Tips for Continuing on a Healthy Journey

"When diet is wrong medicine is of no use.
When diet is correct medicine is of no need."
-Ayurvedic Proverb

Wow, we did it.  We committed to 21-days to take care of ourselves and to improve our health and our awareness of what we put in our bodies.  You should be so proud!

If we’re being scientific, the best approach is to re-introduce each of the “Big 5” one at a time, so that you can evaluate the effects on your body in an isolated manner.  These are my recommendations for optimal health:

I recommend continuing to omit Animal Products.  After all that we’ve learned about meat and dairy, it makes sense to keep out of our bodies.  Plus, there’s that lovely, light feeling after eating.  If you do decide to reintroduce dairy, watch out for sinus congestion or stomach upset.  If these things show up, you may be one of the 50% of people who are allergic and don’t even know it.

When dining out, you can always ask if you don’t see something on the menu that works for your diet.  In New York City at a steak restaurant, I asked the waiter for a vegan meal, and this is the beautiful dish the chef whipped up, just for me!  It’s best to call ahead, whenever possible, if requesting off-menu meals, but is not typically required.  You may be surprised how accommodating and creative chefs can be.

It's always fresh, made just for you, and usually presented rather artistically.  This was another delicious vegan meal that was prepared for me at a wedding on Saturday (veggies with a balsamic reduction sauce):

Vida commented that the baked red skin potatoes on my plate were tastier and better seasoned than the scalloped potatoes on his!

If you did not find many changes from omitting gluten, slowly reintroduce it into your diet.  Look for whole grains like barley, buckwheat, oats, and whole wheat.  Pay close attention to noticing if you experience headaches, asthma, skin rashes or hives, weight gain and/or loss, bloating, fatigue, or depression.  It could mean you have a gluten intolerance and then you would want to continue to omit.

I strongly recommend leaving caffeine out of your diet.  You’ve already gone through the withdrawal, so why put your body through the deleterious effects again?  If you decide to partake on occasion, pay close attention to how you sleep and if you notice a rise in anxiety and/or irritability.  You may also experience tummy troubles.  And remember, coffee is acidic.  Too much acid in the body keeps us fat and sick.  To boot, if you are a cream and sugar addict like I used to be, that’s added fat and calories that you can spare yourself daily.

Ah, alcohol.  Again, we’ve broken the habit, so why not leave this one for special occasions?  And pay attention – you will be more likely to notice the way your body reacts, both while drinking and after.  Evaluate if that’s what you want to experience and make your conscious choice instead of succumbing to peer pressure or habits.  Alcohol is really pure sugar – it’s grains processed down until the body uses them too quickly.  That’s bad for blood sugar and your metabolism.

If you are going to re-introduce sugar, I hope you will do so much more lightly than before you began the cleanse.  Sugar is another toxin that makes our body acidic, causing our body to cling to fat cells and also increasing the fuel for cancer.  Of course, if you have dessert at a party every now and then, that’s fine.  And I will have dark chocolate from time to time.  But if you can resist, take advantage of the fact that your body has broken its craving.  And again – pay close attention to how you feel.

These are my recommendations.  Of course, you and your body know best.  Hopefully you’ve become more in-tune and will be able to discern what is best for you at this time in your life.

Have a wonderful week and I’ll have another delicious recipe for you on Thursday.  Please keep the comments and questions coming.  Enjoy your healthy journey!