Detoxing is exciting in thought, but a struggle indeed. When you have a practical plan built on more than willpower, your chances of success are significantly greater.
Detoxes are about giving your body a break. You have a built-in detoxification system that saves your life more than you know, but sometimes your organs get overworked and you begin to experience other discomforts and health issues as a result.
So how can you give your body the best version of itself you deserve?
1. Prepare Your Mind
It is nearly impossible to make a new habit stick if you are not mentally ready for it.
If you go into a detox thinking about the things you’re giving up, you miss out on the experience of your new temporary normal. Spend the few days leading up to your detox writing down your fears about cleansing and what might tempt you to fail. Next, use some optimism and write down what the opposite of those fears would look like and make them your affirmations.
For example, if you are afraid of living without coffee, your optimistic affirmation would be “I wake up in the morning with energy because of renewed health and delicious new foods!”
Notice I didn’t mention coffee once. The goal is to remove the focus from what you don’t have, and laser in on the exciting opportunities ahead!
What might cause you to go back to coffee?
Whether it’s about crashing and burning without the chemical reaction of caffeine in your veins or you just love the taste, reach out to your detox expert to find comparable replacements. Keep a list of those solutions near your affirmations. Put them up in multiple areas and say them out loud regularly. It is astounding how profound affirmations and small, helpful action steps are.
2. EAT!
Detoxes are exciting for the results! I encourage you not to make the common mistake of going overboard with restricting yourself and eating foods you hate for the sake of “maximum results.”
Naturally, you should avoid toxins, like
- Sugar
- Processed foods
- Dairy
- Breads
- Highly inflammatory foods
You need to continue enjoying life and you should not feel deprived to the point of insanity. Mindset practices help eliminate some of the negative feelings, but the foods you choose go hand in hand. If you’re going on a smoothie cleanse, but you love munching throughout the day, get some light snacks and treat yourself 2 to 3 times a day to a munch session.
Of course, I recommend sticking to whole foods. Veggies, fruits, and nuts should remain your go-tos. The type of detox your doing determines the best snacks to choose.
Are you cleansing your liver? Try
- Beets
- Avocados
- Leafy greens
- Carrots
For a jumpstart to a full body cleanse, you can try
- Blueberries
- Cranberries (tart)
- Flaxseeds
- Celery
- Cabbage
There is a wide variety of food to choose from. With resources like Amazon Fresh and InstaCart, healthy options have never been more accessible! Don’t deprive yourself!
3. Make Your Life Happy
Your lifestyle has more to do with your health than you might realize. Stress is a primary culprit. It increases cortisol, and cortisol turns to fat or inflammation. In addition to weight gain, it throws off your hormones, causes mood swings, slows your body’s repair system, and makes room for all types of damage. Some stressors are avoidable. It can be stressful figuring out how to destress, so I will share a few tips of my own.
I keep my house clutter-free. Once or twice a year, I purge everything I haven’t used since the last purge or anything I know I won’t be using again. Junk mail, old clothes, flyers, cards, furniture, mystery objects, all of it!
Every day, I clear off the couch, tables, and countertops, and I don’t go to bed with dishes in the sink. I allow myself a chair in my room. You know the chair. Like the junk drawer, laundry might pile up a little too long, documents might get lost in there, but it is realistic. I put the chair somewhere I don’t have to look at often and periodically clean that out when I have the time and energy.
Keeping a predominantly clean space helps maintain my sanity and productivity!
I set boundaries. I do not allow people in my house unannounced, I tell people when I will and won’t be available, and which messaging apps I do and don’t use. Believe it or not, whether you are an introvert or an extrovert, making yourself TOO available becomes draining and stressful.
I continue to work at gauging how much is too much and when to say no. I set my son’s bedtime to a reasonable time so that I get a moment to myself before I go to sleep.
I don’t make everyone’s problems my problems. I love helping people. It can be painful sometimes to watch others hurt and realize that I have to protect myself first before I become someone else’s problem.
I know if I overwork myself and give to everyone else, I can’t be there for my kids the way I need to be. If I ignore my boundaries and give too much of myself to one client, my service to my other clients falls short of the expectations I have set for myself. That becomes its own domino effect.
This doesn’t just go for personal problems. I don’t focus on drama. No, I don’t care who in Hollywood is fighting, getting a divorce, or what the next conspiracy theory is. It costs $0.00 to keep scrolling when I see political arguments breaking out in the comment section. It can be tempting at times, but I don’t need the added stress. 
Life is stressful enough, you can easily eliminate a few stressors here and there.
Detoxing does not have to be hard, you just need a plan and preparation in place! What are some of your tips? Share them with me on Facebook or Instagram.
Bringing the family back to the table,
Like Sakinah on Facebook
Follow Sakinah on Instagram
Check out the Sugar Detox With Sakinah B.
Join the Email Community