Recently I was inspired by a fitness blogger who I follow named Stacey D (#StaceyDTaughtMe) to do a certain “cleanse.” Most people will immediately read that and assume it implies refraining from having sexual relations with men, but that’s the farthest from what Stacey D means.

Stacey D is a member of CrossFit who also runs a business doing eyelash extensions. She is a huge voice to women because she is never shy to be a voice in the #MeToo movement and body positivity.

In one of her blog posts, she wrote about how in relationships women try to be someone they are not and adopt specific characteristics in attempt to make that man happy.

One of Stacey D’s quotes in the blog is “I used to try really hard to impress people only to raise the expectations people had on who I was supposed to be. Until one day (rather recently) I decided that simply being myself was enough.”

I thought Stacey D had some good points in her blog about how we (women) often get so distracted by men and sometimes even alter who we are in attempts to please them or make them like us because who we are supposedly isn’t enough.

The point of this “cleanse” is to refrain from dating, going out with, sleeping with or being anything more than friends with men and really just get to know yourself with the good, bad and the ugly.

I’ve discovered during my cleanse that a lot of men do not understand why a woman could possibly want to be alone.

They think that we should kiss the ground they walk on over a $4.99 Steak N’ Shake dinner. These are the same guys who ask me, “Why are you single?” and look at me like I am crazy when I tell them it is voluntary and because I want to be.

I am really excited about my decision to tag along with Stacey D with our provocative-sounding, but highly beneficial “cleanse.” I hope to sort out what characteristics about me are really mine, and what characteristics about me I have learned and been told is who I am.

I think it is important to learn how to be truly alone and how to be the strongest version of yourself in college, and that is something this cleanse helps women achieve. It is important to learn how to feel emotions and process them properly and learn to accept that people will not always be happy and people can not be a source of happiness.

My second favorite quote from Stacey D’s blog is “You can fool some people sometimes, but you can’t fool everyone all the time.”

It made me wonder how often we are really just trying to fool ourselves into thinking negatively about ourselves. College is not only a time for academic growth, but I think it is the perfect time for students to become the best version of themselves whether it be learning who they are through a “cleanse” or other methods.

Liz Stephens is a junior journalism major. She can be reached at 581-2812 or ejstephens@eiu.edu.