Holiday Detox/New Year Cleanse!

Hi Out There!

Happy New Year to you! I did a decent job this year of not eating too many holiday sweets but certainly indulged more than I had planned. Also found myself having a glass of wine or so each night over the 10 days that I spend with family during the holidays.

So for me that means that by the end of it I wasn't feeling like myself. Sluggish, and puffy, not good! That prompted me to think about what I wanted to feel in the New Year. Here's what came to mind: energized, strong and clear! So, I am on my third day of no alcohol or sugar and feeling like I am returning back to my spunky self again.

I invite you to do a 3, 7 or 21 day cleanse with me. Give your body a break for a bit.

Start with these simple steps:

1. Drink at least 6 to 8 glasses of water a day.

2. Get 1/2 hour extra of sleep per night (it's winter, you need it)

3. Move your body as often as you can: take the stairs instead of the elevator, park further away from wherever you are going to get the extra walk. Go to the gym, dance at home, take a zumba class (which I did today for the first time, very fun and sweaty). You get the point.

4. Try eating 1/4 protein, 1/4 starch and 1/2 veggie on your plate.

5. Avoid alcohol and sugar this week or couple of weeks.

6.Make the effort to spend some time reading, writing, meditating.

Feel free to write in, would love to start a healthy New Year's trend!

Cheers to your healthiest self!

Lysa

Hi Everyone,

Today is day 21 of 21! Can you believe it? The only thing is that I am going till day 24 now since I let myself go off the cleanse 3 times. That's okay, I am not even wanting any sugar or alcohol anyway.

So tonight I lead a "Spring Cleanse & Renewal" class. It was a small class but I feel good about it. I learned a lot prepping for it and hope that the people that took it went home with some good info. One of things that came up and I think I have shared this before is to just do the best you can do with the cleanse. So if you think you can give up sugar for 2 weeks, try it. If you think you can do it for 1 week, try it. Just commit to making a change in your diet. Even if you do it for a few days, it will have its benefits. Something my spin teacher says " you can do anything you want to do". I believe that. If we set on our minds to something, we can accomplish it if we stay focused and patient. It might take a while, but if we keep trying we can do it. I used to have a real issue with sugar ( needed it everyday for many years) and now I don't. It took me a long time to get here, but it feels good. It's empowering. Empower yourself by breaking free of whatever holds you back in life. Sugar, alcohol, caffeine, negative thinking, lack of exercise, too much television, etc.

That's all for now,

Lysa

Day #14 of 21 on this cleanse. It is getting easier & easier I have to say. Now that my body is used to life without sugar & alcohol it feels more level & calm. I should preface this with saying that I am not a big sugar head anyway (although I was for years) and I don't consume alcohol on a very regular basis. But something has changed in the way I feel for sure.

Today, my cleanse focused on physical cleansing. I took a spin class which was excellent, I sweat like crazy eliminating lots of toxins from my system. Then my 3 year old son and I went to the dump and got rid of stuff that has been hanging out on the side of our house for the last 6 months or so. My neighbors will be thrilled that they won't have to stare at that junk anymore! Later in the afternoon I had the pleasure of attending a Yoga/Pilates class which was excellent. It's been a long time since I have taken the time to stretch and then do the core strengthening that yoga and pilates offer. I have been focusing more on cardio & weights.

Cleansing foods I ate today:

Started with my liver flush, interesting enough it seems to be bringing up some mucus for me now (sorry that's kind of yucky to share but it's true. If it happens to you, you'll know it's normal).

I made a delicious raw kale salad for lunch with olive oil, brown rice vinegar, salt, shredded carrots, celery, cukes, red onion & raisins. To get the kale soft enough to chew comfortably you need to add the salt and oil and then massage the greens. It only takes a few moments to break down the cellular membrane of the kale to make it softer. Also, chopping the kale into bite size pieces really makes a difference too.

I also made some fresh ginger tea by just chopping up some ginger and putting it just boiled water. I let it sit for about a half an hour before drinking it. Really nice flavor.

I want to respond to a comment that my friend Jacki wrote. Adding greens is one of the best things you can do for your body. Greens offer so much in the way of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and life. They are cleansing, the chlorophyll in them provides nutrients for our blood. There is a book called "Glorious Greens". I love this name because that is how I think of greens.

Also, being aware of the sugar in foods is super important. Reading labels and staying away from foods that have added sugar is huge. Why do they have to put sugar in food? Because it's a cheap way of flavoring food. Another great reason to keep your diet full of whole foods that are not heavily processed. Thank you so much for sharing Jacki. Don't be afraid to start your cleanse. You can do it for as short as you want to. It's your choice. Keep up the good work and thanks for the words of encouragement.

Until tomorrow,

Lysa

Hi Out There,

Day #13 of 21 on my spring liver cleanse. Feeling good today. I want to share that after I slipped last eve with some homemade ice cream sweetened with maple syrup, I was starving at 11pm and needed a snack. I was amazed because even though I had all those extra calories from the heavy cream and milk, my sugar must have peeked with the maple syrup and then dipped to make me hungry. I am sharing this because I haven't been hungry at night at all since I've been doing this cleanse and last night I was famished only 3 hours after eating this dessert. The theory that sugar makes you eat more is true (at least for my body).

Okay, I promised you some more cleansing foods. I figured it might be helpful to have a recipe for practicality. This is taken from Linda Page's "Cooking for Healthy Healing".

Evergreen Salad: this is good for skin, hair & eyes, digestive disorders, & liver power.

Good for 2 salads.

Mix 2 cups chopped mixed ( romaine, endive, chicory, spinach) 1 handful of each: watercress, parsley, and chives minced, and 2 cups green onions, minced.

Dressing: mix together juice of 1/2 lemon, 1 TB Dijon mustard, 1 TB sesame seeds, and 1 TB toasted sesame oil. Pour over salad.

Here's something to think about (taken from O magazine, from Dr. Phil):

Does the way you spend your time reflect what's important to you? Make a list of your top five priorities- marriage, children, work, volunteer work, etc. and track how many hours you devote to each in a week. If any numbers are too low, recalculate your time budget so you can live according to who you want to be.

Bye for now,

Lysa

Good Evening,

Okay, I am on day #12 of 21 of this cleanse and tonight I went off track a bit. I had made a yummy homemade vanilla ice cream cake sweetened with maple syrup and put raspberries and blueberries on top for a close friends we had for dinner tonight. I was planning on just having a bite but it tasted so good that I let myself have piece of it. I am a little disappointed that I let myself go off the cleanse but I know tomorrow I'll get back on track. My next feat is try to make a coconut based ice cream sweetened with stevia. I'll let you know how it comes out. The truth is I really haven't missed the sweets. I guess it's been a while since I have had any kind of sweet on a daily basis anyway, so not having them at all hasn't been so hard.

When I have craved sweet, cashew butter has really helped fix that. It is naturally sweet and creamy. I have indulged in 1/2 mashed banana with a teaspoon of cashew butter and ground flax seed on top. I know that sounds really strange but it tastes really sweet and has a cool, pudding like texture. Try it if you dare!

Okay, I would like to share with you some cleansing foods for your spring cleanse if you decide to go on one.

Radishes ( any kind but especially daikon): good to dissolve fat and break up mucus in the body.

Leafy greens (all kinds, especially the bitter ones). Kale, swiss chard, spinach, collards, red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce, romaine, bok choy, dandelion.

I will write with more cleansing foods tomorrow.

Good night,

Lysa

Hi Everyone,

Today is day #11 of 21 on my spring liver cleanse. So just to recap, here's what I have been doing:

1.Staying away from all sugar & alcohol ( am having some fruit).

2.Adding more greens to my daily food.

3.Doing a liver flush every morning. Juice of one lemon, preferably organic, 1 tsp olive oil, pinch of cayenne pepper. I have it first thing when I go downstairs before any water or food.

4.Taking an herbal liver support supplement that contains, milk thistle, tumeric rhizome, Ch. Skullcap root & licorice root (if you have high blood pressure you should not take licorice).

5.Doing my best to redirect & deconstruct negative thinking with helpful, useful thinking.

6. Watching and being aware of the irritability that comes up and trying to let it go.

Yesterday I was inspired to make a soup with some leeks, potatoes, carrots, & asparagus. It came out really delicious so I would like to share it with you.

Spring Medley Soup:

1 tablespoon butter

3 leeks chopped

3 potatoes

3 carrots

3 cloves of garlic

1 bunch of asparagus chopped with end removed

Fresh herbs of your choice ( I had on hand cilantro, basil & rosemary)

shitake mushrooms washed & sliced

4 cups of water or stock

lemon

In a soup pot heat the butter and add leeks. Let cook for a few moment and then add potatoes. Let potatoes cook and then add carrots & garlic. Stir to make sure the contents don't get stuck to bottom of pot. After about 5 minutes add stock or water. Add salt & pepper. Let potatoes get soft and then add fresh herbs. While this is simmering, in another pan heat some butter and add the shitake mushrooms. Let get brown and then remove and add to soup. Add the asparagus to the soup pot. When asparagus is bright green, turn off soup and serve. If you like the zesty flavor of lemon, add a squeeze of fresh lemon to each bowl.

If you try this recipes, please let me know if you like it!

Hi,

I am already at the end of day #7 of my spring liver cleanse and feel really good. I want to share with you some detoxifying thoughts tonight. This is from the January, 2010 issue of "O" magazine. It's written by Martha Beck who is a contributing editor of "O" and I believe a life coach as well.

The article is "How to Fix the Broken Record in Your Head". Here are the first two tips Martha Beck suggests for negative thinking. For the last two, you will have to read again tomorrow.

"1. Recognize your negative voice as a 2-year old tantrum. Trying to reason with it only increases the hysteria. Instead, take your inner 2-year old to a quiet place and let it throw its fit. Write down all the cruel judgements until they fade to a grumble.

2. Accept that some of your self- criticism may be true, but never let failure end the story. Instead of saying no to the negative voice, say, "yes, and ...for example, last year I jogged as only as far as that new kielbasa stand and I also managed to stop a few binges by reading trashy novels instead."

Hi Everyone,

I am now at the end of day #6 of my 21 day cleanse. Today I tried a "liver flush" which is super easy to make and incorporate into my day. It is taken from a book called "The Chakra Mantra Cookbook" by Patricia Stein. It's a sweet cookbook filled with yummy vegetarian recipes, wonderful artwork and prayers.

Here is "Guru Nam's Liver Flush:

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1 tbs. cold pressed olive oil

pinch of cayenne pepper

Mix and drink. Great for cleansing the liver of excess bile. Our liver works hard to rid our system of toxins and metabolize fat. Whatever we can do to support it, is a good thing.

Today, I focused on adding a bunch of greens to my meals, which felt really good.

Until tomorrow!

Lysa