So I had a realization a few days ago about the reason why I love detoxing so much (despite people around me & their detrimental comments). I was talking to my flatmate who recently completely 7 days on the Lemon diet aka Master Cleanse where you pretty much just have drinks containing maple syrup, cayenne pepper & lemon juice for the whole time. You’re also allowed herbal tea whenever you want. She said that she noticed during the cleanse how calm & peaceful she felt, things didn’t bug her like they normally would.
That got me thinking along the same lines – I usually also feel really light, peaceful and spiritual whenever I’m doing a cleanse. Its as though eating only natural wholefoods and getting rid of toxins out of my system (usually in the first 3 days which are always the most painful) makes me feel more in tune with the spirit or with higher energies. It was especially noticeable after the two weeks when I went back to eating normal food. I was driving home and somebody on the road did something that annoyed me and I started yelling at them in my car (probably they couldn’t hear me, but it did make me feel better) and I realized that I hadn’t gotten road ragey like that for the whole time I was doing the cleanse.
So aside from the health and weight loss benefits of eating whole foods and detoxing, there are definitely spiritual elements to the whole thing, which makes me think of the promises for those who follow principles of health and wellbeing contained at the end of the Word of Wisdom, Doctrine & Covenants 89 – And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures, and shall run and not be weary and shall walk and not faint.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Goal Setting
It seems like a gargantuan goal for me, given my current state of non-fitness, but I really want to do it. I have set a goal for myself to do the Tongariro Crossing this summer. 19.4kms of steep mountain to conquer. One of the girls at work did it earlier this year and her description of the walk totally cracked me up.
“You start off at the carpark and its really flat, so it lulls you into a sense of false security for the first while, and then bam! Stairs and stairs and stairs and stairs! And then its flat again for a while, and then bam! Stairs and stairs and stairs and stairs! And then its pretty much straight down the other side.”
I had a look at the Doc website, and her description was quite apt. The first set of stairs is apparently called the Devils staircase. My boss ran the crossing in 2 or 3hrs, but I am nowhere near his fitness level. (Hes over 60, so shame on me). Its meant to take fit people 6-8hrs. My friend lives not too far from the start of the crossing, so she said she’ll drop me off in the morning and pick me up in the afternoon.
People have died on the walk, with snow and poor visibility issues in winter, so that’s why I’m leaving it til summer, hopefully it will be warm and I won’t have any issues with it. I do need to get some proper walking boots though. I also think I need to start including more stairs and hills in my regular walks around the neighbourhood.
“You start off at the carpark and its really flat, so it lulls you into a sense of false security for the first while, and then bam! Stairs and stairs and stairs and stairs! And then its flat again for a while, and then bam! Stairs and stairs and stairs and stairs! And then its pretty much straight down the other side.”
I had a look at the Doc website, and her description was quite apt. The first set of stairs is apparently called the Devils staircase. My boss ran the crossing in 2 or 3hrs, but I am nowhere near his fitness level. (Hes over 60, so shame on me). Its meant to take fit people 6-8hrs. My friend lives not too far from the start of the crossing, so she said she’ll drop me off in the morning and pick me up in the afternoon.
People have died on the walk, with snow and poor visibility issues in winter, so that’s why I’m leaving it til summer, hopefully it will be warm and I won’t have any issues with it. I do need to get some proper walking boots though. I also think I need to start including more stairs and hills in my regular walks around the neighbourhood.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Smoothies, Soups & Salads
So for the next 4 weeks I have decided to embark on a wholefoods diet and also do a spring herbal detox cleanse, in yet another effort to rid my system of toxins and lose weight. I seem to attempt detoxes on a regular basis, but rarely ever last as long as I intend to, usually at the 3 day mark I smell something diabolically delicious & throw in the towel. On day 2 (I started last Saturday) my aunty bought me over two amazingly decorated cupcakes which I couldn’t bear to throw out nor eat. So I came to a compromise, I tasted the icing on both, ok well if I’m being honest I ate all the chocolate icing on one, tasted the almond icing on the other, tried a small amount of each cupcake and threw the rest out.
But yesterday I was super good. I got invited to dinner at my auntys (she is a brilliant cook) and I thought about skipping the invitation but I also wanted to see my sisters new car, she was also going to be there, so I made myself some food & took it with me. It worked amazingly well.
So the cleanse I’m doing is called Brett Elliots Ultimate Herbal Detox which goes for 10-14 days, you take herbal pills morning & night and can only eat or drink smoothies, soups, salads, herbal teas and juices. Basically you can only eat fruits, vegetables and herbs, with a little bit of olive oil with salads. Last time I did it (in January) it did make me feel a lot better, unfortunately as soon as I ended I went on a road trip where I undid all the good results from the detox. So I’m hoping that this time it will work out a lot better.
I’ve had a cold/flu since last Thursday which hasn’t been fun either, I’ve been coughing almost non stop and generally feeling like crap, I had a headache for 3 days straight which thankfully has gone now, I’m only just starting to feel a bit better today so hopefully things can only improve from here on.
But yesterday I was super good. I got invited to dinner at my auntys (she is a brilliant cook) and I thought about skipping the invitation but I also wanted to see my sisters new car, she was also going to be there, so I made myself some food & took it with me. It worked amazingly well.
So the cleanse I’m doing is called Brett Elliots Ultimate Herbal Detox which goes for 10-14 days, you take herbal pills morning & night and can only eat or drink smoothies, soups, salads, herbal teas and juices. Basically you can only eat fruits, vegetables and herbs, with a little bit of olive oil with salads. Last time I did it (in January) it did make me feel a lot better, unfortunately as soon as I ended I went on a road trip where I undid all the good results from the detox. So I’m hoping that this time it will work out a lot better.
I’ve had a cold/flu since last Thursday which hasn’t been fun either, I’ve been coughing almost non stop and generally feeling like crap, I had a headache for 3 days straight which thankfully has gone now, I’m only just starting to feel a bit better today so hopefully things can only improve from here on.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)