The Hows and Whys of the Taco Cleanse

Over the last few days I have been bombarded with questions about the Taco Cleanse. If you haven’t heard, a group of us in Austin have taken on this challenge for the month of September for a variety of reasons. I can’t speak for the whole group but I can tell you my personal journey.

Over the years I have changed my diet more times than I can count. Since childhood, really, I was on a quest to find what worked best for me. Since moving to Austin almost ten years ago I started supplementing my diet with tacos, particularly breakfast tacos; the most important taco of the day. I wasn’t seeing the results I was looking for. Sure, I would eat tacos most days but then sometimes for dinner I would screw up by eating a burger or some soup. I had no self-control and I could hardly look at myself in the mirror any more. It was also during this time I noticed a rash of physical symptoms. Sometimes I would feel really tired, especially in the morning when my alarm went off. Other times, I couldn’t fall asleep at night, I knew this wasn’t right! My body was trying to tell me something. Along with these issues I was filled with occasional bouts of melancholy and depression. I would ask myself, “Where was my life even going?”

Who knows how long I could have gone on this way but lucky for me, and for you, I met up with a team of taco scientists prepared to nurture my fledgling taco habit and also give me the community of support that I needed to follow though on what became to be known as The Taco Cleanse™. Together we forged a new path of wellness and self discovery.

The plan is actually quite simple. All of your meals must contain tacos. A short “mild” cleanse can last for just one day. If you want to go full on FUEGO like my veganmofo team including Molly, Jessica, and Wes it’s all tacos every day for a month. Now, I want to be clear that supplementing is acceptable as long as you are getting all of your tacos in. Margaritas should be added on an as needed basis for the top levels of the cleanse but at FUEGO you should be adding them at least a couple of times a week, working up to every day.

One important aspect of going through a taco cleanse is an element of community to help you along the way. Just last night, for example, I texted Molly asking where to get late night tacos on the north end since I had been stuck in a non-taco friendly bowling alley most of the evening. To enhance this partnership we are going to be planning several events in the Austin area during this month. Vegans Rock Austin in planning an opening ceremony potluck so sign up on their site. Next Tuesday night there will be special “Taco Tuesday” specials at Counter Culture. We are also planning potlucks, meet-ups at Mr. Natural, Vivo, the Vegan Nom, with more to come. During the month of Veganmofo The Taco Liberation Front, The Lonestar Plate, and Rabbit Food will all be blogging with me to share their taco cleanse journeys and hopeful pass along some tips as well.

On October 4th, National Taco Day, we are going to have a celebratory party at the Vegan Nom and we will also be selling our Taco Cleanse™ zine so you too will be able to participate.

I hope you enjoy following us through this campaign. On the blog I plan to chronicle both my personal journey and keep you up to date with all the wonderful tacos of Austin Texas. Also please feel free to follow me on instagram and twitter or just follow the #tacocleanse hashtag on both sites, there are already many people joining us because they are learning what I already know: Tacos Change Lives.