Sharp - The 5-day real food detox / A Simple, Delicious Plan for Fast Weight Loss, Banished Cravings, and Glowing Skin

My name is Nikki Sharp, and Im a model on a mission: to help you detox safely and sanely. And do it in a very unique wayby eating delicious, natural foods that help you shed pounds quickly and radically improve your health and your life. So, welcome! Im going to show you how to do my 5-Day Real Food Detox, a fun, healthy process that will change the way you look and feel in five short days. I promise!

I know what youre thinking. Is this some sort of starvation diet only a model would do? Am I going to subsist on celery sticks, cigarettes, and endless cups of coffee? Or is this just another one of those juice-only, smoothie-only detoxes that will leave me feeling unhappy and craving real, chewable food?

No! Thats not what Im about, and its not what I think life is about. Life is about experiencing health, joy, happiness, and energyand loving yourself. And one of the most important ways to have that kind of life is to enjoy beautiful, nutrient-dense food.

On my detox, youll learn simple principles of clean eating. Youll eat real foods that are as close to their natural state as possiblefoods that burn body fat, remove toxins, reduce bloating, and clear up nagging conditions such as acne, fatigue, and constipation. Youll start to completely turn your health around. Youll look great, feel great, and have more energy, whether youre 22 or 62. And all of this in just five days.

I developed this cleanse after many years on the modeling circuit, where I ate low-nutrition crap or nothing at all. My typical diet ranged from too many coffees and diet sodas to packs of salted peanuts and fruit yogurts with far too few calories to nightly snacks of cupcakes, cookies, pizza, and blocks of cheese with far too many calories. Not exactly good nutrition, and it took a toll on my body and mind: I became very sick and unhappy. On the outside, I seemed to have it all: money, fame, beauty, and a glamorous lifestyle. But on the inside, I was a physical and emotional mess. It would take me many years to clean up that mess.

I grew up in Boulder, Colorado. Im the daughter of an Olympic-cyclist, sports-model mother; a rock-climbing father; and a body-building stepfather. My mother and father are English, originally from London, but moved years ago to the beautiful Rocky Mountains. Boulder, of course, is wonderful for skiing, hiking, cycling, eating great locally sourced food, and living a healthy lifestyle. I wouldnt change that upbringing for the world.

But did I appreciate it back then? Not one bit.

As a kid, I was a typical picky eater. My mother cooked for me every single nightdishes like homemade pasta with fresh tomato sauce and grilled salmon with vegetablesyet I refused to eat her nutritious meals, subsisting instead on chocolatey cereals, low-fat milk, boxed mac and cheese, artichokes with full-fat mayonnaise dip, and Lunchables. Empty nutrition, for sure, and it began to hurt me from a very young age. When I was seven, I was rushed to the emergency room for severe acid reflux. In retrospect, Im convinced that my poor diet caused it. But back then, no doctor would ever make the connection, especially for someone that young. The link between poor nutrition and illness wasnt as clear as it is now. So like most sick little kids, I was given a stuffed animal and very strong medicine, and sent on my way. It was the typical Band-Aid approach to medical care, which never works. My acid reflux got so bad that by age twelve, I was put on the highest dose of prescription heartburn drugs, and I took them four times a day.

When I was eleven, I got serious acne, which plagued me off and on for the next fifteen years. It wasnt only on my face but all over my back, too. I tried everything to clear it up, from products hyped by beautiful models and actresses on TV to antibiotics and prescription skin gels. I finally resorted to taking Accutane, a very risky and potentially dangerous anti-acne drug, three times a day. Nothing worked. I honestly thought I was just unlucky and would be cursed with acne, terrible stomachaches, and later headaches for the rest of my life. It never occurred to me to ask why these things were happening.

My blemish-ridden face and other health problems, however, did not destroy my dream of becoming a modela dream that took hold very early in my life. For one thing, I was always very tall and naturally thin, exactly the body type for modeling. My mothers career as a sports model influenced me greatly. But more than anything, I was motivated by the glossy magazine spreads of Cindy Crawford, Kate Moss, and Naomi Campbell, and I plastered their pictures all over my bedroom wall. Id stare at those pictures and tell myself that one day Id become a model too.