Makeover: Changing from the Inside.

11:01 AM Remy Maguire - Manifest the Best 1 Comments

I saw Dr. Joey Shulman speak in Toronto and found myself hanging on her every word. Dr. Joey is the author of Winning the Food Fight:Every Parent's Guide to Raising a Healthy, Happy Child, The Natural Makeover Diet, and The Last 15. I wholeheartedly agree with her approach to weight loss and total body health. Instead of focusing on what NOT to eat she advocates eating for health and all the wonderful things the right foods can do for you; smooth, unblemished skin, clear, bright eyes, and a feeling of energy and vibrancy everyday! I especially appreciated how easy to understand her nutritional advice is, and how easy to practice.

Dr. Shulman writes, "once you start taking care of your internal health, your natural beauty will shine through each and every time in the form of wrinkle-free skin and a radiant complexion, sparkling eyes, strong nails, shiny hair and a natural shift towards a healthy body weight." She believes women have for too long relied on expensive cosmetic procedures to enhance their looks when for far less money and pain the most beautiful you is revealed my taking natural steps, not surgical ones.

Dr. Shulman outlines a four step process that conquers what she calls the top three "beauty robbers":

1. Faulty Digestion
2. Chronic Inflammation
3. Free Radical Damage

The "Four Steps" include:

1. Cleanse (for five days)
2. Nourish
3. Moisturize
4. Maintain

Before making many of the suggested dietary changes, Dr. Joey recommends preparing your body, cleaning the slate, in order to fully see and feel all the health and beauty benefits. The Five Day detox contains 8 elements which are:

1. Eliminate all grains.
2. Eliminate all dairy products.
3. Eliminate all red meat.
4. Eliminate all white sugar.
5. Take a minimum of 3 capsules of "friendly bacteria" (probiotic) daily with food.
6. Increase consumption of phytonutrient-rich foods and take a greens supplement.
7. Drink at least 8 glasses of water or herbal tea daily (no juice, soda, coffee or alcohol).
8. Consume 1 tbsp. of ground flaxseeds daily.

I am undertaking this 5 day cleanse Monday through Friday of this week. I am usually very skeptical of anything involving "detox" or "cleansing". I have never felt that any of these type of products or crazy fasts could be good for anyone. But, this is different. I completely understand giving the body a break from some potentially irritating foods. I don't see anything unadvisable going on here. My initial thought was that I'd have no problem sticking to it -- I rarely eat red meat or dairy, I drank enough this weekend too sink a fish and I'm excited to see if cutting bread out of my diet has any drastic effect. Truly, I think I'm in the best shape of my life. I eat very well and I exercise daily. But, I almost always need a nap in the afternoon after an early work day, my belly feels bloated after most meals and I suffer from pretty serious cravings for chocolate and bread. According to Dr. Joey and many other nutritionists and experts I am learning from, these things are often effects of our diets and can actually be fixed by tweeking what and how we eat. I'm in! The only thing I'm not sure I can do without is coffee. But, I'll try. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

Day 1: I omitted one fruit from my early morning snack and added a tablespoon of crushed walnuts. Tasted great, crunchy and earthy and kept me full until breakfast. I made a smoothie with almond milk, whey protein powder, peach, 1/2 banana and a cup of frozen berries. I added a tablespoon of crushed flax seed and skipped the yogurt. For lunch I substituted my usual open faced turkey sandwich with a pile of black beans, avocado and more flax seed and almonds on my salad. i thought I'd be hungry but I was surprising stuffed before finishing my plate. So, I didn't! I wrapped up the left-overs for later -- highly unusual behavior already! Instead of reaching for my post-lunch chocolate I walked to store and bought a handful of sweet cherries. I found this to be a delicious way to keep my sweet tooth happy and healthy! Monday night pizza would need a major make-over to fit the plan and I can't even imagine a crustless pie, weird. I decided to just steam up all the veggies in the house and from the garden, kale, broccoli, garlic, onion, green bean and celery stir-fry with olive oil and tofu. Boring! Add hot salsa and avocado and it's pretty darn good. A cuppa tea and I made it through day one!

Day 2: I knew this couldn't be that easy. Tuesday mornings I get to sleep in and I LOVE putzing around the house drinking coffee and doing little else. Ok, I admit it I already kinda "cheated". But, I have an excuse! I'm not trying to lose any weight and I already eat like a champ. I think my alkaline levels are pretty strong so I felt fine about indulging in a small cup of java. It was only one! I usually finish a pot. I say, success. I ate alot of the same foods as I did yesterday and made a veggie quiche with sweet potatoes for dinner. I wonder if I'm eating too many eggs?

Tomorrow I'll have left over quiche and fruit for breakfast and smoothie for a snack, gigantic bean-y salad for lunch and something fishy for dinner. I'll keep adding the flax and taking the probiotics. So, far so good. Things are definately, um, moving along. (My poor husband!)