Wednesday

Day 7 on the Detox...

Well, I say 'on the detox' but today was actually day 1 of weaning myself off it. I wanted to go 6 or 7 days and I did that. The salt water flush was way too much for me to take anymore. Today is the first day that I didn't do it. We'll see... I've had some fresh squeezed Orange  Juice, an orange and an apple with Peanut butter, a big HUGE day considering I've only had drinks for the last 6 days... I am also drinking some Lemonade too.

Not much else to say,

T

Monday

Detox Day 5

So today is going well enough. The salt water flush took a bit too long for my liking, but I"ll leave it at that.
Being a holiday today, I got to spend the entire day with my boys! It was a ton of fun, we hung out and had a blast. Hunger is not bothering me today, even when walking by food at the mall (thank gawd, cause that stuff is pretty nasty most of the time).... The only thing that is calling my name is Kris' homebaked gluten free cookies... and lo and behold she has a give away too! I'm not sure how many readers I have out there (one? maybe not even)... but if you are out there, go to Kris' site (iheartwellness) and enter to win your very own taste of her very own cookies! And if you don't win, well, just order them off her etsy site!

FREE Fresh Vegan Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies! Check out this Giveaway on Now! YUM

Detox Day 4

I woke up yesterday with the taste of salt in my mouth. Yuk. It's like my body was waiting for it, wanting it... I didn't want to give in. But I did, and while waiting I did a little workout. Not a big one, I'm going slow (don't want to use all my energy on working out, my body needs it for detoxing). Everyday I will do a little more, and go a little more intense, until the day I'm off the detox and I'm kicking Zuzanna's ass (yah right!)
I think I will stay in my office all day today. Chris made the boys some gluten free pancakes with banana's and peanut butter and it just smelled SO good, I'm not sure if I can stay strong walking by the kitchen. Damn food! ha, but slowly I am winning the war in my mind!!!!
What a waste the salt flush was... it didn't work. I felt bloated and grumpy and horrible for most of the day! But after having a short nap I got back up and actually finished off my business course! (so fantastic!!) It felt so great. Chris took the boys for dinner to the inlaws, and I had some beautiful quiet time. Doesn't happen often so I take it when I can!

Saturday

My daily tea ritual

Every morning I have this. I love it. There are so (SO) many health benefits to adding both Tumeric and Cinnamon to your day (cancer fighting, tumor fighting, anti-inflammatory), and more....
here is what I do...



Get your mug and tea bag (I'm using Tazo Zen Tea)





Add just boiled water



Add some tumeric



stir in some cinnamon (or add a stick of cinnamon, it's pretty)




Drink it up!!








How do you drink your tea?

Detox Day #2

I haven't written much about the detox because it seems as though I've just been busy... busy with what? well, actually just catching up with all the loose ends I call life....
So as you may know, after my 'mercury freak out', I decided to go on a detox to clean out any toxins hiding in my body and just generally get it ready for spring. I did a lot (A LOT) of research on detoxing the different body organs, the herbs involved and the order in which it should be done, and when it all came down to it, I really wanted to do the Master Cleanse again (otherwise known as the Lemonade Diet). A few reasons I choose this cleanse is that the ingredients in the Master Cleanse are simple and pure and really do a great job of helping to clean out organs like the liver, kidney and colon, skin and the circulatory system. Another big reason I choose this cleanse again is because of what it does to me personally on a mental level. When I'm on this, I really go somewhere pretty deep with food particularly with it's hold on me. It may sounds weird, but it's true. Along the journey of just drinking lemonade (and herbal teas and water, plus this time around we've added a nice shot of Vita Green for many health and detoxing benefits), anyways, somewhere along the way, my brain switches and I become aware of what I was eating, and more importantly how I was eating. After doing this cleanse, I feel like I have more control over food and it's hold on me. I feel a lot better (inside and out) I eat when I'm genuinely hungry, and I stop eating before I'm full. I end up eating much smaller portions (we've actually switched to smaller dinner plates). I love the feeling of coming off this detox and walking past food knowing that I don't want or need it. So now you know the what and why. here's the rest of the info...

Let me explain how I started, so you know how I got to today..
Day 1 and 2 were partial detox days. I started my morning off with the usual smoothie (a cup of mixed berries; black, blue, raspberry, protein powder, green super food powder, flax, orange juice, and a banana).  Then later had my green tea with Cinnamon and turmeric. For Lunch I drank a few cups of the lemonade drink. In the afternoon I had some Rooibos tea and for dinner I had a light salad with walnuts, cranberries, and balsamic vinegar. (on day 2 I had some creamed carrot and sweet potato soup with coconut milk)

so here we go, full detox day #2
I woke up today with a smile on my face knowing that I was going to the sauna again. Ah, it's so nice especially considering that we got hit with another wicked snow storm! WinterPeg, the land of wind and snow....The far infa-red sauna was tremendous, and I booked myself in for 2 times a week for the next 3 weeks! There are so many benefits of doing this type of sauna (especially if you are detoxing). The most recognised benefit is the fact that the rays penetrate the tissues inside your body and help to release the toxins that way. When you add a cleansing detox, body brushing, salt bath soaks, stretching, meditating and yoga, you're detox can really do wonders for you!
I know that there are a ton of websites out there explaining the Master Cleanse, so I'm not going to do that here, but I am going to give up the recipe here(and show you what the ingredients do)...

Master Cleanse Recipe (& more info)

Daily Drink (this should last you all day):
8 cups of pure filtered water (you want filtered for the obvious reasons of not putting more chemicals and toxins in your body when you're trying to get them all out!)
12 TBsp of Pure Organice Maple Syrup (the underlined words are very important! do not skimp on this)
12 TBsp of Pure Organic Lemon Juice (you need to squeeze your own juice, the stuff in the bottle is not good enough)
1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper (don't add this into the mix straight away, add it to your cup when your ready to drink)

What do all these ingredients do for you really?
Lemons:
known as natures miracle fruit
has plenty of potassium (aids in normalizing blood pressure)
work with sodium to regulate bodies water balance
top source of citric acid (essential for our bodies cells)
great germicide
provides modest amounts of calcium, magnesium, enzymes, vitamin C & A, copper, iron, phosphorous, folic acid
A+ tonic/cleansers for liver, kidney, bowels lungs and skin (helps flush out our system)

Maple Syrup:
great source of Manganese (energy producer and antioxidant defender)
Zinc (helps decrease skin problems, supports prostate health & keeps immune system healthy)


Cayenne Pepper:
also has calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorous, potassium, selenium, sodium, zinc, niacin,  riboflavin, thaimine, Vitamin A, B6, C,E. 
Maybe I should have just said it doesn't have any: folic acid, panthothenic acid,Vitamin B12, or K


Our added ingredients to the cleanse...
 we are doing 2 X 10ml shots of this stuff in a glass of water per day::
Vital Greens by;Naka
Superfood Complex: wheat grass, barley grass, alfalfa, soy lecithin,  spirulina, pectin apple fiber, sprouted barley malt, brown rice bran, bee pollen, pineapple juice powder, Nova Scotia Dulse, fructooligosac-charides, chlorella, beet juice powder, oat grass, rye grass, grape seed extract, peppermint leaf, royal jelly, acerola juice powder, licorice root, rhubarb juice powder, aloe vera, ginkgo biloba, ginger root and bilberry leaf.)        
Vegetable Juice Complex; broccoli juice, carrot juice, tomato juice, beet juice, spinach juice, cucumber juice, brussel sprout juice, cabbage juice, celery juice, kale juice, asparagus juice, green bell pepper juice, cauliflower juice, parsley juice, wheat grass juice.)    
Chlorophyll Powder & Aloe Vera Extract

There are a ton of reasons why this addition is great for the detox (check their site if you'd like more info) But basically, it will add some protein, and really boost the detox process along.

For the record, we do drink a ton of filtered water, along with the occasional herbal tea during the day. Also, first thing in the morning, we do the dreaded salt flush, and at night we take a bunch of fibre pills (make sure yours don't include psyillium husk~ as it will just constipate you!)
Don't forget to get plenty of rest, excercise (or at least stretching/yoga), add in some beneficial body brushing, some epsom salt baths, infa-red saunas, meditation, massages, and anything else that you think will help!

Good Luck!!

here are a few sites that talk about the master cleanse (diet/detox) if you'd like more info about it (and if you're thinking of doing this, you really should!!)...
site #1
site #2
site #3

Friday

Headaches Update

SO, just wanted to point out quickly...
After my far infa-red sauna today I noticed that my headache was gone.

FINALLY!!!!!

I can't believe it! It's been a month and a half, and it's finally gone. So those of you who were following, or read about what was going on, you can sleep at ease tonight.

Cross your fingers and knock on wood. All is well here!

T

Mercury in my body...

The title may scare you, and that's Okay...

I've known for a long time that Mercury is dangerous. I've always vowed that my kids wouldn't get any silver fillings, and a while back I promised myself that I would get mine taken out. Well, in early January I finally got them out. It worked out nicely I thought, because one of my old fillings needed to be replaced, and it was one of two silver fillings. The second was right beside it so they agreed to take them both out and replace them. Easy as Pie.....

Well, not really.... There was a bunch of stuff that went wrong, stuff that erkked me and it just turned out to be a nasty day (and continued on to be a stressful month).... let me explain....

First off, the dentist didn't use any type of rubber damn (which is the least he should have done), and the assistant didn't do anything of the sorts for helping me out with water or an air hose (except for stream water down my throat while watching the tv on the ceiling), I did my absolute best about breathing (or not breathing) as I could, but it was really hard.
2ndly, after one filling the dentist started cleaning up and getting ready to go, in my 1/2 frozen-ness I mentioned that there were 2 that needed to be done so somewhat reluctantly he came back to finish (but not very well, one tooth still feels like sand paper, and that's still after I went back once already to have it redone)... anyways... So he finishes up (quite quickly) and I'm off. . . .
About 3 days later the headaches started. They were  straight off brutally intense. Behind my eyes, both temples, along my jawline and into the back of my neck. My first thought was mercury.... So, I did what I do at times, FREAK OUT!!!!
opps...
Thank Gawd for my Bach Flower Remedies, otherwise I think I would have gone mad! I started doing research on how to detox the mercury out of my body (researching Mercury poisoning in general would have surely sent me over the edge) Mercury scares me, and I could not think of anything positive (even my hubby was worried a bit). But after a few weeks (yes I waited a long time) and after talking with my naturalpathic doctor my best friend and my massage therapist, we all decided that the intense headaches had to do with my jaw alignment.
*Great big Sigh of Relief*
But... there was still concern for an excess of Mercury in my body. I went to our regular walk-in clinic (there is a huge shortage of doctors in this town, so we actually don't even have one, thank goodness for our Naturalpath), and he signed me up for a Mercury blood test (but not before he went to check that there was such a thing ~ you'd think we lived in some small hick town). There's only one problem with the blood test, the fact that I waited over 2 weeks to do it, so any Mercury in my blood was now surely trapped in my cells and wouldn't show up in the test.
What now?
My naturalpathic doctor gave me the good ol' Mercury pee test. It's pretty intense (you take some special pills (DMSA) on an empty stomach and they draw out the Mercury from your body. Then you basically get to collect all your pee for 6 hours and then send in a sample) I brought it home and after looking at the instructions, and reading on-line about it a while, I've decided against it (for now). I'm mainly concerned about a false positive happening (see, if these pills draw out a ton of Mercury from your body, then of course it will come back saying that you have high levels of Mercury, I know I have it, so that's not the issue, the issue is getting it out and getting it out safely)...
Back to my detoxing research, but first I want to mention 2 things here. One is that besides being a Nutritionist, one thing I really want to study and specialize in is detoxing (so the research that I was doing all along here was really a win win situation for me, and it really was a lot of fun), and 2ndly, during all this time of researching I received my detoxing course in the mail through the therapy network in the UK. Coincidence (I never think so!)
So, I had all these things figured out, my notes were pretty extensive, and I was really excited to start a cleansing of my body and all of it's toxins!
All in all the last month and a half have been interesting. I've learned A Lot, and feel calmer (about my own situation) and more confident in my detox specialization!

Do you detox? What type and why?