CHAPTER 1
Getting Started: The Ins and Outs
You Can Do Anything for 14 Days!
Really, you can. Think about a time when you started a new venture, maybe a job, a workout routine, or learning to ride a horse. It took time. It took commitment. It took a plan, usually. And it took consistency. Maybe those things didn't feel as scary to you, but you went forward anyway. It was something you wanted, so you dove in. That's how this will be too.
I know you didn't pick up this book for the heck of it. Something inside must have been pulling you toward it, which in my eyes means you want to make a change. You want to learn how to feel better and to eat cleaner. You want optimal health and wellness. You want to stave off diseases. Think about 14 days in the big scheme of life and how small of a blip it is. Have you ever been on vacation for two weeks and it feels like it was three days? Well, that's how this program will feel too.
Yes, granted, you may experience some uncomfortable feelings at the beginning as your body detoxes and changes, but the result of amazing health and vitality in the long-term is what to keep in sight. Knowing that you're doing your body good for years to come and living a preventative lifestyle is beyond any quick fix or diet you can ever engage in.
But keep in mind: this is not a quick-fix diet or a magic pill. If that is what you are hoping for, then this program is not for you, and you might want to pass this book along to someone who is truly committed to changing their health for good. Or you can keep it in your back pocket for a future date when you feel ready to make a lifelong change. It's your call, but my guess is that you are ready now.
Do I Really Need to Cleanse?
Well, that depends. As I said in the introduction, we are all different. Our bodies vary vastly from person to person. The majority of people on the planet can benefit from some sort of seasonal cleansing every year, especially in the spring and fall.
Even if you consider yourself to be a healthy eater, chances are your body still needs a bit of support. Most people who think they are eating healthily get a serious eye-opening after doing this detox. This program will take you to the next level and show you where you can make even more positive changes to your diet for long-term benefits.
If you are an unhealthy eater and have never done a cleanse before, or don't know where to start, that's okay too. All of the information you need to be successful and change your eating habits is contained right here in this book. It's laid out in a simple plan so that you don't have to think too hard about it. All you have to do is take it step-by-step and day-by-day.
Over time our bodies can get gunked up with toxins from the food we eat, the air we breathe, and possibly even the water we drink. If you are someone who eats processed foods daily, drinks coffee, eats sugar, indulges in social or daily consumption of alcohol, drinks water out of plastic bottles or unfiltered water and eats out more than three times per week—which includes 99 percent of the U.S. population—then you are an awesome candidate for a cleanse.
I'm sure that you are probably familiar with some of the other cleanses out there that deprive you and starve you. Well, this cleanse will not do that. This cleanse will provide your body with the nourishment it needs while cleaning out your organs and detoxifying your tissues, all by ingesting a lot of yummy, high-nutrient food.
It will give you the foundation of a healthy, whole foods diet so that you know how to eat and what to put into your body to fuel it and give it energy without counting calories or measuring your food. How awesome is that?
Starvation Be Gone: The Power of Food-Based Cleansing
The reason I created a program using food to cleanse, versus relying on juices, supplements, or powders and potions, is because I want to teach you how to eat, and I want you to know what it really feels like to be satisfied by eating less food with higher nutrient content than you may be used to. Now when I say, 'eat less,' don't let that scare you. There are plenty of options available in this program, and you will never go hungry. The nutrient density and the delectable flavors of the food will keep you satisfied more than you may have ever felt before.
The foods offered in this program were specifically chosen because of their detoxifying and alkalizing qualities and nutrient density. This does not mean you have to follow the meal plan exactly, but you will receive the most benefit from it if you do. As you will learn, the more you read on and get into the heart of the program, there are a lot of foods you are allowed to eat on this cleanse, so feel free to be creative and add to my recipes if you'd like.
If you need to follow the plan to a T, that's okay too. However it works for you is best for you—let that be your mantra. You know yourself the best, so if you work best with an exact plan, take that route. If you want to be a little more loosey-goosey or creative with it all, yet stay within the parameters of the allowable foods, then go for it. Sometimes stepping out of the box can be extremely liberating, and if buying this book alone was a beginning of that for you, then bravo!
People are often confused about cleansing because there are so many different ones out there: juice feasting/fasting, the Master Cleanse or Lemonade Diet, water fasting, raw food detoxing, and more. The unfortunate thing about most of these cleanses (with the exception of the raw food detox) is that they are based on starvation and deprivation.
These cleanses starve your body of nutrients, which can be helpful in the detoxification process, but they are not necessarily good for your metabolism, adrenals, or hormones. Also, what usually seems to happen is that after people come off these detoxes, they go right back to their old habits and ways of eating. Sometimes they may even go off the deep end and eat 'bad' foods that they weren't eating prior to cleansing. I remember doing a juice cleanse once, and all I craved was doughnuts. I don't even eat doughnuts—and hadn't for years—but my body was so deprived, I just wanted something fatty to fill me up.
Remember, the true key to vitality and wellness is finding what works for you. My guess is that you'd rather eat and feel satisfied versus not eat and feel deprived. Am I right? I will teach you how to use food as fuel and stop using it as a reward or something you turn to for comfort.
Cut the CRAP! Yes, You!
During the course of these 14 days (plus one prep week to get you cleanse-ready) you will be cutting the CRAP out of your life. This will give your body a chance to reset and recalibrate itself without any outside stimulants or toxins. Your metabolism will spark up and begin to rebalance itself too. Your blood sugar levels will even out, so you won't have as many cravings. You will tap into your natural source of energy. We all have it, but we often don't know it because it's been dumbed down by outside stimulants.
You might be wondering, what exactly is CRAP? While Chapter 5, 'What to Avoid,' gives a comprehensive list, here are the big four:
- Caffeine
- Refined sugars
- Alcohol
- Processed foods and fats
This CRAP (or what I also like to call 'slow poisons') builds up in your system over a period of years and become toxic, causing your digestion to get out of balance and your energy to wane. They also create an acidic environment in the body, which can lead to many issues with your health, including skin problems, joint pain, inflammation, sugar cravings, lethargy, arthritis, clogged arteries, poor sleep, hormone imbalances, weight gain, and adult-onset diabetes, to name a few.
It's important to give your body a break from these foods/toxins so that it can find its own natural balance again. The cool part is that your body will start to transform from the inside out, and not only will you begin to feel better, but you will also start to drop weight. Our bodies are natural detoxifiers, but when they are clogged with CRAP, they can't detox without help. The foods in this program will do that. Once your body is regulated, it will be able to release toxins on its own, naturally, and weight will begin to fall off. The inflammation in your body will cool off and you will begin to feel lighter and more energetic.
Although weight loss is a fantastic benefit of this cleanse, it's not the only benefit. You will go through many changes internally that you might not be able to see, and this will only be the beginning. Turning this way of eating into a long-term lifestyle will help your body come back to the natural vitality and health that it was born with.
©2014. Melissa Costello. All rights reserved. Reprinted from The Clean in 14 Detox. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the written permission of the publisher. Publisher: Health Communications, Inc., 3201 SW 15th Street, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442. |
