Detoxing in a healthy way?

Candiceena

Cathlete
Hey there,

I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions regarding how to detox in a healthy way? For example, say the holdiays just ended and you feel you've been eating rather poor lately and want to "detox" and clean all the bad stuff out?

How do you do it?

I feel like just a high fruit and veggie diet for a few days plus a lot of water and any workout that will make you sweat a lot (IDK if you can sweat out toxins, but I feel like it makes sense).

Any tips from you gals? I don't want to starve myself, but I feel like I ate poorly today and really want to get rid of this feeling and do great this week with eating great foods that are healthy.
 
Your instincts are right on, a high-plant food diet will clean you out. Increased fiber removes excess cholesterol and hormones from the body, and eating lower on the food chain minimizes exposure to those hormones and cholesterol in the first place, as well as to industrial pollutants present in the food supply, e.g. flame retardants, pcbs, dioxins, pharmaceuticals, etc.

My question would be, why only "detox" for a few days? Why not try to keep the body cleaned out every day?
 
Katherine, thanks for responding. You bring up a great point. :) To be clean every day instead of just a few days....I don't really have an answer as to "why not" except I know I'm not quite there, yet! But I will be. :)
 
What did you eat? Which feelings are we talking about? Is it nauseous? Is it IBS? Is it bloating? (Gas x does work for that.) Is it shame? Is it embarrassment about what you ate? Is it fear that you look bad from what you ate?

I want to make sure that we aren't wandering into ED (eating disorder) land by letting our emotional feelings regards food induce a binge/purge cycle or start you on a low calorie downward spiral. I'm not trying to say that you are definitely doing that, just be careful.

As for a detox: there is nothing wrong with a good detox. I would suggest fruits, vegetables, healthy fats (olive oil, coconut oil, walnut oil, avocado oil.) You might want to take some milk thistle to help the liver. I like to drink green smoothies with lime, parsley, celery, berries, some coconut milk. They really clean me out and give me energy. I feel like my brain fog has lifted.

Soothing baths in lavender (I am always talking about Dresdner bath salts, they are my favorite) and or epsom salts. Soak for at least 20 min. You may wish to use almond or coconut oil to hydrate your skin after the bath, don't jump in bed right away, you want the oil to absorb into you and not end up on your sheets.

Do yoga, that will support your lymph system. I am a Shiva Rea fan, I like her style.

Drink green tea in the AM.

Have you tried a lemon water drink? I use the juice of half a lemon, 2 cups of warm water (not boiling.) freshly cracked black pepper, and honey (to taste).
 
Buy a juicer and start juicing everyday, best thing I have ever done for myself and my health, this way it keeps the body in constant detox, it takes care of a lifetime of toxins not just a day of bad food.
 
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The one of many ways I detox is having a bath as warm as I can stand with 1/4 of vinegar in it. I try to stay in there as long as I can. Man do I sweat afterwords. Be careful though when your heart starts pounding and get out at that point and cool off. Maybe even just before that point. LOL

Janie
 
I was recently in the same boat, looking to clean up my diet and get myself back on track. I wanted a little bit of guidance in the form of a program, without being as hard core as the Fighter Diet. I found the Clean Program on Amazon (Dr. Junger) and it was exactly what I was looking for. It was a slow, detox that included eating two energy packed smoothies a day and a healthy lunch. I loved it. After a few days I felt fantastic. I found that I wasn't at all hungry and was really able to stick with the program. He advocates a 21 day cleanse, but you can do 7 or 14 days. I did the 7 day, but plan to do it again for a longer period soon. The idea is that you don't immediately fall back into fast food and junk food, but that you try to make a few of the changes permanent. It worked for me and I plan on doing it fairly regularly.
 
Hi girls,

Thank you for the feedback! I will definitely use those tips. I turned up a little under the weather (well, a lot, but whatev ;)) but once I'm better I will definitely use some of your girls' tips!

RapidBreath - thank you for your concern. :) I know there is a lot of ED behavior being hidden behind the veil of "health" nowadays, esp on the internet. But what prompted me to write this post was that I ate two Banquet Chicken Pot Pies. IDK If you know what those are but they are pretty disgusting; as in, processed x 1,000. I hadn't eaten them in probably over a year and after I ate them I felt nauseus and like I'd just eaten cancerous plastic food. Blech. LOL.
 
Hi girls,

Thank you for the feedback! I will definitely use those tips. I turned up a little under the weather (well, a lot, but whatev ;)) but once I'm better I will definitely use some of your girls' tips!

RapidBreath - thank you for your concern. :) I know there is a lot of ED behavior being hidden behind the veil of "health" nowadays, esp on the internet. But what prompted me to write this post was that I ate two Banquet Chicken Pot Pies. IDK If you know what those are but they are pretty disgusting; as in, processed x 1,000. I hadn't eaten them in probably over a year and after I ate them I felt nauseus and like I'd just eaten cancerous plastic food. Blech. LOL.

Wow, I can see why that would make you sick. I wouldn't normally find myself needing that much salt (which is often what drives us towards binges on salty foods.) but that doesn't mean you didn't need the salt. Unfortunately, those darn pies (which seem tasty at the time) do give a hefty amount of weird ingredients too. Btw, if you find yourself after another episode like that: consider taking a digestive enzyme like the papaya ones from Trader Joe's (works great, not too bad tasting.) they help digest that stuff.

I have noticed that I'm getting that 'nauseous' a lot lately from different commercial foods. I think it might be the switch from soy and corn oil to canola (its cheaper but has an acid that can irritate some people, I'm one of them.)

The only reason I brought up the ED issue is that I have felt that way in the past and I have gotten past it with the help of Renee Stephens' podcast IOWL (I don't know that you would need such a thing.) its free off iTunes. The most important are the first 18 episodes which are still available on her website. Its about getting to the core of what motivates us (for good and away from our goals) and changing our internal motivations. Its not about self incrimination, beating ourselves up, hating ourselves thin, or any of that. You could buy her book if you want to or you could just use the podcasts (which pretty much have all the same material). I like to listen to them in the evening before I fall asleep. I find that is the most effective way. Btw, I don't work for her. I wish I did. Also, its not a perfect fix, but it really helps to use the 'Re-do' method where you visualize yourself doing the behavior you wish you hadn't done, then visualize yourself doing it the way you wish you had done. I don't know if such a thing would help you, but I have successfully eliminated several undesirable habits.

You can also layer in good habits like making your own lunches, packing plenty of healthy snacks, eating those first before having a tasty treat, using other ways to address stress (instead of food.)

The thing with finding ourselves eating foods we wish we hadn't (later not in the moment, or even in the moment.) is that (for many of us, maybe not you) unless we let the emotion ride we will never find out what is really bothering us. Eating postpones finding a solution.

I hope that my monstrously long post isn't hurtful. I don't mean to project my own experiences on you. I just post (in case) there is someone reading who has had those issues and that they might find some help in my solutions.
 
Two book suggestions for help with detoxing and getting your diet on the right track.
Kris Carr Crazy, Sexy Diet and Kimberly Snyder Detox Foods. Both are attractive, a good read and have many good ideas for cleaning up and maintaining a clean diet.
Kimberly's new one that just came out is better than her first one.
Kris Carr also has Crazy, Sexy Kitchen.
Check your library or amazon.
I like both of these not just for recipes but for encouragement and motivation.
 

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