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"We need to work less to achieve more. We need to stop fighting food and start embracing it. We need to stop punishing our bodies and start providing for them. We need to slow down and enjoy and then we'll get the results we've been looking for - and sooner than we expect." 
 
Marc David, The Slow Down Diet: Eating for Pleasure, Energy and Weight Loss.

"If we look at fasting throughout history, we see that people have always fasted for the purpose of overall well-being and having insight into something deeper," says Marc David, founder of the Institute for the Psychology of Eating in Boulder, Colorado.  "There are no historical references to fasting so as to look better in a bikini."

David emphasizes the importance of taking a larger view when it comes to detoxing the body.  A truly healthy detox process is about gaining physical and emotional vitality, he says, not losing pounds, achieving an unrealistic state of hygienic purity, or finding an instant miracle cure for a chronic condition.

The craze for fasting and cleansing has produced some fantastic claims and some decidedly mixed results.  

Year after year, the debate about the merits and dangers of detoxing rages on.  Conventional medical professionals argue that the body's impressive elimination system is all it needs to detoxify itself.  Progressive and integrative health professionals argue that our bodies are overloaded with gunk, and that sensible detox programs offer an effective way of lightening our toxic burden.

Holistic health practitioners, meanwhile, point out that long before our organs show signs of failing, they show signs of overload and stress.  Given the unprecedented number of environmental and food-related toxins we all encounter on a daily basis, they argue, strengthening and supporting the body's natural detoxification systems makes good common sense.  It's an effective way to protect and improve overall health and vitality, and may even help the body resolve longstanding health problems.  Done right, they say, a good detox program can be a boon to our well-being. 

 Excerpted from an article by Courtney Helgoe, April 2010


I was recently out to dinner with my brother and sister-in-law. 
My sister-in-law and I got talking about doing a detox/cleanse after the holidays and getting back to eating properly.  In a dead pan voice she said, "I am giving up Tweets after the holiday!"  I looked at her a little confused and said, "Tweets??"  She replied yes, "Tweets".... treats and sweets.

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy New Year.
Vibrant health doesn't happen by chance, it happens by choice. 
 Choose wisely.

Liesha
 
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8 Natural Ways to Turn Your Cleanse into a Full-Body Detox
 
Detoxing happens when the amount of inflammatory food and drink put into our mouth is reduced and the liver has an opportunity to work through built-up toxins. As Dr. Mark Hyman states, "Detox is necessary when the metabolic waste from normal human metabolism, environmental pollution, and what has become known as the Standard American Diet (or SAD) has exceeded the threshold for what the body's innate detoxification system can tolerate."

While this may sound like a simple physiological process, detoxing affects both the body and mind. Psychologically speaking, it takes the average person, one to two weeks to process alcohol, sugar and wheat, and have them completely removed from your system. (That is, of course, if you are not adding additional sugar, wheat, and alcohol to the body during the detox process.) Removing these foods and beverages from your diet for two weeks is a great way to cleanse your system. In addition, here are eight other things you can do to turn your food cleanse into a full body detox.
 
1. Drink water. LOTS and LOTS of H2O! Water for the liver is like gas for your car. With small amounts of gas, your car can only run efficiently for a short period of time. Likewise, if you want your liver to perform at its highest potential in processing toxins, water is essential. For the average adult, 1 gallon of water (preferably filtered) will be most beneficial. Tip: One glass of warm water with fresh lemon squeezed in it, is a sure fire way to jump start your morning into the detox process.

2. Pee. This will come automatically by adopting the 1 gallon of water per day challenge. Why peeing? Sweating and peeing are the only two methods by which a person physically removes fat from the body, and fat is where most of our toxins are stored. The more you pee, the more fat and toxins you eliminate from the body.

3. Sweat. As mentioned above, sweating and peeing are powerful methods to remove fat, and therefore stored toxins from the body. Two of the most beneficial methods of sweating, through the detox process, are through Bikram yoga (a form of hot yoga) as well as through partaking in infrared saunas like the "POD" here in our Marlton office. Click here to learn more about our POD.   
Both methods allow a person to relax while sweating, maintaining a healing environment in the body, unlike intense exercise which may cause you to sweat, but can actually create acute inflammation.

4. Move your body. Think restorative movement and exercise such as yoga, Pilates, or walking.  The goal here is to simply get the blood flowing, which helps to transport toxins out of the body. Often the thought after New Years is to exercise long and hard. However if a person is detoxing, intensive exercise is counter-productive as it actually inflames the body reducing the amount of inflammation from food and drink that the body can process during the detox period.

5. Eat clean, whole foods. Ideally, you are removing sugar, wheat and alcohol from your diet. This will stop the majority of inflammation going into the body so that the liver can focus on processing the inflammatory foods from the holidays. The most simple and effective foods to eat are those that do not come in a box, bag, can, or jar. Essentially, whole foods plucked right from our earth.

6. Rest. Most of us have been working on overdrive between traveling to or hosting Thanksgiving, holiday shopping, cooking, attending festive parties, and playing Santa. There has been little time for rest and relaxation the past 6 weeks, so seize the opportunity to throw your feet up, go to bed a couple of hours earlier each night, or carve out time for a nap during day. The liver processes the most amount of inflammation when it is in sleep mode, so allow yourself a few extra hours each day while you move through the detox process.

7. Dry brush. Dry brushing  increases the circulation in your body, encourages new cell renewal by helping to shed dead skin cells, improves vascular blood circulation, encourages lymphatic drainage and more. That's a lot of good stuff for something as easy and simple as this self-care act. Check out a step-by-step guide on how to dry brush here .

8. Think elegantly. Detoxing is not just about the physiological process. The Shady B*tch - a.k.a. ego or mind - shows herself in full force, creating thoughts based on fear, disappointment and doubt. She will lie, cheat, and steal in order to convince you of these negative thoughts, and she is in full force while detoxing. How do we defend ourselves from her?
Be mindful of your thoughts. Know the negative thoughts will appear, and recognize that they are not your thoughts, but rather the Shady B*tch's thoughts. Remind yourself of this constantly. Use the two weeks to create a habit of journaling gratitude in your life, for all things no matter how small and minute they may seem. When we are thinking positively, there is less space for negative thoughts. Carve out 5 minutes a day to meditate simply by putting attention on your breath. This calms the mind and gives you a break from the spinning detox mind.

Whichever elegant thinking method you choose, use it with vengeance throughout these two weeks and you will find that not only are you surviving the detox process, but you are thriving!
 
Excerpted from an article by
Jenny Carr
 
She is fiercely committed to helping families and children find health in this ever changing world of inflammatory foods. Jenny is the founder of The Clean Eating Kid, guiding families towards vibrant health, one meal at a time.
Contact Jenny at [email protected] to learn more about how she can guide you or your family towards vibrant and optimal health.
 
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Detox Your Body card with colorful background with defocused lights
Join us Wednesday, January 27, 2016 from 7-8 P.M. for our next webinar
 
Make a clean start to your 2016!

Are you ready for a clean start?
Are you having trouble losing weight?
Are you experiencing muscle aches and weakness?
Would you like to be more focused and clear headed?

If you answered yes to any of these questions you may be experiencing a toxic burden. We live in an ever increasingly toxic environment. Many toxins, also known as Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPS), which did not exist 30 years ago, are abundant in the environment today. These new toxins include pesticides, herbicides and industrial chemicals that can enter the body through food, water and air supply. These toxins can and often do become trapped in the body's organs and tissues, which over time can negatively impact health, vitality and overall wellness and may contribute to the development of chronic illness.

Please join us for an in-depth look at how we are being exposed to these toxins and the ways in which we can lessen our toxic load.

 To register, click here

Join the team at TDI/Health through Awareness
for a New Years detox/cleanse.
We will be doing a 14-day detox/cleanse and would love to have you join us. We have found it's a good idea to do as a group so we can support each other through the process, share tasty recipes and healthy snack options as well as hold each other accountable.

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Thank you to Meg Deak for an informative December Webinar.
 Meg provided us with lots of helpful tips for dealing with stress and anxiety and simplified some very complex issues.
 
View archives here

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Disclaimer:  These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The information in this newsletter is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. The contents of this newsletter are based upon the opinions and research of Liesha Getson and Health Through Awareness, unless otherwise noted. Individual articles are based upon the opinions of the respective author, who retains copyright as marked. The information in this newsletter is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice. It is intended as a sharing of knowledge and information from the research and experience of Liesha Getson and Health Through Awareness. You are encouraged to make your own health care decisions based upon your research and in partnership with a qualified health care professional.
  
 
For more information about the 14 day detox/cleanse program
tune into the January webinar and contact me at the numbers listed below.
Liesha Getson, BCTT, HHC
TDI/Health through Awareness
856-596-5834
856-596-0200 
100 Brick Road, Suite 206
Marlton, NJ 08053