Detox Diva
You remember that corny song from the 80’s by the one-hit wonder Charlene. It went something like this:
“Oh, I’ve been to Georgia and California and anywhere I could run
I took the hand of a preacher man and we made love in the sun
But I ran out of places and friendly faces because I had to be free
I’ve been to paradise but I’ve never been to me.”
Oh, you know it. It is a favorite song at gay karaoke bars and is the opening number in the fabulous Australia Drag flick movie “Priscilla Queen of the Desert.” And it so happens to be the theme song for me while I am at the Optimum Health Institute (OHI), a detox destination in San Diego.
The truth is, the past few years have been tough on me, or should I say, I have been tough on the past few years. I left my corporate job in 2003 to start Tango Diva, and the website went live in 2004. I then decided to write a book, which took years because of all the changes to the proposal. Basically I wrote 4 books and only 1 got published. In 2006 I took on the challenge of raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and raised the second-most in the nation that year as “Woman of the Year”. 2007 FLY SOLO came out and I spent the year traveling for speaking engagements, TV interviews, and radio show.
Then, somehow 2008 snuck up on me and I totally forgot about myself and my health. My first step back to health was when on February 19, I decided to not work 16 hours a day. I cut back to 12 hours Monday through Friday. (baby steps).
Before I knew it, it was the middle of the summer and I was hosting a huge group of Tango Diva members and guests at Club Med Cancun. It was a great experience, but by the final day I was sick in bed and feeling like the world was sitting on my head.
When I got home I know that this was my chance to do something for myself, so I booked a week at OHI. I needed to detox my body from all the margaritas, chips, and 5 years of running really hard to accomplish my dreams. I realized that if I was sick or fat I would never get to do all the things that I wanted. And I was already sick, and the pounds had started to creep on my belly and arms. Ick.
So, I picked up the phone and booked a week stay. This is a journal of what happened to me on my trip…..
The Night Before: Saturday July 5, 2008
My girlfriend Krissie has a few friends staying with her from the East Coast, so she invited me over for a slumber party at her house. I got to her house around 5 pm and we opened a bottle of fabulous Zinfandel with our other great friend from Florida, Karla. The last time I saw Karla was in Miami, where I did a book signing a few months ago, so we had lots to catch up on. We laughed, sipped our wine while chilling in Krissie’s kitchen. The conversation was a mix of topics like Karla’s hot $700 stilettos that she was wearing out that night and Krissie’s latest shopping spree at Nordstrom, I talked about how happy I was because I was quoted in the San Jose Mercury News about travel wear and they wrote about my Gucci fanny pack, so now I can claim it as a business expense. Oh, the little joys in life. ☺ Karla had made reservations at a hip, new tapas bar in San Francisco, so we jetted after polishing off the bottle of wine.
Our dinner at Laiola was delicious — and so was the glasses of wine! We dined on deep fried corn fritters with aioli dip, roasted pork, bacon-wrapped dates, and salted chocolate with fried bread. Because I was not driving — which is a treat — I decided to really enjoy the wine that night. Plus, I know that I was going away for 7 days of cleansing, so I wanted to have a “last hooray!”
