“Detoxing” is probably one of the most fashionable phrases today and it can be incredibly confusing considering it covers everything from drinking a green juice after a night out on the town to doing a master cleanse, colonics and 8 hours of hot yoga per day. Here is my little guideline to fitting in the perfect amount of detoxing for your lifestyle on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis. Think of this as a choose your own adventure for your bod according to what makes sense for you. Mix and match, do all of them or whatever fits best (and doesn’t drive your friends crazy; nobody likes like the pain in the ass 15 modification GF/Vegan/Organic/High Priestess blessed food order on a night out. Save it.)
Daily: Chugging a TALL glass of aqua with half a fresh squeezed lemon first thing in the morning. This you have heard everywhere and I get it’s repetitive but the way the lemon clears out the liver, wakens up the digestive juice and gets your GI tract working before you start breakfast is a lifesaver. It also balances PH, freshens breath and makes you feel sharper instantly. Best taken with a powerful probiotic like Pure Encapsulations Pure Biome or Probiotic 50B to boost the good bacteria population in your gut. And DUH I can order all Pure Encapsulations products to the office or right to your doorstep #thatwaseasy
Verdict: Daily Detox MUST do.
Weekly: Studies, documentary’s and the smelly hippies at your local food Co-Op all swear that juicing and fasting are incredibly beneficial to our health… it just seems daunting and unrealistic next to the bowl of tagliatelle and glass of barolo. Don’t worry, I will make this bearable for you: You can choose to juice cleanse ONE day a week and still make that a mini detox, boost energy and aid in weight loss. PLUS, you get added nutrients into your diet when you don’t have the time to eat 3 lbs of Kale, a head of romaine, 8 carrots and 4 beets. The healthy nutrients you’re chugging will help protectagainst cardiovascular disease, cancer and inflammatory diseases, like rheumatoid arthritis. Also, juicing is giving your cells an antioxidant boost (*vanity alert, this slows aging… check out Gwenyth). If you get cranky and juice isn’t cutting it by lunch time throw together a fruit and veggie based protein smoothie so you’re not a diva at the office:
Monthly: If daily and weekly isn’t working for you, it’s always an option to do your full throttle lifestyle and then one weekend a month switch gears, sober up for 2 days, get your sweat on and go green. After you have accumulated late nights, bar fights, over-working and eating everything in sight but don’t have the willpower to quit cold turkey and do a full detox just put yourself on a staycation and do two full days of healthy bliss.
Here’s your weekend detox routine:
- Lemon Water with Probiotics in the AM
- A Pure Encapsulation Purelean shake for breakfast (see recipe above or make your own!)
- Meals every 4-5 hours no larger than the size of your palm: Vegan, Gluten Free, Organic, Sugar-free and mostly cooked food in the winter, mostly raw in the summer (or a mix of both!).
- Nothing to eat after 8pm.
- SWEAT for an hour each day, preferably in the morning. This means hot yoga, a HIIT class, or something else that gets your blood pumping.
- Bed by 10pm
- Attempt meditating, reading something calming or a different kind of stimulation than your usual netflix marathon or sci-fi movie (I’m a GOT and Scandal whore just like the rest of you, but trust me, detoxing the mind is part of this process as well)
Yearly: The BEST way to do yearly detoxes is according to the natural rhythm of the seasons. I personally do two heavy duty 14 day Vive detoxes twice a year and then mini ones in between. The first detox should be after summer, detox your body and get it clean to start preparing it for the colder weather. You want to do a 2 week fully guided detox and the most important thing here is to eat whole foods and have supplementation support. The Vive detoxes (shameless self promotion 😉 are a specially formulated cleanse programs based in nutritional and biochemical science. They are comprised of a nutrition food plan and Pure Encapsulations supplements, the highest quality clinically researched supplements available to support you in your goal to detox, build immunity or lose weight. Having cleansed and detoxed your body out at the end of August/beginning of September will boost immunity for cold and flu season as well as help you fight the urge to pack on the pounds of the holiday eating championships. The next time I detox is at the beginning of April, spring time. This is an incredible way to de-sludge your liver and gallbladder, push through stagnant QI that has had you feeling crummy and sluggish all winter and get in shape for the naked-ness you’ll want to bear all summer. For more info on detoxes and how you can start your body feeling like an Olympian check out the Vive Detox page http://paigeacupuncturenyc.com/detox-products/
