What Is a Detox?
A detox program is a routine created to purify the body from substances and pollutants which can build up due to diet, environmental influences or lifestyle choices. These plans usually include a healthy diet, more water consumption and sometimes the use of supplements or other treatments to help the body's natural detoxification processes like those of the liver, kidneys and colon.
It's crucial to approach detox programs with care and preferably under guidance to ensure their effective implementation. It is also important to note that everybody's body is unique, and what works for one, may not have the same effect on you.
Detox programs offer many health benefits. They can boost energy levels by easing the load on the body's detox organs, enabling them to work more efficiently. This can also result in digestion and enhanced absorption of nutrients. Although the main focus of this program is to create a more healthy and efficient body, detox plans can aid in weight loss by cutting out processed foods and increasing intake of nutrients. Additionally they can improve skin health, reduce inflammation and promote an overall feeling of wellness.
Check Out This Blog To Learn More About The Benefits of Detoxing:
Figure Out Your Reason Why
We all start fresh and motivated at the beginning of the year, thinking that we’ll be able to achieve all of these goals we set for ourselves. How many people you know personally (including yourself) that set a new year’s resolution to lose weight and get fit, but somehow as the year unfolds, they give up and quit over and over?
Research shows that over 90% of people who say they want to lose weight never achieve that goal and that by February about 50% stop showing up to the gym, which leaves the other 50% dropping out in the first few months as well, with only just a small percentage of people remaining throughout the year.
The people sticking to their plans probably already followed a workout routine even before the new year started so that they could keep the momentum. New Year’s resolution can get you excited for the new health journey but only writing your goals down won’t work. At the end of the day, it’s the habit that you built that will keep you consistent, and for that, you need a different approach.
One of the biggest things you can do for yourself that will lead to a massive change is switching your mindset regarding what fitness and healthy eating mean to you. If it’s for weight loss only, it will be much more difficult for you. You need to love your body and yourself and worry about taking care of it for the long-run. This consistency comes with a price, but it’s a price worth paying.
Guidelines
Expanding on the knowledge of detox programs and the advantages they offer, it's important to keep in mind some tips to ensure these routines are both safe and effective. Whether you're experienced in detox programs or new to them, following approved guidelines can improve the benefits while reducing any potential risks. From selecting the duration and method of detox to knowing which foods to incorporate and which ones to avoid, these suggestions act as a guide to your next 28 days. Their aim is to enhance the detoxification process by customizing it according to health requirements and daily routines thus maximizing the health benefits previously mentioned.
Start By Making Sure You Understand The Program
If you have read these blogs carefully, you know by now all of the rules. If not, I advise you to go back and reread it while making notes to make sure that you truly understand the core principles of the detox.
This is important because it allows you to make quick decisions when you’re outside as well, unable to rely on the comfort of staying at home with your prepared meals. Perhaps this is the most crucial part of being successful in this program. Make sure you have notes ready on what to eat for lunch, dinner, what foods you shouldn’t combine and so on!
Take Time To Prepare
I highly suggest that you take a week or two to prepare for this to make sure you know which recipes you will be trying to make on week one, and what exactly you will be eating for your lunches and dinners.
Make sure you pre-order your protein shake and make sure you have the basic tools such as juicer - perhaps you can borrow from a friend or relative if you don’t have money to buy one for yourself.
Before Day 1 even starts, make sure you have your mason jar for juicing, and your vegetables and greens pre-washed and cut ready to go in a large zip lock bag, so all you need to
do is put them through the juicer. It will be faster than making a cup of coffee, and you’ll have all of your greens and vegetables ready to go.
Make sure your lemon, lemon squeezer, coconut oil, and honey are set on your counter top by the teapot so you can do the lemon coconut tea first thing in the morning. You also need to know what you’re eating for each meal, so you won’t need to think about what to eat when you’re hungry. There is nothing worse than starting a program such as this not being prepared from day 1, and once you master this day, be just as prepared for the next 27 days.
Weekly Schedule
Even though you might be following the program menu to the T every day, it’s still advisable to take a moment to plan out your entire week. Write down what you’re going to eat for the whole week, what recipes are you going to cook so you can buy and prepare the ingredients ahead of time.
See if you have events or parties planned for the week, or maybe day trips so you can be prepared to stick to the program. Then, you just need to do it again for the next three more weeks. You’ll notice that it gets easier as you go, you can do this!
Morning Routine
Don’t skip this everyday commitment to have a lemon coconut tea, and even if you choose to have your coffee black or with approved creamer still have your lemon coconut tea, followed by Green Juice whenever you feel hungry. It can be right after you drink the tea or a few hours after, the time doesn’t matter, let your body send natural cues to let you know when it’s ready.
It might also change throughout the 28 days which is totally normal too. This morning routine for 28 days will teach you the power of habit building, and if you can do something every morning for 28 days in a row that is super healthy, you will be that much closer to building long-term healthy habits.
Breakfast
During the 28 day DETOX, your goal would be to stick to raw breakfast as much as possible, and your breakfast options are very simple. There are only a few depending on what level of
detox you want to go on:
Seasonal Fruit
Protein Smoothie
Detox Chia Coconut Pudding
Protein Overnight oats
Oatmeal - For those days that you absolutely have to have something warm -. The idea for this meal option is to ensure you stick to the program 100 %. Although it’s ideal that you aim for raw as much as possible for more effective detox, 28 days is a long time and there might be a day when you really want something warm in the morning, so it’s going to be nice to have this option.
Eat your first meal when you are genuinely hungry and this may vary from day to day. If you like to workout in the morning you can have it before or after the workout. Learn to listen to natural hunger cues instead of eating just because it is time or worse of all eating for emotional reasons. Creating a positive relationship with food is the key point for long term weight loss success.
Daily Morning Journaling
Every morning, before you start your day, reserve ten extra minutes to sit down and set intentions for the day while sipping on your Coconut Lemon Tea. Ask yourself what are you
going to do today, don’t worry about tomorrow or perhaps any slip-ups you might have had the night before. Ask what you will do today to work towards the goals you set for yourself upon starting this journey for a healthier you.
If it’s to workout, write precisely the time you will do that. If it’s to try a specific salad from the recipes of this program, make sure you have all the ingredients for it, and if not, plan to stop by a grocery store before lunch. If it’s simply not eating anything after 7 PM because you struggle with late-night bad eating habits, plan how you’ll overcome that. Be specific, writing it down hour by hour. Protect your time; it’s the most valuable thing we have.
Sleep
During this detox program you will learn to prioritize your sleep, instead of scrolling through instagram mindlessly. Turn your phone off 1-2 hours before bed time so your mind is
completely at rest. Aim for 7-8 hours of sleep each night, so if your wake up is at 6 AM make sure you are in bed by 10 and off your phone by 9 PM at the latest.
Studies have shown time after time that poor sleeping habits can drastically mess with your hormones, resulting in metabolic and endocrine changes. Increased cortisol is among the most popular hormone shifts that happens due to lack of sleep as well as hormones that are responsible for your natural hunger cues such as Ghrelin and Leptin.
So without saying much more, getting your beauty sleep is not an option, choose what is more important to you: following up on everyone’s stories in your IG or proper hormonal balance, and your health.
Stay Hydrated
Drink pure water throughout the day. Drinking pure water will help with the elimination of the toxins from your body. I like to add ginger, cucumber, lemon and lime into my water. Get creative! Infuse your water with superfoods.
Lunch Time
Make sure you know ahead of time what you will eat. This is why referring to your daily menu ahead of time will ensure that when time comes and you feel hungry you know exactly what to eat. 90% of the wrong food choices when following a program happen when feeling hungry and not being prepared, so the natural tendency is to just eat anything that’s readily available.
Make sure the lunch that’s on your menu is going to be the first thing that looks at you in the fridge when you feel hungry. There is no time when you should have lunch, just make sure it’s 3-4 hours after your last meal that was from a different group category.
If you had coconut chia pudding for breakfast, it falls into the nuts/seeds category and you want to have sweet potato for lunch. It’s technically considered a starch category so in that case you need to make sure it’s at least 3 hours in between the two meals. Same time rule applies for dinner, if you are switching over to a different food group like from starch to flesh category.
Dinner Time
During this program, dinner is going to be the last meal of the day, so make sure there is no random snacking after dinner. Since everyone has a different schedule and everyone’s bedtime is different, it would be unfair to say what time should be your last meal, but it’s advisable for better digestion that your last meal of the day is at least 3 hours before bed. So, if you’re going to bed at around 11 PM, you shouldn’t eat past 8 PM.
Night Routine
Did you know that our brains are actually ultra-receptive at night? What you feed your mind right before bed in a way marinades in your mind for the night, and this is something that will eventually be strongly engraved in you. Be mindful of what you listen to, watch, and read before bed.
If its mindless feed scrolls, or anything else that doesn’t support your goals, aim to change it. Create an evening routine that will help you to be successful with your goals. Let’s say you want to read a book and the only time you have is evening, make it the evening routine that you will read for 20 minutes every night.
Detox Your Environment
Since you are already on this internal cleanse and detox routine, this is the perfect opportunity to detox your surrounding environment. That includes your makeup drawer, closet, pantry, kitchen cabinets, and entire house if possible.
Clean out anything and everything that is garbage or unneeded things that clearly take up much-needed space. During this time, I like to clean out my makeup brushes and wipe down all my make up and put everything neatly.
Another thing to detox and declutter is your computer. Delete any photos that you don’t want and organize your phone. This is the perfect time to go through all the apps, all the subscriptions, and of course all the photos on your phone as well. Doing this tedious but vital step in your 28-Day detox program is going to make you feel so good and refreshed. It will
also make you feel lighter on your feet when everything is cleaned and organized.
Lastly, think of all the people you surround yourself with. Perhaps some people have a very bad influence on you, and it would be a good time to make a hard decision to let them go and learn to move on in your life without people that bring you down.
Instagram Detox
On that note, I must also say clean out your Instagram! See what posts you made years ago that you no longer identify with and delete it. Also, scroll through all the people you follow,
maybe many of them should be put on mute or deleted altogether. Instagram is like a skewed lens through which people show only highlights of their life, and if we scroll, tap and compare, we can feel bad about ourselves.
Make sure you’re removing and unfollowing everyone that might carry negative energy. Make sure whoever you watch on Instagram makes you feel motivated and inspires you to be the best version of yourself.
Truthfully, if you have social media for fun and not for work, I would even encourage you to
ultimately stay away from it during this month, it will allow you to truly connect with yourself and your actual reality.
Positive Thinking
Reject every negative thought and be mindful of them during these next 28 days. Stop immediately when they start rising and find your zone to refocus and get away from anything
that stirs up negative thoughts and emotions.
Write Down One Reason Why You're Eating Healthy
Write down one reason why eating healthy is essential to you on a flashcard and mark it every day. By the end of the program, you will have 28 cards with 28 reasons to remind you every day why you will continue making healthy eating choices as a lifestyle instead of a temporary solution to drop weight.
It will become the drive that will propel you forward and prevent you from giving up when
you are having a rough day. Remember that changing a lifetime of bad eating habits will take time, dedication and effort, so buckle up and enjoy the transformation ride.
Working Out
If you already follow a workout regimen, make sure to keep it up during this detox. If you don’t, it’s entirely up to you to do it or not. However, you don’t need to drastically change anything about your routine by adding long cardio hours. If you never worked out regularly, perhaps this 28-day detox is not the best time to start a fitness regimen. There is already so much to follow through daily and dividing that attention might get in the way of the main focus of changing your relationship with food and becoming healthier.
That’s not to say that you shouldn’t work out, but that maybe starting a heavier fitness journey is something to do after these four weeks are over, and you’re already immersed with the routine.
One thing you can do, however, it’s to aim to be more active. Start going on walks and set a daily step goal and just go for it. As you get more comfortable with your new way of eating, it’s going to start to feel more and more effortless, so you can begin incorporating beginners level workouts three times a week and slowly increase it as you become fit and stronger.
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Expand Your Knowledge On Superfood
In a previous blog, we already talked about superfoods, so you might have an initial idea of what they are. However, make sure to read “Superfoods” by David Wolfe, or watch his documentary to further expand your knowledge on healthy foods or any other material that provides in-depth accredited information on the topic of Health and Nutrition. The easiest way to start is simply watch a few Netflix Documentaries on healthy food films like; FOOD INC, Forks over Knife, and similar.
Check Out Our Blog On Superfoods To Learn More:
25 Detox Rules To Help You Be Successful
1. Follow The Quick Exit Food Combination
Follow the Quick Exit Food Combination at all times during this Detox. Food in different categories should never be mixed in the same meal, feel free to have as much as you like not having to worry about counting calories or measure your food as long as long as it’s in the same category.
2. What About Animal Proteins?
Because this is a Plant-based driven Detox Program it would be advisable to give your body a little rest from animal food such as meat, fish, dairy, cheese, and eggs. However this does NOT mean that you can’t benefit from the natural Detox process while sticking to Food Combining principles and including some of these foods from the flesh category.
Since fish is a little lighter on our digestion for this particular 28-DAY DETOX program, I am officially including fish, shellfish, eggs and raw goat cheese, as long as it follows the proper food combining rules.
This is an option to ensure 100% success in the program for those of you that simply cannot give up flesh protein, but it’s not to say that it’s encouraged to be consumed more than once a day. It has been made clear throughout the first part of this book how critical it is to ingest raw foods to promote maximum Detox Process. So following the program as it’s written would be advisable. At the same time, having that Salmon and Veggie dinner option or egg scramble at noon is always nice for those days that you need something more than just a salad or soup.
3. No Added Sugar Of Any Kind
No added refined sugar, or high fructose corn syrup. Sugar is in everything these days, so check your labels, you will be amazed at how many foods that aren’t even deemed as sweets have loads of sugar.
4. No Fried, Oily, Or Greasy Foods
This includes chips or any high-fat cracker type food that comes from a package. Obviously, no French fries. Yes, this includes sweet potato fries as well. No tempura or even pan fried anything.
5. No Alcohol
Avoiding alcohol while undergoing a detox is essential as it enables the liver for toxin elimination to heal and operate at its best. Alcohol can impede the body's innate detox processes, disturb sleep patterns and deplete vital nutrients, effectively compromising the advantages of a detox plan.
6. Coffee
Yes. You can have it, but black only or with detox approved creamers such as nutpods, coconut milk, almond milk, or add cinnamon or vanilla beans to the brew.
7. Flesh Goes Last
If you’re going to have animal protein in this program, it’s advisable that you have it as your last meal of the day to ensure optimum digestion since it takes the longest to digest an animal protein. Pair that only with other flesh category based foods and non-starchy vegetables.
8. Fruit
Eat it alone or leave it alone. Make sure fruit is consumed on a completely empty stomach or at least 3-4 hours after the last meal and only eat your next meal 30 minutes after eating fruit. That way you can enjoy fruit as a small snack before having a meal from any food category you choose from.
9. Fruit Exceptions
Bananas go well with other food categories like starch and plant-based protein powder, they go well with dry fruit or fresh fruit as well as avocado. Adding 1⁄2 frozen banana and avocado to a protein smoothie is totally fine.
Most fruits can be added sparingly into a recipe mixed in with other food groups in very small quantities such as mango salad on top of fish, or 1-2 sliced strawberries in your salad with avocado. That also includes topping your Chia Seed Pudding with 3-4 strawberries is okay. As for adding berries to your smoothies with plant-based protein powder, it’s technically not allowed if following the FOOD COMBINING RULE to the T, but if having a berry smoothie once in a while will help you to succeed during this 28-day program it is acceptable and won’t terribly hurt your progress. Just make sure you’re not eating fruit after a meal or with a meal. That’s when you want to stick to the rule of “eat fruit alone” and on an empty stomach.
10. Beans / Lentils
Beans and Lentils are an interesting food because by nature they are both protein and carbs. However, based on the ration between the two, it’s definitely more on the carb side, so I would add beans and lentils to the starch category. Be mindful of how it makes you feel, it’s not an easy food to digest, hence the bloat and the gas. If your stomach doesn’t handle it well, I would abstain from it completely.
11. Nut Butter On Toast
These two do not combine well for optimum digestion, so no almond butter on toast during the detox. However, you can have almond butter on celery sticks when you choose the nuts/seeds/dry fruit category.
12. Coconut Flakes
Fresh or Dry Coconut is unique as it combines well with several groups such as starch, and it safely falls into the Nuts/Seeds/Dry fruit category as well.
13. Neutral Foods
Neutral Foods that go with any food group are almond milk, raw or lightly steamed non starchy vegetables, herbs, all leafy greens, coconut milk, olive oil, tea, coffee, coconut oil, 75% organic dark chocolate, raw cacao powder, ghee, vinegars, spices, tea, coffee.
14. Peanut Butter Or Soy Products
No Peanut Butter or Soy Products or any non-organic corn products or by products of soy such as tofu, vegan cheese, or tempeh is allowed on this program. If you want to have protein in your diet you will be better off getting that from Pure Source such as wild caught Salmon.
The only exception to this is organic fresh raw edamame since it’s in its most natural state, which can be enjoyed as a starch. All corn and soy products including potato in the USA are
GMO, unless it’s certified. I’d be very careful eating these foods or food made with these ingredients. Remember that raw corn is considered a non-starchy vegetable, while cooked corn is in the starch category.
15. Refined White Flour
Nothing with Refined White Flour is allowed, which includes cereal, flavored oats, cakes, pastries, muffins, breads, pasta, cookies, crackers etc. This isn’t a complete list but you know the basics enough to easily follow this rule.
16. Read Your Labels
Make sure you understand them and you can actually pronounce the name of the ingredients that you are eating. Stay away from anything that’s processed and have long and impossible to pronounce ingredients.
17. Protein Powders
Whey protein powders is not allowed for the purpose of the detox, so we will be abstaining from dairy byproducts during these 28 Days. Since whey protein is derived from cow’s milk, it’s considered a dairy byproduct. Some of you might not see much of a difference, but when you actually try for 28 days, it may have tremendous results such as cleared up acne, or complete elimination of bloating and gas, etc. So, it’s ok to give up your whey for four weeks, and if I can do this with my love for my whey protein shakes, anyone can.
Also, my all-time favorite supplement company 1stphorm came up with a non-GMO vegan pea-based protein that is so delicious that it’s almost impossible to notice the difference. The Vegan Protein Pro by 1stphorm can be combined with nuts/ seeds and it also pairs well with avocado and banana. Although this is not an official rule of the food combining principle, for the purposes of this program, you can add a little bit of berries to your protein shakes, and of course bananas. However bananas are better because they digest slower than high water content fruits (melons, citrus, apples etc), and they pair well with protein powder without causing any type of bloat or indigestion.
18. Lattes
No Lattes with milk! Sorry, but this will have to go!
19. Eating Out
Eating out is allowed as long as you stick to the Quick Exit Food Combining Protocols. Probably the easiest thing to order for dinner is grilled salmon and steamed vegetables. Just skip on all the appetizers and tasting or trying foods which you have no idea what is made up of and what’s in it.
20. What To Eat When On The Road
Know the stops where you can quickly get something that’s within your protocols. For example, breakfast is easy in any grocery store or even gas station. You can get fresh fruit, or stop by a pressed juicer and pick up a raw juice.
For lunch, stick to all raw vegetables’ salad, and if you choose to go with the nuts/seeds/dry fruit category, you can get toppings like raw almonds in your salad or raw pumpkin seeds. Please, no caramelized or glazed nuts. Skip on those as they are nothing but sugar, but you can enjoy a Lara bar with tea for your post lunch treat, since it’s technically out of the Nuts/Seeds/ Dry fruit category.
A perfect snack when on the go is an apple on an empty stomach, and 20 minutes later when it’s out of your stomach, you can have 1oz of raw almonds. Make sure that if you are switching groups such as going to the flesh category you must wait three hours after you had or almonds, otherwise stick to the nuts/seeds/dry fruit category if it’s shortly after your snack.
21. Jamba Juice
During this detox, you might be tempted to get things from Jamba juice. However, personally I’d stay away from it, since almost everything you order from there will have 60-70g of sugar. Some grocery stores such as whole foods have a raw juice bar, so it’s better to order from them or just get a kombucha and stay hydrated.
22. No Sugar Free Products
Unless they are sweetened with pure stevia or plant based calorie free sweetener. You won’t be eating anything packaged or processed during this detox. Although diet coke has zero calories, the body still needs to process the chemicals that you just poured into it, and for the purposes of detox we need to stop polluting our cells with foods that our body does not recognize.
23. Dairy
No Dairy during this program, this includes Cow’s Milk Latte, and cream in your coffee. Cheese, sour cream, yogurt, cottage cheese, milk, cream, half and half, whey protein, protein bars or anything with whey protein as an ingredient.
24. So What Can I Eat?
You will have so much food to eat, you never imagined! Trust me, it’s much better than you can possibly picture right now. Since you were so fixated on eating old boring foods, counting calories, macros and weighing your food now you can eat to satisfaction as much as you want as long as it is within the same food group.
You were missing out on the whole array of colorful, nutritious, healing foods that are waiting for you to try it out. Fruits, vegetables, starchy vegetables like sweet potato, regular potato, red beet, butternut squash, all whole grains, Ezekiel bread, nuts, seeds, dried fruit, tahini, almond butter, nuttzo butter, wild caught salmon , other wild fishes, shellfish, organic eggs, raw treats made with nuts and seeds, avocado, marinara sauce, other raw specialty foods that you can either order online or if you live in the city you might not even realize that you have a raw based food café or section at your local health store.
Aim for 80% of your food to come from wholesome foods, and for the rest you can play around with all different combinations that you can create using raw recipes such as raw treats, raw crackers, Kale Chips, Vegan Whole Grain Cookies sweetened with maple syrup and so on. You won’t be left hungry and you won’t feel deprived.
25. And Lastly...
Don’t let the FOOD COMBINING RULES discourage you to try this detox program. It’s actually quite simple once you start; you just need to keep going, referring to this guide and any additional research you decide to put in for yourself. Enjoy trying out new recipes and finding fun and unique ways to make this program fun for you. Trust me, you won't regret it.