Fall into new eating patterns

The first day of Fall was on Friday, September 22.  In Tennessee you wouldn't know it with the 80 degree temps.   The leaves are falling off the trees and things are beginning to die off for winter.  This is a great time to cleanse and prep your body for a new season.

WHY?  When the seasons change new food is in season and we tend to crave new foods and foods that provide us what we need for the season.  In the winter we usually crave warmer foods, stews, cooked foods and heavier root veggies and meats.  We need to be mindful of our digestion during this time, because these foods can take more work to break down if your digestion is already compromised.  

What type of cleanse is good?  That will be dependent on where your body is at the time of cleansing and what your goals are.  I am currently doing an 80% juice cleanse.  4 20oz all great juices, a seaweed soup for breakfast and a raw zucchini noodle pai tai for dinner.  Juicing is not my favorite thing because I love to eat. I do like it for the digestive break I get and also the amount of nutrients I am consuming at one time.  If you are not used to restricting the types of food you eat, then a food based cleanse is a good choice. I offer two different ones.  How I am cleansing would fall into either one if you wanted to be that strict.  

Do not complicate cleansing but do remind mindful that it serves a purpose much more than a fad.  Make sure your colon is eliminating extra during cleanse time or you will have a lot of gas and constipation.   Drink plenty of water and make sure you are able to rest. 

You got this! 

Combat Allergies

Oh the dreaded Allergies.  I am fortunate to not have them. When I moved to Tennessee in 1999 to go to college so many people warned me I would get them. They said they are the worst.   I am glad I am not speaking first hand, but I have many friends who get them along with people I see posting on Facebook.  I would like to offer you some simple tips and a little more understanding on why they keep happening and how you can prevent them.  

Sneezing and stuffy nose is a response the body is giving you to say, "Hey you have something in you I need to blow out" or "Hey you are dried out so Im going to give you some extra mucus or lubricant to keep you from being dry inside"   When it is saying that and your body can' t balance, the sneezing will not stop and your nose will become to full of mucus and snot.  

What we do want, is for our immune system to respond and offer us relief with just a sneeze and then the rest is fought off because our immune system is strong.  Our immune system being strong will bring us back to our gut. Our colon/gut is the center for all disease or discomfort and building that up allows our immune system to kick in and for allergies to move on through.

Simple tips for building the immune system and helping allergies:

Remove dairy from your diet. Yes I know, cheese is your happy place, or a glass of milk makes you feel good. Unfortunately dairy is mucus causing and leads to inflammation. This inflammation can be in your lungs etc.  If we are having mucus stuck in our nose, you can be sure it is present in our gut. 

Add in a probiotic: Choose a quality probiotic.  Capsules need to be more than 5 strands of bacteria. Liquid, I enjoy inner-Eco, I can find it at Whole Foods or online.  Begin eating foods that contain probiotics, like keifer water, kombucha, sauerkraut, and kimchi.  Adding in good bacteria will aid in fighting the bad and also boost your immune system. You can use a probiotic powder on your skin as a facial or also on a sore to help it heal.  

Use ear oil:  I have a post dedicated to ear oil. It will prevent drying and mucus build up in your ears and nose. 

Use local honey or bee pollen: If you have the option to get honey or bee pollen no more than a 50 mile radius from your home it will aid in your body fighting off allergies.  Do not choose it just when allergies are present, use both year around.   Bee Pollen is also great for balancing blood sugar, boosting libido and increasing energy.  

Allergies are not fun, but you do not have to be subject to them.  Stay consistent with the above and they will be greatly improved. 

Cleansing is not about deprivation

So many times in life we deprive ourselves. Food, love, happiness.  A self sabatage so to speak.  We have a feeling we want to achieve and we do the opposite to get there. Unfortunately,  most cleanses or detoxes are designed around this idea.    I understand you might feel like once you are cleansing the toxins you are depriving yourself. You are no longer getting sugar, artificial sweeteners, etc.  A well designed cleanse will not deprive you of vitamins, minerals and the nutrients your body needs to THRIVE. 

We should begin to have each meal look like a mini cleanse, so to speak.  Everything we eat and breath can either be adding health and wellness to our body or adding toxicity. If we choose cleansing foods like leafy greens, healthy fats, and superfoods, we do a mini cleanse as we are eating these foods.  Mini cleanses will make a more intense cleanse not as bad.  

I recommend a more intense cleanse each time the seasons change.  In Tennessee we experience each season, and as they change we crave and desire different foods. A good juice cleanse or veggie fruit and fat cleanse (my 21 Day Signature Cleanse, cough cough) is good to prep your body. I know personally now that it is becoming spring I want fresh and raw foods. I crave juices and food with life.  

Either way when we cleanse we should not deprive. If you are cleansing and feel super hungry and malnourished it is not serving your body well. 

Juice Cleanse, Myths and Benefits

How many of you have thought about going on a juice cleanse? You google till you can't google anymore, only to be confused.   I get it, I get confused and I know this stuff.

Let me simplify it for you, since I do not have an agenda other than for you to get major healthy and feel like a rockstar.

Why:  Juicing allows you to get optimal nutrition in an easy to digest way. It is already broke down for you, so your body just absorbs it.  It also does not require our already overburdened digestive system to do anything. We become nourished, hydrated and energized. If you are choosing low sugar juices then your body will work to balance your blood sugar and reduce cravings while you are cleansing. 

Tip: Add a drop of fat to your juice, it carries your nutrients so your body effectively absorbs them 

Benefits:  

Why and benefits can be one in the same. A sick body needs to rest and juicing allows that. No work is being done to digest the drink. Our body exerts a lot of energy to break down food. If you are eating the Standard American Crap Diet then your digestion is probably crazy.  When you juice you fill up your vitamin reserves and allow your internal body to rest.   More nutrition = more health, its that simple. Why does it have to be complicated. Drink it, its good for you! 

Myths:

The body heals itself.  Yes yes that is true, our bodies were created as a bad ass rockstar. So when you took an antibiotic, ate crap food, didn't sleep, got stressed, don't poop, you believe it still continues to perform like the rockstar you were born as.  All of that considering your mother was in rockstar health when she carried you, breast fed you and you did eat the best food ever.  Right, barely any of us began that way. My mom even, ( who is a rockstar) didn't breast feed me, I also had spinal menegitus at 3 months and constant ear infections as a child. So I know my well intended rockstar body had to work hard to heal itself in my infancy.  You get my point. I see only a daily basis people who aren't pooping weeks at a time ( 5 weeks is the longest)  That body is not healing itself.  We should be pooping 3x a day in a normal state, and even more if in a cleansing state. 

Juicing has to much sugar: If I am juicing real fruits and veggies would I not have those same sugars if I were to just eat the fruits and veggies? So why does it matter?  If you are worried about sugar and your glycemic load then juice only veggies and lemon with ginger.  You steer the ship, go without apples are sugary fruits. 

Juicing takes out the fiber and smoothies are better: why is it a competition? Yes it is true that there is minimal to no fiber in juicing, but if you scroll back up under the benefits you will see why would juice over blend. I love a good smoothie as the next but how many people are drinking low sugar smoothies that aren't full of bananas and fruits. I like to mix it up. Either way get the best food ever in your body. 

Lastly nothing extreme lasts. Have a plan if you are going to cleanse so you will be successful. If you are coming to a cleanse eating crap food, do some prep before you jump in or just start with a one day juice cleanse. If you know you tend to be extreme or maybe you are not doing the cleanse for the right reason, then consult your doctor. 

Just focus on eating the best food ever and it will work out,  Please discuss below in the comments.