If you would like to “jump start” yourself to looking, feeling and eating better, a short, focused detoxification can really help. Detoxification can allow you to “break” from bad habits. I would suggest you choose one to focus on. The detoxification will not “cure” your bad habit, but it will loosen your tendencies, allowing you to change with less struggle.
Spring Detox Plan
This diet is based on many different levels of my experience; education, research, observation and trial and error. It honors the bodies need for nutrients to cleanse and repair, protein, healthy fats, unlimited vegetables and seasonal fruits. There is also a nod to the principles of Chinese Medicine that identify the spring as a time for supporting and cleansing the liver and gallbladder. This gentle and surprisingly effective cleanse targets the liver, gallbladder, intestines and hormonal balance.
This is both the sanest and most dramatically effective cleanse I have ever found. Everyone I know who has tried it loves the improvement to their looks. The cranberry or pomegranate juice is very important to the effectiveness as it helps to; alkalize the blood, increasing your resistance to disease and repairing tissue as weel as flushing the lymphatic system, which decreases your gut, water retention and cellulite dramatically. I have found that drinking a mixture of juice and water throughout the day very effective, though it will make you urinate frequently.
Length: This is a very restrictive diet and should be followed for a minimum of 3 days and a maximum of 2 weeks. I suggest that you commit to 3 days, start on a day off. After 3 days, you can decide day by day to stick to the plan (the results of this regimen can be very motivating). Don’t just stop the plan, add to it for up to two weeks, and work on dropping a habit that is undermining your health. Weight loss will probably be rapid on this diet, due somewhat to low levels of carbohydrate and calorie restriction and also the action of the herbs, oils, fiber and cranberry juice on the detoxification pathways of the liver, gallbladder, lymph system and colon. Some of the weight loss is simply water, which will return when you begin adding more carbohydrates. Don’t fret!
Foods to eat:
At least 5 servings of 3-5 ounces of lean protein daily. Recommended sources: Eggs, egg whites, whey protein, a well-formulated vegetable source protein (probably not soy – and definitely not hemp) wild-caught fish, organic, grass fed and free-range lamb, chicken and turkey (without the skin) and extra lean beef or bison. Protein should be prepared without fats, broil, steam, bake or sauté in broth.
Unlimited vegetables, steamed, raw or sautéed in vegetable broth. Choose the most colorful and seasonal produce available. Click here to find the most nutrient dense vegetables that you love. Avoid starches such as peas, corn and potatoes.
2 fruits daily – choose your favorite seasonally available fruits
2 tablespoons of an Flax Seed oil or EFA blend oil on foods or in capsules. There is a decent tasting blend called Udo’s – you should buy it from a refrigerated case and keep it cool. You want to use it up quickly – oil spoils and it taste’s bad because it is no longer as beneficial for you.
Liver Detox formula or Dandelion Root Tea – at least 1 cup per day
Liver supporting herbal supplement – Milk Thistle – aka silymarin or Oregon Grape Root are suggested
Special Detox Elixir: Choose One
For reducing puffiness, “cellulite”, and constipation: Lymphatic & Colon cleanser: Mix 8 oz water with 2 oz of unsweetened cranberry or pomegranate juice and 1 tsp. green-food supplement to the drink. You may want to add a natural fiber supplement.
For general malaise, low energy and undoing a few hundred sins: Liver & Gallbladder cleanser: Into 6-8 ounces of orange juice add on tablespoon of fresh olive oil and one garlic clove – blend well. Each subsequent day add an additional tablespoon of olive oil and an additional garlic clove.
There is the outline of the plan. Tomorrow I’ll post the daily schedule and shopping list. Be well!
Okay, these are mostly the DIRTY secrets of fast weight loss….
I am now in my late 40’s and I am slowly moving towards some version of wisdom, oh so slowly. I have quite a few friends who swear by Atkins, the Zone, the South Beach Diet and Jenny Craig. I’ll tell you something important, none of these people have achieved any lasting weight loss. I see them cycle up and down, and some of them get fatter, as their hormonal systems get screwed up by the imbalanced diets and drain of willpower. Two years ago, I needed to lose some weight, and somehow decided to lose it very slowly, about 1/2 pound a week. It took about 3 or 4 months before anyone noticed anything, but it was easy and enjoyable. I learned a lot about which foods worked for me and which ones didn’t. When others started to notice, and ask what I was doing, they seemed disappointed when I told them how slowly I had been losing. Why do we become so impatient with ourselves – isn’t the skill of self care worth learning? Don’t you want to leave yourself some room for trial and error? I hope you do, it’s a lot more successful.
For the most part, quick weight loss and fasting are damaging to the body, the psyche, and your lifestyle, long term. Most extreme diets WILL disturb your hormones, WILL remove lean body mass (muscle) and WILL not last. If you think that REALLY MUST LOSE WEIGHT RIGHT NOW, stop for a minute and think about what happened the last time you were in this mood. Did you lose weight? Did you keep it off? Did you learn better eating habits?
So, I have warned you, and now I will give you links to two programs that are not terribly damaging, though I hope you’ll think it over and come back for a structured program for long term improvement. These diets, though effective, will probably be for naught in 1 year. Think about a slower, smarter approach, think about how great you will feel in one year, if you take your time and really begin to learn about yourself, and how to really feed yourself.
The Fat Flush and The Living Beauty Detox Program. Ann Louise Gittleman was the director of Nutrition at the famous Pritikin Program. She saw some of the same things that I had with long term adherence to High Complex Carbohydrate diets. I have used her seasonal detoxes to get my hormones back in order – along with yoga. Her diet is somewhat extreme, way too low calorie for me, and hard to adhere to long term for most, but you will see results. She was the first person to explain the importance of eating protein for optimal detoxification. You can learn a lot from her writing and she is also very motivating.
The Velocity Diet: This is a very extreme 28 day program for shedding fat while maintaining lean body mass. The supplies will cost you about $600 and there will be a lot of water loss in this diet, which is not permanent, so you could lose 10-30 pounds but it ain’t all fat, trust me, your body cannot do that. The program is relatively healthy but you’ll be drinking most of your meals. This is a diet that is used by some respected strength coaches to lighten up their athletes fast without losing conditioning.
Here is a little parting advice; Be well and keep it simple.
 Well, its getting to look like spring in many places, though this is a picture of my yard yesterday morning! The snow was very wet and is almost gone this morning – signs of spring. It has been a wonderful winter for me, and it is almost time to put away the skis! Spring is the time when all of nature renews itself, your body is no different.
Are you thinking about doing a detoxification program for spring?
I have a lot of experience personally and professionally with detoxification and I’d like to share some hard won wisdom with you.
I began my quest for “perfect health” as a teenager. I would try ANYTHING to achieve that elusive state of perfection (elusive because it doesn’t exist). I have worked at spas, yoga studios, residential yoga centers, yoga retreats, yoga teacher training centers and raw foods residential centers. I have seen 1000’s of people and the results of different approaches to nutrition, and here are some interesting things I have seen;
Extreme diets are for extremely ill people. A strict raw foods regimen is a godsend to someone with Heart Disease, Arthritis or Cancer, the effects are literally amazing, and I wholeheartedly recommend a strict diet to someone dealing with a degenerative disease, though I would also recommend consulting a progressive nutritionist. Here’s something else I have seen, repeatedly, extreme diets weaken healthy people. The staff members at the centers I worked with became very susceptible to colds, anemic, and the women had hormonal problems. A very clever Doctor recommended that staff members eat something “unwholesome” at least once per week. We all had our favorite treat, lattes, hamburgers, ice cream…. it was amazing how much more resilient we all became.
I have tried A LOT of detox diets, and I have observed the results of many other people as well. Several years ago, I began to ask the question, “What is the long term effect of this diet?” I noticed that you can get great results from a fast, I have seen a lot of people do The Master Cleanse, (and other fasts) and it is my observation that they will be in worse shape one year later, though in the short term they will look great. I have seen this with most people who go on extreme diets.
If you are reading this, then I am assuming your current eating habits are not delivering the energy, well-being and body composition that you want. Can I suggest that instead of dieting to lose weight or fat that you focus your energies on learning how to eat for optimal energy, well-being and weight.
There is no need for a healing crisis. Extreme diets such as fasts, will lead to headaches, lethargy, irritability, bad breath and other bad smells (!), rashes and skin eruptions, the list could go on, but I’ll stop there. Diets that include protein and supportive herbs are more effective, easier to do, gentle on your system, and results last.
Your meals must be very important. Even during a cleansing diet, you must enjoy your meals. If you learn some new recipes and try some new foods, you can have delicious, satisfying meals that you look forward to. Eating foods that you do not enjoy is psychologically damaging. Eating is one of the pleasures of life, we may need to retrain our palates, but we cannot completely ignore them.
You may need to reset your palate. If you have been eating a lot of prepared foods, you are being manipulated by corn syrup and artificial flavors. Food manufacturers have discovered that people will consume more of something when certain ingredients are added. Your hormones are manipulated and you will overeat, your physiology has been hijacked. You CAN reset your palate through an intelligently designed detoxification program. You’ll be glad you did!
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