DETOX: Drop a jean size. No No No

Soooo detoxing.  I'm sure you have either tried a juice detox, or it's at least crossed your mind of things to do after January 1st.

Before I blab on about, anything, at all, let me explain a little bit about myself.

People that know me, or see me around would most likely consider myself to be a healthy and fit individual.  People that truly know me, probably wouldn't, up until recent years.
                                                                              I'm a faker!

My disillusioned ideas on health, fitness, and food began in the early 2000's, when I moved to NYC as a 19 year old.  I turned into the person who would go to the gym to workout, for all the wrong reasons.  I mean shit, I got into personal training for all the wrong reasons.  Spending hours on cardio machines to purge myself of the freakin apple I ate prior.  Then, I'd go to the next gym and repeat this until I was so famished, little block dots would take over my eyesight. Luckily, I was able to make it home to Brooklyn.  When I felt fat, I'd resort to the latest fad diets.  Different types of detoxes became a regular thing for me.

The levels of insanity within my brain during my sickened years, do not stop at the above few sentences, but that's for another day :)

My mindset of fitness and health have changed over the years, for the better.   It was a process, but I am now at the point where I want to begin to share, episodes of my bat wing crazy days, in hopes that I can give a little insight to somebody in need of, well, some insight!

Overtime, I began understanding that starvation diets and hours at the gym, are not making me healthy and in fact making me ill.  Treating my body better and feeding myself nutrient dense food was the first step in helping me to understand the importance of HEALTH,  AND WHAT YOU PUT INTO YOUR BODY.   

I am very excited to share that yesterday was the first time, that I truly wanted to implement a detox diet for the sheer goodness of eliminating toxins!   I pulled out my good old book "The Detox Diet Cookbook" that I've had for years, and saw it, not as a way to make the number smaller on a pair of jeans.  ;)

Oldy but goody

So here is the deal with toxins and how they build up in your body and why it's important that they BE GONE.

Toxins are basically harmful substances that pollute our organs.  In short, toxins come from the environment, we basically eat and breath them.  Our bodies have a natural response to deal with toxins, but sometime our systems get overburdened and unable to address these buggers, they then, build up and negatively impact our health.

For me, the effect of toxins showed up by debilitating my hormone levels, muscles, skin, intestinal lining, well being, mood, everything, FOR YEARS.  This insane toxic overload stemmed from eating 2 foods, all of my life, that I am allergic/intolerant to, dairy and gluten.

Yeah, yeah, you may be thinking, everyone is gluten intolerant...it's a fad, I thought so too.

Since eliminating gluten from my diet, (it's been 2 months)  my energy levels are out of control, I'm losing a pound a week, from doing nothing different in my exercise routine (I'm nearing 100 lbs at 5 feet tall).  My melasma, that I've dealt with over the last 3-4 years, is GOING  AWAY.  Food cravings and my appetite are gone/normal.  My mood has been pleasant, I mean, running around the house singing Christmas songs, pleasant.  My PMS has diminished, and HOLY shitballs, it got BAD.  My little red bumps on the back of my arms are gone, so soft now. Adult acne, LATA GATOR. Cellulite, leaving, bye, bye, bitch.  Stomach pain, gas and bloating, I've had ALL my life, are GONE.  Shit, my stomach is flat, I mean, there is a 6 pack exposed, I kid you not!  I feel like overall, my body is just working properly for once in my life.

Crazy right?  Here is a list of symptoms and disease's that gluten can cause, at least at my level of intolerance, which is super high. I think it's safe to say I had nearly all listed!

This was given to me by my Naturopathic Doctor after a stool test. 

 One symptom that has remained constant since eliminating gluten from my diet, is my muscle pain.  The best way to describe it, is that it feels like I have 1 million muscle knots all over my body, that are extremely painful, achy, sensitive, and annoying.  I've dealt with the most pain in my muscles over the last 4 years;  waking up at night from pain and having to change my workouts to eliminate the exercises that bring about the most discomfort. My current workouts mainly consist of Pilates, light cardio, high rep/light weight training, and ballet style workouts, because it's much easier on the body than squatting hundreds of pounds!

Soooo, what am I going to do about this....?   I am going to detox my body through eating organic fruits and vegetables!  Gluten can remain in your body for up to 2 years after you stop eating it, so my plan is to let very minimal amounts of toxins into my body as possible, so that my organs can work exclusively on the bad guys, running around inside me.  Hopefully, diminishing my two remaining symptoms, melasma and muscle pain.  Although, my melasma is going away, it's far from gone yet.

I was planning on doing a full blown detox diet for two weeks, but I realized that I already have very little toxins being put in my body through the food I eat.  So instead, I'm going to add more detox friendly food and juices to my diet.  Here is an example below.

Breakfast:  2 eggs, gluten/dairy free toast. 

Snack:  Grapes.  Grapes are great for skin, kidneys and digestive disorders.  Or a juice made with spinach, carrots, apples and celery.  Carrots are great for detoxing because they cleanse, and stimulate the body, providing antioxidant benefits.

Lunch:  Salad of sorts, maybe quinoa or spinach with lemon and olive oil dressing and lots of vegetables. I might add in some chicken

Snack:  Carrot juice or rice crackers.

Dinner:  Pureed vegetable soups are my favorite!  Or brown rice with vegetables.

 I will also be drinking lots of hot tea, hot water with lemon, and I'll include a green tea in the morning or coffee because I am addicted to caffeine.  :)

 I will also vary my soup and salad recipes, adding lots of different fruits and vegetables to get the most out of my detox.  There will be some dark chocolate involved, to make me smile and red wine on the weekends, because it's cold outside.

Dark chocolate has become my love since eliminating dairy and gluten out of my diet.  This one here is my current favorite.

In order to eat this way for life, you really have to set aside a day during the week  to prepare, cook, and properly store your food items, so that they are ready to grab and go.  Sunday has become my day in the kitchen  :0

Beauty products are crawling with all sorts of crap, gluten, dairy and toxins included, so eliminating nasty products is a must, and currently a work in progress for this girl.

I'm no doctor and I'm not saying to eat what I eat.  I get my information from my body, books, my Naturopathic Doctor, and the Internet, also years of research into my own health problems.

I didn't talk much about my dairy allergy, that will be for another story.

I will be going into much further detail about gluten/dairy, allergies/ intolerance's in other posts, I just really wanted to give you some insight into food allergies/intolerance's and how detox diets can help eliminate the nasty toxins causing the majority of these symptoms and diseases. 

Thanks for reading.

Friday Off, Eminence

I had the day off today, so naturally, I stocked up on some of my current, favorite items by the brand Eminence, an Organic Skin Care line.  The love of this brand started about a year ago, when a friend introduced me to Stone Crop Hydrating Mist.  Having gotten off birth control a few months prior to my introduction to this product, my skin was always feeling tight and looking noticeably wrinkly and dry.  I found myself constantly wanting to slather lotion, all over my face.  I can't do that though, I suffer from Melasma and I'd have to redo my makeup every time I sloshed lotion on my face, and that would be ANNOYING.   I'll talk more about my lovely, brown spots another day...Back to Stone Crop Hydrating Mist.

This product is great for adding moisture to your skin without destroying your artfully done up face.  A spritz of this green juice makes your face appear how it does right after you put your foundation on, (so long as its a dewy foundation).  It gives you a glow, that eliminates the tight, face feeling, and refreshes your makeup.  This mist also claims to heal irritation and reduce pigmentation (hasn't reduced mine though).  The cost is $38.00 and I'd say it last about two months, and that's with me spraying it all day, everyday, like a crazed witch.

This green juice hydrates and makes your skin glow!

The second product I picked up was Eminence Coconut Firming Body Lotion.  The aroma of this product is heavenly, just like coconuts, and better smelling than most coconut fragrances!  I've been through one bottle of this stuff and I'm skeptical to say it firms.  The personal trainer in me says only resistance training firms the appendages....However, I started micro-needling my thighs, then putting the firming lotion on my skin afterwards.  The plan, is to have all the goodness of the ingredients absorb into my skin, achieving  beautifully, flawless legs...Hee, I giggle, hey, anything is worth a try, right?

This product has what they call a, Natural Retinol Alternative, consisting of, Chicory Root, Vegetable Glycerin, Tara Tree Gum, and Gluconolactone Sodium Benzoate.  Some of the other ingredients are Hyaluronic Acid, Coconut Milk, Vitamin A, E, and Coenzyme Q10.  This product sells at a retailer near me for $36.00 and it lasts about two months with a once daily application.

Smells delish and hopefully banishes cellulite!

 Thanks for reading, you can buy both of these products at dermstore.com!  :)