Detox is step one in the Today is Still the Day plan even though our Intelligently created bodies are made to detoxify themselves daily and there is a good reason for that. While we have detoxification processes built in, we also live in a highly toxic world! We are encountering toxins at every level. There are toxins in our foods, water, air, personal care products, cleaning products, preservatives, pesticides and clothes. We are also affected by toxic thinking, beliefs and relationships. We are continually bombarded with toxicity.
And while our bodies are created to naturally neutralize and detoxify, when we have it coming at us from all directions, our bodies can become overwhelmed and unable to adequately detoxify. The reason this is step one for weight loss is because this can hinder normal metabolism as well as causing fluid retention, depletion of nutrients, skewed blood sugar, bloat, sluggishness and puffiness.
While you certainly can choose to do a more extreme detox, what I recommend to all my weight loss clients is a simple detox for the first two weeks. It includes increasing fiber and water consumption, focusing meals on fresh, high quality, whole foods – grass fed and finished meats, organic, non-starchy veggies, fruit in moderation and healthy fats. When you eliminate packaged, processed foods and all those artificial ingredients you allow your body to focus on digestion.
You’ll notice I also recommend they avoid all grains, sugar and starchy carbs, even the healthier ones, and dairy for at least two weeks. This is by design. Your taste buds are renewed about every 14 days. So this time of cleaner eating not only gives your detoxification organs a break, it also allows you to retrain your taste buds. This makes choosing healthier options in the future easier so you can stick to your new, healthier way of eating.
I have to also mention avoiding any foods that do not agree with you, even if they are “healthy” foods. Often toxins that are making it more difficult for our bodies to function optimally are foods that we’re intolerant or allergic to. Intolerances and their symptoms can trigger an inflammatory response in the gut that leads to full-body inflammation and symptoms such as diarrhea, constipation, bloating, eczema, joint aches, and migraines. I went into detail about what these are in this newsletter.
No one eats a perfectly clean diet and none of us are totally protected from toxins. So making the effort to assist your body in its detoxification efforts just makes sense, whether you are trying to lose weight or not.
How do you work with your body to help it detoxify?
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Great information here ma’am. I always thought “Detox” was for the fad “Hollywood” diets and things. Your info helped me to make sense of why it’s so important. Every 14 days my tastebuds are renewed. Who would’ve thought I could change eating preferences that quickly. Thank you!
I’m happy I was able to share information that you didn’t know and that would be helpful to you J.D.
Such an important step. We never did anything like this because as we learned more about nutrition we slowly made better choices. We baby stepped our detox. 😉 But to your point, a few years ago I was at an event and had a prepackaged mini brownie. I was so sweet I couldn’t stand the taste of it and threw it out. I think it’s super cool that someone could experience this same thing over such a short period of time. Great first step, Ann!
Oh Holly isn’t it amazing how dramatically your taste buds change? I like how your said it – you baby-stepped your detox. That’s awesome.
Ann, I find it amazing that our taste buds change in as little as 14 days. That is really exciting how that happens. Thanks for another great article.
Thanks Debbie. God created us so magnificently – He even made this easy for us!!