Detoxify Your Food – Week 1 of a Detoxify Your Life Challenge
I'm participating with 10 other natural bloggers to bring you our 31 Days To Detoxify Your Life eBook and challenge, which starts today! Each week we are offering a way to detoxify your life to boost your health through food, home, body and medicine. To find out more about this challenge you can see my announcement post HERE.
Week 1 is all about food.
This is a topic that is very close to my heart right now as I went on a grain-free, sugar-free, and dairy-free diet about 2 months ago (the GAPS diet, based on the book, Gut and Psychology Syndrome). I thought it wouldn't be that hard at first because I've considered myself a healthy eater for a long time, but I really had no clue how much processed food we were eating until I removed it all. At first I thought I would never leave the kitchen, but now, it's become a habit and I spent way less time cooking than I did at the beginning. I hardly ever cooked from scratch before and do all the time now.
What Eating Real Food (no processed food) Has Done for Me
While it has been a huge challenge, I have experienced:
- An incredible increase in energy (that alone is worth it with three BOYS ages 4 and under around here!)
- Better mood and overall outlook on life
- Lost ALL of the baby weight from my third baby (he's just 10 months old) and am back to my ORIGINAL weight before all three babies (wow!).
- Improved my eczema
Although the concepts of removing toxins from our food is easy to grasp, it is hard for most people to incorporate into their everyday lives.
We chose to focus on food the first week because this tends to be the hardest change to make. When you don’t approach food changes mindfully, they can seem overwhelming, time consuming, frustrating and overall more difficult. If you are used to buying pre-packaged meals, fast food, and do very little cooking from scratch this will be a big change. People who eat a lot of processed food may feel tired, achy and have a detoxification reaction removing those foods from their diet. This is why, on week 1, we focus on food. It can be, by far, the hardest and most intensive change to make. It is also the most beneficial.
These Recipes Are So Delicious, It Won't Even Feel Like a Detox
This week we are focusing on eating delicious, real whole foods that are easy to make, and so good you will forget that you are even doing a “detox”. Our focus is not to make you eat salads and smoothies every day for a month, but to give you real healthy foods your whole family can enjoy. It's about changing your lifestyle, not a short-term, get fit quick scheme. We even included recipes you will enjoy on Superbowl Sunday! We are removing processed foods and adding in highly nutritious foods that will feed your body with the nutrients it needs for a gentle natural detox that your body knows how to handle.
We discuss the impact of pesticides and GMO's in our diet, and how to handle avoiding these and what to eat instead.
Eating Real Food and Detox Symptoms
If you have been eating real food for a while, you probably won't feel much different this first week. If you are new to eating real foods, for the first three days you might experience headaches, fatigue, and upset stomach while your body regulates and adapts to a real food meal plan.
40 Recipes to Enjoy
In the eBook for Week 1, we have over 40 recipes for you to enjoy. You can plan out which you would like to eat when, and create your very own menu plan using this printable menu planner from Homemade for Elle.
Are you ready for this week? Come join us and make the commitment to detoxify your life safely, naturally, and without harmful side effects. Make a real change in your life and take this step to better health and wellness.
This Week's Giveaway!!
Would you like some tools to help you be more successful on your real food journey? Homemade for Elle and Nature's Nurture are giving away some great real food goodies to help you!
The Prepworks Lettuce Keeper is a wonderful way to keep fruits and vegetables fresher longer. In Progressive International's lettuce keeper, fruit, lettuce, and vegetables stay fresher longer for up to 2 weeks. The special design lets you wash and store all in one since the container doubles as a colander. A water reservoir in the base keeps produce moist, and adjustable venting regulates air circulation and moisture. Andrea from Homemade for Elle is sponsoring this great prize.
Tropical Traditions is a wonderful place to find some of the more hard-to-find ingredients like organic coconut flour, some wonderful coconut oil, raw honey, maple syrup, organic grains, spices, pasture raised meat and so much more. Sarah from Nature's Nurture is giving away a $25 gift card to Tropical Traditions to one lucky winner!
31 Days to Detoxify Your Life – over 200 pages and 120 recipes to a cleaner, healthier you for 2014!
