How to Survive your FIRST detox!!
Surviving your fist detox may seem overwhelming but don’t sweat it! Detoxing the body may seem simple in theory, but it’s very difficult to execute well. Before starting a detox, there are several considerations to be aware of.
In this post, we’ll look at ways of surviving your first detox, what they are and how you should prepare for them.
* Talking to Your Doctor
Before embarking on surviving your first detox, it’s best to speak to your doctor first. If you’re on medication or suffer from gastric issues or have type-2 diabetes, your fasting may interfere with your treatment or exacerbate your health problems.
So, it’s best to err on the side of caution.
* Choosing a Detox Method
There are many different methods of surviving your first detox. You can choose to water fast, or you could do a juice fast or a raw food diet. Alternatively, you could use detox teas that are sold in stores.
Depending on your goal, you should choose the appropriate detox method. If you’re detoxing prior to starting a weight loss program, a 3-day water fast will more than suffice to cleanse your system so that you can get started.
However, if you’re morbidly obese and suffering from health issues such as inflammation, etc. going on a detox diet such as a raw food diet or vegetable smoothies for a month or two would be more appropriate.
* Planning the Right Time
If you’re planning on a 3 to 7-day detox, it would be good to do it when you don’t have to go to work and have no social engagements to attend. Doing a 3-day fast is best started on a Friday so that you can just spend the weekend at home dealing with the side effects.
It’s common to experience symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, irritability, etc. when you’re detoxing. Your body is cleansing itself and flushing the toxins out, which is why you don’t feel good. This discomfort will last for about 3 days and then disappear.
* Will You Be Eating?
Depending on your detox, you may or may not be eating. If you’re water fasting or only using detox teas, then it’s simple. You won’t be eating.
If you’re using juicing and raw food to detox, you’ll need to know what you’ll be eating and when your mealtimes will be. Plan it all out on paper so that there’s no guesswork involved.
Detoxing can be stressful and you do not want decision fatigue to happen because you’re clueless about what to eat for each meal.
* Hydration
Water is crucial during a detox. You should drink about 8 to 10 glasses of water throughout the day. Don’t overdo it though.
Here is a free planner to help document your water intake!
Drinking too much water will deplete the salts in your body and cause cramps and other problems. If you feel like your body is lacking salt, mix some pink Himalayan salt in a glass of water and gulp it down. Don’t overdo this either.
* Should You Exercise?
If you’re doing any form of exercise during a detox fast, it’s best to keep it low intensity. Walking, slow cycling, leisurely swims, etc. are fine. Your body is already stressed out during a detox.
Demanding too much from it during exercise will cause your body to release the stress hormone cortisol and that will mess with your detox. During the process, being relaxed is what you are striving for.
* What Happens After That?
Once your detox is over, you’ll need to have a plan and know how to proceed forward. There’s no point in going back to your old unhealthy diet. You should focus on making small changes as you gradually clean up your diet.
Over time, you’ll be eating clean and you’ll have better weight management. Good health and boundless energy will be the norm. It doesn’t get better than that.
Surviving your first detox again, may seem overwhelming but it can be done.
How is it that detoxing makes you sick and why that should not stop you from detoxing
This is a very common question and it’s based on a common misconception that detoxing can make you sick. In reality, detoxes are healthy… but it’s the side effects that follow which cast an unfavorable shadow on the whole detox practice.
The unfortunate truth is that our diets are high in processed foods which contain a lot of toxins. Obesity has reached epidemic proportions and for good reason. Our diets are very unhealthy.
Only a minority of people pay attention to what they eat. As a result, society is fatter than ever before.
One of the reasons we store fat is because the body uses fat cells to trap and bind the toxins in our body. So, the unhealthier the food you consume, the more weight you’ll gain and the more inflamed your body gets.
This self-preservation system keeps the toxins in check and you can get away with your unhealthy food choices for a long time before becoming sick.
However, when you go through a detox, depending on what type of detox it is, you may only be drinking water or detox teas and consuming no food. When this happens, after 24 to 48 hours, your body will go into ketosis and start burning fat for fuel.
So, the toxins in your fat stores will be released as they are flushed out by the body. This is what causes the symptoms which are often associated with detoxing.
You may experience headaches, lethargy, flu-like symptoms, nausea, dizziness, mood swings, irritability, weakness, brain fog and so on.
These are the symptoms that people on the keto diet face too. They call it the ‘keto flu’, but it’s all the same thing. The body is cleaning house and getting rid of all the toxins in your body.
So, while you may be feeling rotten, it’s actually a good thing. Whatever you’re feeling is a side effect of the bad food choices that you made before. Withdrawal symptoms will manifest if addiction to sugar or caffeine is prominent.
Generally, the more aggressive your detox is, the worse the symptoms will be. However, they’ll subside and disappear within 3 to 5 days.
Once that happens, you’ll experience mental clarity and suddenly feel like you have more energy than you ever had before. Your body will be ‘cleaner’ from within and healthier.
Going through this ‘sickly’ phase is par for the course when you’re detoxing. If you go about it the slow and steady way by following a raw food diet or a juice diet, your symptoms will be less severe, but it will take a longer time to detox.
If you choose a method like water fasting or a lemonade diet for 5 to 7 days, your symptoms will be worse. The body will lose a lot of water as it flushes out the excess salt that’s lingering in your system too.
Which method you choose to use is up to you. Whatever the case, if you’re using natural methods to detox, you must understand that it’s not the detox that’s making you sick, but what you ate in the past and the existing toxins in your body that are now being eliminated which are causing you to feel ill.
So, proceed with your detoxing in a sensible manner and consider speaking to your doctor before embarking on a detox.
Be Blessed…stay safe!!