have more access to low cost, exceptional quality produce than the average citizen, I still have a tendency to reach for convenience foods, I slowed down enough to indulge in my life's cornucopia. I was also treated to my wife cooking a lot of sumptuous raw food treats to honor my health practice!

From a practitioner perspective

* Raw foodism goes against a lot of the basic tenets of Chinese dietary therapy thus to experiment with it myself was going against health tenets I frequently advocate people adhere to. Via my own experience I found great vitality and enhanced awareness and can now see the role of punctuating ones life with a soundly structured partially raw foods cleanse such as the one Marnie will guide you on.

* Marnie does an excellent job providing support to participants in the form of daily messages about what different stages of the cleanse are providing your body with and about how to interpret, value, and possible endure some of the experiences one might have in their body during the process.

* What our society is in desperate need of is an integration of mindful eating practices and a focus on simple whole food nutrition. Marnie's cleanse delivers this as a concentrated experience with techniques for food preparation and forming a new relationship with ones body that are accessible and will last a lifetime. 

•    Kick off session  (in-person and teleconference) + mid-point check-in teleconference
•    Supporting materials:  Cleansing guidelines, tips, daily checklist
•    Daily menus with recipes + shopping list
•    Daily inspirational and informational e-mails