I try to lead a healthy lifestyle. "Try" being the operative word. I exercise. I eat right ... well, most of the time. I just can't seem to resist pizza day at work or the occasional burger from Shake Shack (arguably the best burger joint in New York City). Problem is, all those indulgences have left me feeling run down, bloated, and have wreaked havoc on my high blood pressure (a lingering vestige of preeclampsia during pregnancy).

So what's a busy mom to do? Oh, I know, deny myself any and all food. But not in the model-munching-on-tissue-paper-to-stay-skinny-for-the-catwalk kind of way (yes, they do that!). I opted for a juice cleanse. I wanted to detox. Rid my system of all those impurities and preservatives caked in every delicious morsel of yummy treats like microwave popcorn (my daily 4 p.m. snack). So I signed up for a four-day fast from American Yogini, which provided me six juices per day. Here is my detox diet survival story.

You probably don't realize that all the things you do every day, getting the kids ready for school, shopping, playing scary blanket monster, are helping you burn some serious calories! So no more complaining you don't have time for the gym, K? Check out some typical mom activities and the amazing caloric payoff:

I've been reading the new book, Gluten Is My Bitch: Rants, Recipes, and Ridiculousness for the Gluten-Free by April Peveteaux (a former Stir contributor!). Even for the totally gluten-friendly, the book is informative and an unexpected kness-slapper. You wouldn't think there's anything funny about celiac, but there is. Oh yes, there is. Anyway, I'm actually learning a few things I didn't know about gluten before. Like -- all of the things in the world that have gluten in them. And they're not even all food! Gluten is so not just about bread and pasta. Here are several places April says gluten hides.

We've all heard crazy stories of actors getting in shape for big movie roles. Heck, I felt nauseated just listening to Anne Hathaway dish on her Les Miserables oatmeal paste diet a few months ago. And oh god, remember how small Matthew McConaughey was last year? The latest wallop comes from Alice Eve, star of the new film Star Trek Into Darkness. The actress revealed that in order to fit in her teeny little spacesuit, she went on a spinach diet for five months. The actress told The Telegraph that it was the only way she could get into "proper fighting shape."

A spinach diet. Well THIS is something new, eh?

The latest in totally insane Kim Kardashian pregnancy news: She's now "desperate" to lose weight while carrying around Baby Kimye. And she's thinking about doing a starvation diet, according to InTouch. Yuuuuuuup, sounds totally rational and true! Actually, accusing Kim of pregorexia couldn't be more reckless, repugnant, and ridiculous.

They say she's contemplating doing celeb trainer Harley Pasternak's Body Reset Plan -- a liquid/crash diet. OMG. And they back it up by quoting an anonymous "friend" who says, "[Kim's] always played up her sex appeal, so she’s terrified she won’t be able to get her body back after the baby is born.” Forgive me while I proceed to bang my head against the wall several times in a row.

Just when I thought I'd heard of every weight loss trick, tip, and plan, along comes one that I would have never guessed. It's one you will definitely dig ... literally.

It's gardening. That's right, gardening can help you lose weight -- a lot of weight. According to a new study out of the University of Utah, researchers found that people who garden are as much as 16 pounds lighter on average than their non-gardening counterparts.

Now that summer is a stone's throw away, everyone is trying to drop that extra bit of winter weight with hopes of looking great in that teeny bikini. Easier said than done, right? Biggest Loser trainer Bob Harper recently spoke with OK! about the right way to trim down for swimsuit season, saying that getting bikini ready doesn't necessarily mean giving up EVERYTHING delicious. Bob's dietary suggestion?

"Cut your complex carbohydrates completely out except for breakfast in the morning," Harper suggested. "And don't drink your calories."

Good tips, right? The thing I love most about Harper's philosophy, though? Even a big celebrity trainer says you CAN eat complex carbs if you want to. Now THAT is MY kinda diet.

They say money can’t buy you happiness but a new study shows that for some overweight people, it just might. The new study from the Mayo Clinic found that people are motivated to lose weight when money is involved. When it comes to slimming down, financial incentives are king. For some reason, we are willing to gamble with our health, but not our money. It's pretty sad that we are more afraid of being broke than we are of being dead.