I like to share with my readers and clients my personal experiences. For years I have promoted detoxing and how it is healthy for you. Until I started juicing every day and saw the positive effects on my health, my energy and body I honestly can say now that I understand the importance of a longer term detoxing. Not a full blown all day detox.
First and foremost if someone is sick it is not the time to start something drastic. Little changes amount to a lot. Our bodies are smart, but we aren’t taught to understand health. When we get a symptom instead of figuring out why we are getting it we tend to medicate, run to the doctor or take a supplement to fix it or even worse ignore it until it turns into something more serious.
When we get a symptom our bodies are saying STOP there is something wrong. Slow down, improve your diet, and lay off the sugar, alcohol or caffeine. Distress, meditate and exercise or perhaps a detox We clean our houses, our cars, our clothes our refrigerators and sometime we need a good cleaning.
I was challenged by working in NYC. First of all I am a suburb not a city girl. I never enjoyed the subway or train. I preferred driving. I know that is crazy in NYC but that is me. My first day off the subway working on this project I passed a juicing truck. I was curious. I have juiced before but this looked intriguing. I stopped and got spinach, celery, cucumber, green apple with a dash of ginger. So easy no mess to clean up and it was delicious. I was hooked.
So for the next month I stopped by and picked one up on the way to work. After a month I started detoxing and it wasn’t fun. I felt lower energy and had some digestive issues. I started to feel lighter though and sure enough I lost about 5 pounds with that one change. I wasn’t as hungry for snacks and lost my taste for coffee. In addition 3 days a week I eat grilled salmon and greens for lunch which had added benefits to enhance the juicing.
Being a health counselor I wanted to see how this would work if I stopped eating breakfast and juiced at home during the week and on weekends. Another month went by and I am now 10 pounds lighter. My detox symptoms are leaving. My skin looks better. I am thinking more clearly. My friends and family tell me I look great.
It wasn’t easy figuring out how to juice correctly, what vegetables and fruits work best but it was a challenge that I was up for. I have lately no taste for sugar, coffee, and crave carbs a whole lot less. It gave me a much better attitude about working in the city too.
So what is happening? I am giving my digestion organs a break. By not eating solid food for 12-15 hours I am giving my body a chance to heal, cleanse and be more efficient. This makes so much sense. I didn’t have a huge desire or focus to lose weight because personally I’m ok at where I am but it was a nice fringe benefit because at 49 it isn’t easy to lose. I plan on sticking with this till after the holidays. I will keep you posted on it.
Remember small changes add up to big results. You don’t have to give up everything at once. Just try doing one thing at a time and see if benefits you.
Tip: If you juice greens especially in the cold weather add some ginger and a fruit such as mango or green apple. Your body will assimilate it better.
