A friend of mine told me earlier, in regard to this whole reboot/detox thing, that I might live longer, but he’ll live happier.  While I get what he was trying to say (and it was in jest anyway), it’s an invalid argument, for a few reasons.

One, it presumes one person’s definition of “happy” is the same as another’s. Me, I think being married and having three kids would be miserable. But I know other people find joy in that. So I don’t think they’re less happy than me just because I don’t find happiness in giving over your life to child terrorists.

Secondly, and probably more to the point, if I wasn’t happy eating/living the way I do, why would I do it?* Is there a correlation between free consumption of greasy foods and dead animals and increases in enjoyment of life? As someone who has lived both very straightedge and very not straightedge at all, I can tell that, yes, moderation plays a big role in living a balanced, harmonious life, but I can also report that my general disposition has not changed whether I’ve been a meat-eater, a vegan, a smoker, a drinker or an ascetic. (Well, actually, that’s not true — I had pretty bad bouts of depression/anxiety when I smoked regularly and ate meat, but there’s a spurious correlation there.)

As I told my pal on the phone, these reboots or whatever aren’t much of a deviation from my normal diet — just stricter to give my body a bit of a cleanse and break from excess starches, fats and toxins. And yes, I get a bit hungry, or crave certain things, but I’m happier knowing I have the self-control and discipline to carry on, rather than sad I’m not having pizza or a beer. And that’s the thing that may be lost on a lot of people: This is as much a mental exercise as anything physical. Same as getting myself to run a 5k was: It’s a challenge to my mental endurance with the added benefit of physical conditioning. Self-denial is no way to live. Self-enrichment is.

And with that, here’s the final menu for System Reboot Week 2011. Thanks for watching and bearing with my excessive blogging about food and health and whatever.

• Breakfast: 1 caro-bana smoothie from Go Raw Cafe
• Lunch: Half-order of raw pizza from Go Raw Cafe
• Dinner: Sweet Tomatoes! One big ol’ salad (lettuce, cabbage, carrots, onions, cucumbers, peppers, cauliflower, vinegar, olive oil, sunflower seeds), one cup curry split pea soup, half a cup of vegetable soup
• Evening snack: One piece raw “fudge”
• Beverages: Water, herbal iced tea (decaf), maybe a quarter-serving of Kombucha tea (raw), a few sips of Green Protein juice.

* Yes, by doctor’s orders, I have had to make adjustments I otherwise wouldn’t have thought of doing myself. But I’m not unhappy just because I can’t eat endless amounts of cheese and whole eggs. I was definitely less happy when I was told I was 30 pounds overweight and at risk of a heart attack.