I'm lucky enough to work in an office where we're provided with free carbonated beverages. Fruit snacks, chips, and candy are also plentiful. I'm talking entire bags of Skittles, people. The 10-year-old in me has a really hard time looking at a bag of Cheetos (which we also have here) and not eating just a few. While on the plan, here's what kept me focused on not cheating:

1. Everyone knew I was dieting.
Everyone in the office is aware that I'm seeking "Gutbliss," so if I were to try to sneak even a Tootsie Roll, they'd definitely call me out. While this is kind of annoying, it's keeping me honest.

2. I don't have any junk in my pantry. I don't even have a pantry.
Once I get home, it's pretty easy to stick to my diet, since I don't have anything I can just snack on mindlessly. If you're not going through a kitchen renovation while on this plan, I recommend removing all of those SAD GAS items from your stock -- that way, you won't be tempted to indulge when you're hungry.

3. Keeping alternative snacks on standby.
Pine nuts are my new indulgence. I keep them, and some clementines, with me at all times to satisfy any cravings I might have.

Confession time: I had a moment (okay, a few hours) of weakness. On day six, I suddenly felt the need to consume pizza. Before I could change my mind, I walked down to my old neighborhood joint and ordered a pizza. In my defense, it was a kale and spinach pizza -- basically a salad on top of bread, right? The worst part: It wasn't even good. Afterward, feeling bad, but unable to stop myself, I fueled my guilt by downing some coconut ice cream (which is allowed!) and a vegan pastry (which has soy, so it's not allowed.) While wallowing in self-pity, I remembered something Chutkan said:

"Most of us are 'toxing' 80 percent of the time and detoxing 20 percent of the time. And we should really think about flipping that [so that we're] detoxing 80 percent of the time."

I chalk my caving up to my 20 percent and vow to tack another day on to the initial 10.

The hardest part of this plan hasn't been giving up my beloved sweets or nixing my daily dairy. It hasn't even been resisting all of the holiday goodies that are coming into the office. It's been making myself work out.

Did I forget to mention this part of the "Gutbliss" detox?

"Move. Get sweaty as often as you can, ideally at least three times a week."

Not only does sweating help with your digestion, Chutkan says, it also increases blood flow to the skin, which is where you skin picks up nutrients (vital for a healthy glow). Exercise also boosts feel-good hormones like serotonin and endorphin while decreasing the stress hormone cortisol. In other words, it's a way to feel really, really great about everything.

The first five days of the plan, I convinced myself it was way too cold to go to the gym. (For a Florida-born California girl, 50 degrees is cold.) By the sixth day, I couldn't ignore Dr. Chutkan's advice any longer. I get myself to the gym (it's in the same office park as our building, so I have NO excuse) and hop on the treadmill. After battling with my inner lazy girl for the first five minutes, I actually start to enjoy it. By the end of the week, I'm taking magazines (required reading when you work at a beauty company -- seriously) with me to read while I huff and puff at a decent pace on an uphill incline. I'm not running marathons yet, but since I usually read magazines while lying in bed, eating ice cream, I consider it a major improvement.

It's the end of my "Gutbliss" diet, and I have to say, I feel skinnier than ever. I've realized that I depend upon fatty, carb-y food as a reward for myself, which wasn't doing my health any favors. Once I got over the initial cravings, I started to associate the foods I used to love with the effect they have on my body. That Greek yogurt I thought was doing my probiotic count so much good? I now look at it and think of how unnatural (and, um, gross) it would be for me to suckle a cow's udder. When I see a Tootsie Pop, I imagine the sugar 1.) rotting my teeth out of my head, and 2.) acting as food for all of the bacteria that causes inflammation -- both inside and outside my body.

The office had our holiday party the day I came off the diet, and since we had to put in our meal orders about a week in advance, I chose something that I thought would make an incredible fast break: Fettuccine Alfredo. My meal hit five of the six SAD GAS items, since I had a skinny margarita with dinner.

When I got my pasta, though, I was incredibly underwhelmed. It wasn't that it wasn't made right -- it was -- or that it didn't have enough of that cheesy sauce -- it did. It just looked so bland. Over the past week and a half, I had gotten used to incredibly vibrant-looking meals. The reds of bell peppers and tomatoes, the deep purple of beets, the varying shades of greens -- it all looks so lifelike when it's on your plate. And while the first bite was pretty good, after bite number three I felt more like I was eating sponge-like sawdust than nutritious food.

In the days since ending "Gutbliss," I'm finding myself reaching for things that qualify as "food" under Dr. Chutkan's specifications. Instead of pancakes, I'm having fruit, and instead of fries, I'm having a side of avocado. While it's kind of annoying to eat out with me now (I order like Meg Ryan in "When Harry Met Sally"), I feel so much better after all of my meals. But since I know everyone likes a good before and after, here are my official results:

Height: 5'6" (still)

Weight: 130. I'm down five pounds, which is a lot for 11 days. In fact, I'd be concerned if I wasn't so ... um, ecstatic.

Energy Level: I eat in the mornings now, so I'm not completely famished and near fainting by lunch. This, and exercise, has made a significant difference in how I feel on an hour-by-hour basis. I still get the doldrums around 3 p.m., but I think that's normal. Sometimes it's hard to drag myself that extra 500 feet to the gym, but I never regret it once I'm there.

Skin: You guys, this is the best part. I have not had any breakouts since starting the diet 11 days ago. I can't stop looking at myself in the mirror. I've stopped feeling like I've been caught with my pants down when someone sees me without makeup. In fact, I've stopped wearing makeup. Since it's only been 11 days, I can't say for sure whether this will last, but my skin looks better than it has in three months. You can't argue with that.

I know this is ending like most write ups of detox diets -- "Honestly I just feel so much better and OMG I LOST FIVE POUNDS" -- but I do. Listen, I wouldn't lie to you. If this "diet" totally sucked and did nothing for me, I would go right back to eating cheese and Snickers bars. And occasionally, I probably will. But since it wasn't really a "diet" by most standards, and instead made me really think about the food I eat, it changed the way I approach nutrition. Plus, there's no gimmick with this diet. No $9 juices to buy, no special supplement powders to take. All this diet required of me was to switch out my overly-processed, convenient food with stuff that actually contains vitamins and nutrients. Once I got used to it, I started to crave the real stuff, which had been missing from my diet for a long time. And I really think that simple switch has done (and will continue to do) a lot for my health and skin, which is why I feel compelled to share it.

When I was interviewing Dr. Chutkan, she mentioned that there was an element of girl power behind writing this book. "I saw so many women, day after day, who were lovely and beautiful and bright, and they said their doctor told them they were having health problems because they were stressed. Women were constantly being told that they couldn't have bowel movements, or they were losing their hair, because they were stressed. I said, 'You don't look stressed to me.' We don't have to rely on fat, older, balding male physicians to tell us what's wrong. This book is about putting the power back into the hands of women."

I'll drink (a green smoothie) to that.