{How This Blog Became Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free and Mostly Vegan } Week 10 or The Official Starbucks Goodbye

Background: The Detox Diet Diaries recounts my story of doing a detox diet for health reasons and to isolate food allergies which may have been a contributing factor to some of my health problems. This diet involves real food. I am not on the Master Cleanse, or Gwyneth Paltrow’s latest cleanse, or Oprah’s cleanse, nor are my posts on my diet a way to support their actions. As I explained in my background post, I am doing this under the care of a naturopathic doctor.

I have written before how Starbucks used to very much be a source of calm and routine for me. As much as I prefer little independent cafes, I used to love seeing what the new seasonal drinks and treats were. Starbucks was very much my happy place in a lot of ways. I almost always ordered chais (iced or hot) or decaf lattes or green tea or herbal teas, so I never really thought about caffeine addiction.

But, I noticed about a year ago {so long before the detox diet was even on the horizon} that I would have cravings for an iced skim chai that were bad, like climb-the-wall bad. Eventually, with time, I ended up cutting out the chais completely – as much as I loved them, I hated that they could result in such unpleasant cravings, which I also found puzzling, as I had been drinking them for years. Looking back, it was probably the sugar in them, but also the fact that I had started associating them with a feeling of “I deserve a treat” which can be a power feeling when you are unhappy at your job, and a trip to Starbucks is pretty much the one way you can get away easily.

Switching jobs obviously helped but, even though I cut out the chais, I kept Starbucks as my happy-take-a-break place. I was also really into the Limited Edition pastries – I found the whole concept very fun even though I had no idea why. My rule used to be that I could try any of them just once. Otherwise I usually got the Reduced Fat Coffee Cakes.

I still occasionally go to Starbucks {I drink herbal teas} but since I cannot eat any of the cakes there, I don’t even really look in the case. Sometimes during Week 10 of the diet, though, I noticed that there were now a Reduced Fat Very Berry Coffee Cake, instead of the Reduced Fat Blueberry Coffee Cake, which I ate easily once or twice a week before this diet. That’s when it hit me that Starbucks’ place in my life had really changed – it no longer has all those extra associations that it used to have for me, whether it was “I deserve a treat” or “happy place” or “fun new items regularly” or “comforting place that is always the same whereever I go and includes some sugary treat.”
Disclaimer: I am just a regular person posting about my experience doing a detox diet for health reasons and, ultimately, to isolate food allergies that may be the underlying cause of said health problems. I am not a medical professional or nutritionist. Please do not use information from these posts to do your own detox diet. Rather, seek advice from a doctor, naturopath or nutritionist to determine what the correct course of action for your health is.