Starting today ... I'm (loosely) trying out Dr. Oz's new 10-day detox diet. I say loosely because I will not give up coffee or the milk I put in my coffee.

I first read about it in a magazine recently, but you can get an idea of the diet on Dr. Oz's website.

I mentioned somewhere else on the BellaOnline forum that I had gained a bunch of weight over the summer (yes, I took the lazy-dayz of summer to a new level) - 12 pounds to be exact.

So why did I choose THIS diet?
Because it closely resembles what I already do (or used to do before I got lazy).

What changes do I need to make?

• Add more probiotics per day, more consistently each day.
• Breakfast Smoothie/Protein Shake

So let's see how this turns out.

Oh cool Alice.

I watched the first video, and learned a couple of cool things!

First, 5,000 steps or more on the pedometer is active. And, I've been wondering (cuz I got a new pedometer) how many steps are considered good. I have gotten up to 4,000 a couple of times, but mostly am between 1500 and 2500. Okay, so now I know!!

And I'm over 5'5", but over 36, so if I can keep my steps up to 5,000, I could do the 1600 calories.

Though, I hate counting calories. LOL.

Alice, what do you think of SparkPeople.com? Have you ever used it?

I've never used SparkPeople.com. However, some of the articles seem to be linked to another website called cleanitup.org which basically seems to be along the same lines of Snopes.com but with regard to artificial sweeteners and all the things that we consume daily (like energy drinks and caffeine). They claim these products are not bad for your health. On the contrary, they are good for your health. I'm not sure I agree with those claims. Otherwise, it looks like a valuable site. Have you used it? Thoughts?

As of this morning, I have lost 4.4 pounds.

I've only used daily log portion. I've visited the forums, but didn't really get involved.

And AWESOME!!!!