A healthy diet is key to achieving health and wellness goals!
What is the one thing we have control of and can easily afford without a prescription that will impact our health? The food we eat. Most doctors treat one condition and refer to a specialist for others. With so many specialists and no one person governing our complete health what can we do? Change our diet. It is relatively easy, takes no prescription or co-pays and yet we as Americans rarely see the value in eating right. With so many facts and opinions given to us it is hard to understand what eating right even means. But eating right is basic and easy once you understand. Take it step by step and find the best diet program for you.
I learned the hard way that understanding a healthy diet is the difference between obtaining your goals 100% and struggling for years on end. My history: 12-year chronic Lyme Disease, co-infections of Lyme, root canals and mercury fillings, genetic issues, mold sensitive, yeast, gut issues, estrogen dominance and more. Eventually, I became my own advocate and started using a functional wellness approach to healing. It was not until I changed my diet habits that I obtained the 100% success I was looking for. Within 4 weeks of starting an enhanced version of the “Ten Day Detox Diet”, I ran a 5K Mud Run. You can also see these amazing results but you must first start and then stay committed.
There are 7 foods across the board that cause sensitivities in people. Testing for food allergies and sensitivities are great but can be misleading and sometimes inaccurate. The best way to reduce inflammation in our bodies is by changing our diet. Most call this an elimination diet. The seven foods to eliminate first are Soy, Gluten, Dairy, Eggs, Sugar, Artificial Sugar, and Corn. Our food simply is not the same as before “Round Up” when all food consumed was organic. But that is another story. What is important to know today is that if you reduce inflammation in your body your body will be free to deal with other health issues. In addition, toxins are stored in fat. This is a way that your body has to shelter toxins rather than allowing them to continually run throughout the body. Your body is an amazing! It is functioning today despite all we throw at it. Let’s start a new you with a new healthy body.
Changing your diet starts the ball rolling. It reduces stress, inflammation and yeast in the body. When you start the diet around day 3 or 4 most people become grumpy. This is a clear sign that you are going through sugar withdraw. Most likely you may also become tired. These are all symptoms normal to yeast die off. The bacteria in your gut will begin to balance out and you will soon start seeing results. This is why it is important to do a self-test or evaluation before and after a week and so on and so on. It is easy to see your results when you might not visually see your progress.
The most important thing to succeed is to keep going. If you slip up or falter get back up and keep going. Don’t beat yourself up! It happens! As time passes and your body adjusts, the good bacteria will begin taking over and you will crave healthy foods and processed foods just won’t be appealing any more. The longer you proactive healthy eating the less you crave foods like bread and desserts.
As you continue your journey and your body begins to function without stress your health picture will change. The biggest thing at this point your symptoms will decrease and now it will be easier to pinpoint other health issues that could have been hiding.
Personally, I noticed my energy increased and joint pain and headaches ended. I did not see a big weight loss, only 5 lbs. after the first 10 days. I was energized enough with my progress to do the program one more time, this time better and easier than the first. This is where my functional medicine training kicked in and it was now easy for me to see that I had an H pylori infection. So round three of the diet program I started treating for this gut issue with herbs. I dropped 10 lbs. and it kept coming off. By this time, I was hooked. I felt great, no pain and eventually loosing 40lbs. I am 5-foot-tall and now am in a size 6. If I am really diligent I can get down to a size 4 but I have found a size 6 is fine with me.
There are so many underlying issues that could be keeping you from reaching your goals. However, when the body is so over worked it just does not have the ability to tell you and often you don’t know how to listen.
The ten-day detox program/elimination diet is about reducing inflammation and learning how to listen to your body. You can do it! Cleaning up your gut is so important! Your gut is responsible for serotonin, breaking down supplements and food just to mention a few. Think about just those 3 functions. If your gut is in great condition it is better able to work at healing other issues.
The ability to feel and look fantastic is in your hands. It is not found in a bottle or prescription pad or gym. It begins with your gut and your diet influences how healthy your gut is. It is a new year and the possibilities are endless. Start your journey today by changing your diet.