Detox The Holidays Away!

Detox The Holidays Away
By Rachel Zeskind

Most of us (myself included) can have a tendency to gallop off the reservation nutritionally this time of year. It's a season for giving, sharing time with those we love and of course...eating! Food and the holidays become interwoven as eating, drinking and being merry is a huge part of our culture. I think it is an important part of our culture as well. There was a time in my life when I stuck to my organic healthy meal plan 100 percent of the time, holiday or no holiday. I was so strict and so disciplined with what, when and how I ate that it negatively impacted my ability to enjoy friends, family and life's celebrations. Now, after a few seasons of yo-yo wellness (swinging from strict and regimented to lax and sloth-like) I believe more than ever that the key is ALL THINGS IN BALANCE! Being that strict and regimented was actually not healthy and certainly not balanced.

That being said, hopefully you, like me, decided to indulge in a few cookies, buttered breads and yummy meals (where you didn't ask or care if it was cooked with butter) and even some wine! I'm praying you enjoyed your holidays and those you love fully, in wellness and balance...meaning you didn't restrict yourself to much or over indulge or binge. Either way, 2012 is coming to an end and it is time to clean out the system and start the year a new!

So all the refined sugars, additional sodium (salt), carbohydrates, preservatives and fatty foods have left you a wee bit more toxic, dehydrated and flat out bloated then before the holidays hit. Most people make a huge mistake, they feel crappy so they jump on the scale (usually when they have food and excess liquids in their system making them even heavier versus the more acute first morning weigh in) in order to validate their negative feelings about their post holiday bodies. Ok, STOP! Fist off, that serves no one and nothing positive. We all know by how we feel that we need to clean out and reset...what we do not need to do is weigh in and make ourselves feel bad!

The first step is to stay away from the scale for 3-5 whole days! Give yourself a chance to flush the junk, release water retention and let your body readjust to a more healthy intake of nutrients before trying to determine how much weight you need to lose.

Here are some weight stats that may even help you avoid the scale (and the self abusive thoughts) completely...

If you decided to splurge straight through from thanksgiving through the new year you most likely have gained 5-10 pounds in water retention and somewhere in the neighborhood of 10-15 pounds. If this is you, ok...next year you may decide to make a stronger, more loving choice, as for now...MOVE FORWARD TO THE SOLUTION!

If you approached the holidays with a bit more balance and indulged in a few holiday meals, deserts and cocktails while returning to healthy eating in between you may not have gained any weight at all, you may simply be retaining 3-5 pounds of additional water weight from that added sodium and carbs. In which cases, good for you, hit 3 days of cleansing and get back to your regularly healthy balanced nutrition and fitness plan.

If you were more like the average person, you fell somewhere in the middle. The average weight gain I tend to see in people I have worked with and coached has been about 3-7 pounds of weight gain and about 1-5 pounds of water weight gain from water retention. Again, there is NO NEED TO ABUSE YOURSELF OR PUNISH YOURSELF! Life fluctuates a bit and so does our waist line, so we need to go with the flow. Move towards and grow in your mastery of healthy balance. YOUR VALUE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR BODY. In fact, my experience competing on a national level in fitness is that my body can be the outward best version of itself while my inside (mental and spiritual condition) is at its worst version! That combination is absolutely not the best version of myself! We must find that healthy balance from the outside in and the inside out. We need to have a healthy mental, emotional and spiritual condition as well as a physical condition in order to be the best us we can each be! Please remember that!!!!  

So if you feel like a balloon, follow the cleanse below for 3-5 days and then get yourself committed to a healthy BALANCED fitness, nutrition and wellness plan that serves you creating or developing the best version of yourself....from the inside out and the outside in!

3-5 Day Cleanse
Eat more green veggies then you normally do in addition to a well balanced CLEAN diet! AVOID REFINED SUGAR, DAIRY, GLUTEN, PROCESSED FOODS & ALCOHOL.

During the detox write in your journal. Keep track of how you are feeling. Notice your mood, energy, bowel movements, sleep, etc.

Things you will need:

1. Psyllium Husk powder or capsules

2. Bentonite Clay

(Take the Psyllium Husk and Bentonite clay at the end of the day with water as directed on the labels).

3. Organic Lemons (4 lemons for every 1 gallon of water)

4. Dandelion Root Extract

5. Milk Thistle

(Mix lemon juice in water, take dandelion root extract and milk thistle 3X per day or mix directly into the jug of water that you will drink through out the day. READ THE LABELS ON ALL INGREDIENTS & NEVER EXCEED RECOMMENDED DOSAGES ON THEM!!!)

6. Candisol (Gets rid of all that nasty yeast that builds in your system...especially from refined sugars! Dosages vary so follow the directions on the label. You will dramatically increase the release of dead yeast if you follow up with a colonic.)

7. BPA Free Water bottle (I recommend getting a 1/2 gallon one).

Drink your body weight in ounces of water each day. Mix in a packet of electrolytes for every half gallon. Don’t buy the electrolyte packets with sugar in them!!! Drink Alkaline or Kangen water, it’s the best!

Sweat as much as you can during the cleanse. Cardio, walking in the sun wearing sweats, sauna, hot pilates or hot yoga. Always remember to stay hydrated!

Colonics are recommended in addition to the cleanse in order to completely clear you out and give you a fresh start! Your entire intestinal tract and colon will thank you...bye bye butt monkeys!

My recommendation is to use Psyllium Husk Capsules versus the powder. The powder will start to expand in the glass and have to be consumed very quickly, not  everyone loves the texture of it so capsules are a huge win!

The lemon, dandelion & milk thistle 3x a day can be found in liquid drops, so we would take them like a shot OR mix with a days worth of water in one large container and drink through out the day. Also if you find bag/loose leaf of both the milk thistle and dandelion root extract, you can mix them in with hot water for a tea.

If Alkaline or Kangen water is not available, you can purchase PH balancing Alkaline tablets or drops at a place like Whole Foods.

For more extensive cleanse:
*Do a normal 3-5 days, then and do a colonic & stop the clay & husk capsules & dandelion & milk thistle for 7 days, then take clay & husk capsules for the 3 final days. Also do a second colonic two weeks after the first one. I know it doesn't sound fun but then again neither does colon cancer. We must take care of the plumbing that takes care of us!