!0 Ways to Take the Bulge Out of Your Bathing Suit
By Dr. Brenda Gill
Since the weather is shifting into spring early this year with the daffodils and tulips popping out of the earth, it is a great time to consider spring cleaning your body. Take some time to focus inside and let go of built-up toxins, metabolites, hormones and breakdown products. There are lots of fresh fruit and vegetables around now, so consider going on a rejuvenating cleanse. This will clear out the winter fat and when the weather warms up, you will be ready with lots of energy and look great too!
External toxicitycan be acquired by breathing, eating or contacting chemicals. We are exposed daily to chemicals in the air, water and on our food, electromagnetic radiation, pharmaceutical drugs & other medications, eating refined, packaged and processed foods, as well as using stimulants and sedatives. We also produce internal toxins called free radicals through normal everyday functions of our cells. Microbes such as intestinal bacteria produce wastes that must be eliminated and our thoughts and emotions can also generate toxins. If our body is working well, with good immune and eliminative functions we can handle everyday exposure to toxins. Cleansing helps to “empty the wheelbarrow” and prevent aging.
We detoxify through the respiratory, gastro-intestinal, urinary, skin, lymph, thought and spiritual systems. Detoxification can occur on many levels. Drinking an extra litre of water, eating more fruit and vegetables and less red meat or cow dairy products is a form of cleansing, since more fluid and fibre helps clear accumulation from our body. Be careful about over-elimination or over-detoxification. Some people go to extremes with fasting and herbal laxatives and diuretics and an imbalance can be created. You may become deficient in vitamins or minerals or the liver can become overloaded. This may make a person feel sick and fatigued. Cleansing programs can be also set up individually, with knowledge of a person’s history, diet, vitamin and mineral levels, health and lifestyle.
1. Eat hypo-allergenic foods by shopping around the perimeter of the
grocery store, so you are primarily eating whole grains, veggies, fruit,
fish or beans/legumes.
2. Increase fibre (oat/rice bran, ground chia) and purified water intake.
3. Use herbs and spices such as garlic, cayenne, ginger, curry, turmeric, cumin, chili powder, cinnamon, parsley and cilantro and drink herbal teas made with dandelion root, licorice, burdock and yellow dock.
4. Include saunas, sweats or alkaline baths.
5. Reduce saturated fats (fried foods, pork and beef, cow dairy and peanuts) and remove sugar.
6. Increasing regular activity to induce sweating to at least 45 minutes per day.
7. Facilitate efficient elimination with a 10 Billion enteric coated probiotic capsule.
8. Increase bathing, skin brushing and lymph massage.
9. Incorporate resting, relaxation and breathing exercises or yoga.
10. Choose individualized specific supplements to facilitate cleansing.
To reduce a size you have to step up the program to include:
1. A detox diet that is made up of fresh fruits, lots of vegetables, especially the green leafy veggies and non-gluten grains like brown rice or quinoa, seeds, almonds, fish, herbs, spices and olive or coconut oil and rice vinegar. (Remember NO acid foods-tomatoes, potatoes, lemon, lime, oranges or grapefruit, anything white-flour, bread, sugar, crackers, muffins, pasta OR stimulant drinks – coffee, black/green/white tea, herba mate, honeybush rooibos or soft drinks since stimulants make you acidic)
2. This is accompanied with homeopathic detoxification drops
3. A minimum of 1 hour of exercise a day that increases your heart rate.
The ultimate in weight loss and cleansing:
1. I have people use a “Dr. B’s cleanse”, which is like a meal replacement with detoxification nutrients added. This method requires coaching to give you support, suggestions for meals and maximize effectiveness, so you feel energized, can work and exercise as usual and don’t feel deprived or hungry.
So, choose a method that works for you, get to it and feel great in that bathing suit! For those wishing to try a specific cleanse tailored to you, consider an appointment with Dr. Brenda Gill at:250-362-5035
