I’m in the middle of my first April cleanse class, and I feel amazing. I’m feeling lighter and more energized, though I’ve also noticed that I had a couple of days of allergies.

One thing many people ask me about cleansing is whether they will be hungry. I always recommend to people that they stick with the meals and portions that I suggest, but that if they’re more active than average, they adjust the amount of food to meet their own needs.

Many people also mistake a cleanse for a fast. They think that it’s all juice or water – not so. You don’t have to cut out all food to have a good cleanse and get healthy. Depending on your own constitution, you might opt for a day of juicing – but most people shouldn’t juice for more than a couple of days. It all depends on how well your body can handle not eating.

Want to start cleaning your diet before cleansing? Here are my top five tips on getting started:

1 – Eliminate caffeine – the hardest for most people. Caffeine is a legal psychoactive drug that gives you the false energy and subsequent crash. By cutting it out, your physical and emotional energy will become more even and stronger overall

2 – Eliminate sugar – a national addiction, sugar is in just about every food that you can imagine, and even some you can’t. Sugar also has psychoactive properties and use of it is attributed to over 100 different kinds of ailments. Getting it out of your diet alone may be enough to make you feel 100% better for many aches and pains.

3 – Cut out the dairy – Milk is made to fatten up baby cows. It’s not meant for consumption by adult humans. Yet we still consume tons of dairy in milk, cheese, ice cream, yogurt and other products. There are plenty of other sources of calcium out there, and you don’t reallyneed dairy. I’ve had many clients cut dairy out of their diets, and tell me that they suddenly can breathe better and don’t have as many allergies.

4 – Ditch the wheat – it is one of the most overused grains in our diet. The problem is that it has become so pervasive that many people have a sensitivity due to overexposure. Others are walking around suffering from undiagnosed cases of Celiac Sprue, an allergy to wheat. If you give this up and discover you’re suddenly less bloated, itchy and have better moods, it might be wise to keep it out all together.

5 – Ban the meat – As Americans, we over consume our proteins. It’s important to have enough protein to sustain muscle mass and get healthy amino acids, but we really overdo the meat. Eating too much meat causes acidity in the body – which is the catalyst for many different diseases. Getting the heavier, building meats like beef, lamb, pork, and chicken out of your diet before cleansing can help you overcome acidity and balance your hormones.