Detox Day 14 – A Sweet Ending!

Today I feel great. I feel calm, peaceful and content. I feel a sense of accomplishment, and I feel stronger. Not only physically better, but stronger mentally – like I said, a cleanse is really 90% mental. It’s a big goal for people and a great mental reward when they achieve it. Today doesn’t feel at all like a struggle. We took the kids for a walk on lakeshore, and popped into Second Cup to warm up. The sweet aroma of coffee definitely smelled appetizing, but it wasn’t a big deal (knowing I’ll get one tomorrow helps). The kids had their hot chocolates and on we went. It was a nice family outing for a bit of fresh air.
Breakfast – Mediclear smoothie with strawberry, banana and water. Green tea. Oatmeal with cinnamon and raisins.
Lunch – leftover Asian Soup and some Halibut from the other day.
Dinner – We treated ourselves to a night out for sushi. Technically sushi is ‘ok’ as a detox food, however I wouldn’t do it ‘during’ the cleanse because of how many restaurants add some ‘bad’ stuff to it. I knew soya sauce contains wheat, but my friend Carol told me some facts I didn’t know – they add mayo to most rolls, and food coloring and preservatives into wasabi. Well, we still ate pretty clean. Our kids had some chicken teriyaki but stayed away from meat and had the vegetarian and fish based rolls, and some seaweed salad. What a nice meal! I’ll be drinking some more greent tea this evening.

We all do cleanses for different reasons. Many of my patients do it to kickstart a weightloss program, others do it for more energy, some do it to figure out their gastrointestinal issues (it’s a good way to get people off allergenic foods and then wean them back in slowly while watching for old symptoms). Whatever your reason, you will experience many benefits, and I encourage everyone to do one big cleanse every year, and then a few mini ones seasonally. For myself, I did it to prove a point to myself (because it has been a while) and to be a good example to family, friends and patients (who rely on me for health information). A cleanse can be a daunting task, but with the right planning and support it’s absolutely an attainable goal. And like anything else in life, it takes practice to get good at it – at first it may be a struggle, and will ALWAYS be a challenge (no matter how many you do).
As a note – if you are looking for weightloss with the cleanse, you can’t go too heavy on the grains. For myself that wasn’t a goal so I didn’t watch portions (I just listened to my body to let me know when I had eaten enough) – but I did still let go of the few holiday pounds that I had put on. Carlos as well lost around 7 pounds, even though he ate a lot and didn’t let himself get hungry (he ate quite a bit of carbs – rice, crackers, dates etc). He also maintained his strength and was able to continue his strict workout program, which even I was fascinated to see!
I remember when I did my first cleanse over 10 yrs ago the feeling of wanting to cram all the ‘bad’ foods back into my diet as soon as I was off the cleanse. I don’t feel like that anymore. I would urge anyone doing a cleanse to slowly incorporate things like dairy and wheat. Watch for how you feel with each introduction. You may be surprised to see how lethargic you become, or the headaches that may come back, or how ‘full’ and bloated you start to feel, or constipated, or the insomnia that starts back up. You’ll notice how that cookie tastes so sweet all of a sudden. Learn from this experience, and make a mental note of how food makes you feel. That is the true learning experience!


Dr. Anna Falkowski HBSc, ND
Naturopathic Doctor & Clinic Director
Vitality for Life Health Center
www.vitalityforlife.ca

Dr. Anna Falkowski HBSc, ND
Naturopathic Doctor, Clinic Director
info@vitalityforlife.ca
www.vitalityforlife.ca
Twitter: @NaturoDoctor
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