It's a new year, which means our bloated, post-holiday bingeing butts are being inundated with gym deals, diet plans, and perhaps most pervasive of all: cleanses. Whether it's an old standard like the lemon and cayenne-infused Master Cleanse or a newfangled green juice "feast" (It's just juice; calm down!), lots of us will scramble to lose the real (or perceived) holiday weight by sustaining ourselves on murky liquids.

However, there's a new cleanse in town that fully embraces solid foods like corn tortillas, refried beans, and guacamole. It's called the Taco Cleanse, and it's real and it's glorious. *Praise hands*.

Created by four self-proclaimed Taco Scientists in Austin, Texas, The Taco Cleanse book is part recipes, part spiritual guide, and part cheeky humor that pokes a little fun at our diet-obsessed culture. [Full disclosure: I first discovered The Taco Cleanse while writing about it when it was just a zine; the authors asked me to pen an intro for the book and I went for it. However, I haven't tried the actual cleanse yet and have no financial interest in its success.]

Before you decide to give this latest craze a go — as I am this week! I'm five tacos deep and I've never felt better/had stronger onion breath! — here are some things you need to know:

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1. You have to eat tacos for literally every single meal. If you're hungry in the morning, you're eating a breakfast taco. If you're craving a sweet treat after dinner, you better be prepared to stuff a Choco Taco in your face. It's tacos all day, every day. (Although you can ease in with a taco a day if you're not ready to 100 percent commit to the taco lifestyle right off the bat.)

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2. There are no rules or restrictions on beverages. The Taco Cleanse doesn't dictate what you consume in liquid form and downright condones supplementing with margaritas if you feel the need. (Pass the tequila, por favor!)

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3. Just because it's called the Taco Cleanse doesn't mean you can or should eat every meal at Taco Bell. Although co-author/Taco Scientist Stephanie Bogdanich told me, "Of course you can eat at Taco Bell — where else are you going to get Fourthmeal™? We actually have a whole section in the book about how to order at Taco Bell and Chipotle because Taco Cleansing should be super easy, even if you're on the road."

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4. The Taco Cleanse isn't going to take up your entire life. You won't be spending all day foraging, cleaning, and juicing biodynamic kale on the Taco Cleanse. In fact, I started today and already made about half my week's supply of fillings in an evening. I'm keeping them in my fridge and freezer so I'm ready to taco at any moment. Bogdanich recommended the Radiant Rajas, Arroz Verde, Ion-Charged Refried Beans, Regenerative Red Onions, and Cilantro Avocado Tranquility sauce as recipes that are easy to prepare ahead for mix-and-match combos. That way, you don't risk falling off the bandwagon and accidentally eating some pizza. HEAVEN FORBID. (Actually, please do click on that link. The Pizza Cleanse is my #inspiration.)

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5. The cleanse is not a guaranteed weight loss plan. Bogdanich told me that the Taco Cleanse isn't about weight loss but instead about feeling your best. "There is no miracle cure to having a perfect body," she said.

6. The Taco Scientists don't believe in detox. "You can do a juice cleanse and lose weight but you are still going to be you when it's over," Bogdanich said. "And you'll probably gain the weight right back. As far as cleansing and detoxing, those are words that the health industry appropriated from medical science. When real doctors talk about detoxing, they mean getting real poisons out of your body like heroin, not wheat gluten." (Mmmm ... gluten.)

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7. The answer to "Can anything be a taco?" is not a simple one. In fact, it's pretty damn complicated and Bogdanich told me it's something that "Taco Scientists can spend their lives debating." She continued, "Like, is a waffle a taco? Sometimes! If it's folded in half around a filling then you can consider it a taco. On the other hand, a piece of sandwich bread folded around a filling is definitely not a taco. We get into it quite a bit in the book but the most important thing to understand is that a burrito is not a taco and you will not get the same effects eating burritos." My brain!!

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8. The Taco Cleanse is 100 percent vegan. Before you light your copy of the book on fire with your own anger, know that the Taco Scientists teach readers how to remake popular staples like picadillo, tacos al pastor, carne guisada, and fish tacos using plants instead of, well, animals. (Also, this probably saves the cleanse from being kinda bad for you?)

9. The Taco Cleanse is not a joke. While the premise might seem silly and the writing is light-hearted and goofy, the message is pretty serious. The Taco Scientists want us all to live our best lives, and that means not depriving our bodies of life-sustaining food but instead nourishing our bodies with tasty tacos.

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10. The Taco Cleanse is all about the love, (wo)man. The love for yourself and your love for delicious tacos. As Bogdanich simply put it, "Take the negativity and bullshit out of your body-mind and put the tacos in."

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Laura Beck Laura Beck is a Los Angeles-based TV writer and frequent contributor to Cosmopolitan.com — her work has appeared in the New York Times, New Yorker, Jezebel, and the Village Voice.

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