5 STEPS TO DETOX - Things you can do daily to get healthier and loose weight

Today I want to talk about 5 easy things that you can do on a daily basis to be healthier and, to use a term that now makes you super cool right away if you use it, to detox your body and loose weight.

I believe that clean eating habits can heal your physical and mental problems, but don't forget that the same remedy might work for one person but not for the other. 

We are millions of little snow flakes, all different from each other, and the only person who can choose what's good for you is YOU. 

So take advice and experiment, but reserve the right to say "This isn't good for me", when it doesn't work. 

Now back to the point. 

These are 5 SUPER easy things you can incorporate in your daily routine that will detox your body and make you loose weight. Not only. They will heal you from pains, aches, digestive problems… But let's just get to the point! 

1. WATER AND LEMON

Start your day with a tall glass of warm water and lemon. This should be the first thing you do when you wake up, on an empty stomach. In italian we call it "sciacqua budella", literally "rinse your guts".

-Warm up between 350ml and 450ml of water (depending on your weight and hight). 

-Get it to a temperature slightly above your body temperature (between 45-50 C, 113-122 F). If you don't have a thermometer at hand, you can stick your finger in it. It should feel warm, but not scalding. 

-Squeeze half of a fresh organic lemon in it. If you can handle it you can try to use a whole lemon. 

-Sip it quickly through a straw.

I suggest using these reusable stainless steel by Chefast, this is a set of 6, they come in 3 different sizes and with two different brushes you can clean them with. Enough with throwing away all that plastic, these straws are awesome and I'm so happy I have found them!

https://www.amazon.com/Chefast-Stainless-Drinking-Straws-Reusable/dp/B01ENZKCX2

Afterwards rinse your mouth. Lemon corrodes (slightly, nothing to worry about) the enamel from your teeth. 

Some suggest to do this everyday. I personally do it three consecutive days, then take a break till I feel the need of doing it again. I recommend being cautious if you have BAD gastritis/acid reflux problems. 

WHAT IS THIS GOOD FOR:

1. Draining your body from excess water (meaning you'll go pee a lot) ===> detoxes your internal organs ===> eliminates toxins (it's a laxative too!) ==> your metabolism will work better and faster ==> loose weight

2. balancing the internal PH==> alkalinize your body ==> gets rid of inflammations (arthritis, soreness)

fights anemia (lack of iron in the blood) cause it's rich in minerals, vitamin B1, B, B3, A

3. it's a natural antibacterial and has a lot vitamin C and carotene ===> strengthen immune system ===> helps you fight colds and the flue 

4. brightens your skin

5. it's anti-cancer, anti-oxidant 

6. it hydrates your body and keeps it hydrated for the whole day

So give this a try and notice the difference! Then please post a comment to let me know how it went! 

2. FRESH JUICE

So after rinsing your guts with this disgusting but necessary remedy, reward yourself with something extremely delicious: a fresh fruit and vegetable juice! 

WHAT IS THIS GOOD FOR: 

1. By eliminating all the fiber from fruits and veggies, your body will absorb all the vitamins and minerals in as little as 20 minutes. Said vitamins and minerals will go straight into your blood stream to nourish and repair your body. 

2. It will cut your hunger down.

3. It will give you more energy throughout the day.

4. You can tailor your juice to what your health problems are:

Carrots: anti cancer, great for skin, fortifies immune system

Fennel: draining and soothing towards your gastric track

Beets: blood detox

Celery: rich in vitamin C, low in sugars 

Grapefruit, Pineapple: fat burning

Berries: great for skin, hair, nails

Ginger: great for stomach problems, anti-inflammatory 

Leafy greens: lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, detox the liver

Apples: cardio vascular health, anti cancer

FOR MORE ON THIS TOPIC CHECK OUT THIS WEBSITE! 

A GOOD JUICE RECIPE LOOKS LIKE THIS: 

3 carrots (or beets, or sweet potato)

1 orange (or lemon, or grapefruit, or pineapple)

2 stalks of celery (or fennel or cucumber)

1 or 2 green apples 

a handful of leafy greens (of your choice)

a small chunk of ginger pealed of the skin (or some berries of choice)

You would never be able to eat through all of these, but by juicing them you still get all the vitamin and mineral content without chewing, without digesting, without slowing your body down for absorption. BOOM! 

Did I convince you to try it? I hope so. 

THE BEST JUICER IS THE ONE YOU'LL USE!!  

I own a Champion Juicer (20 years old, super durable!) and I've tried one from the Omega family. I can't vouch for anything else! If you are skeptical, buy a cheap one and see if it's something that will work for you. But the cheap one will break eventually. I promise. 

3. EAT MORE FRUITS VEGGIES, NUTS AND SEEDS THROUGHOUT THE DAY

Remember when I told you about body PH? Well acidity is what causes the body to get sick (very long story, put in very short). Fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds bring the PH back to an alkaline level, so that you don't get sick anymore! Plus all the fiber, vitamins, minerals, Omega 3s  that your body craves. 

4. BE AWARE OF FOODS THAT CAUSE INFLAMATION

Inflammatory foods: GLUTEN (on top of my list because of my personal experience, read here) trans fats, sugar (stop buying store bought cookies and doughnuts for god's sake), refined grains (white flour, white rice), saturated fats (fried food, animal fats), alcohol, antibiotics, dairies (milk, cheese), MSG (preservatives, flavor enhancers). 

What does this list mean? Should I stop eating these foods altogether??? 

You could, I mean, that's what I did for 3 months. Or you could simply eat less of them. Start noticing how much of these appear in every meal through your day. Then start making better, more conscious choices. Then watch the pounds (or kilos) melt away and did you notice how you haven't gotten a cold in a while? And that back ache that was constantly bothering you is gone? And you sleep better? And oh my gosh I can't believe I just digested that garlic pie! 

5. WALK

Yes. Walk. It's free. And almost available to everybody. 

1. Walking gets you out of the house, out of your chair, gets you moving, gets your blood flowing. 

2. Regulates blood sugar, makes you loose weight, prevents diabetes, protects from heart disease. 

3. Puts you in a better mood, cause we're animals built to move, not sit. 

So walk. Anything from 15 minutes to infinity and beyond. Make it part of your daily routine. 

I personally think going to the gym is depressing, but I love walking my dog around the neighborhood, even when in Philly right now is freezing cold!

6. SURPRISE! Here's something else you can do! 

Join an online or in person community of people with your same goal. My Facebook page is always open to discussions about health and diet, and I constantly post articles and recipes that will help you through it. Believe me, you need someone to do this with you. I know it's hard but you're not alone! 

Don't use Facebook? Just subscribe to this blog then, you'll see, you'll feel better! 

Hope this was helpful

Valentina

RealItalianKitchen

5 FOODS TO NEVER EAT AD or YOUR BODY YOUR DIET AD

What I’m talking about here, is that rotting banana ad that comes up every time you’re trying to read a recipe or a food blog online. Well, I clicked on it, to do a public service to all of you curious monkeys, and here’s what I found out. 

WHAT DO THEY WANT TO SELL YOU? 

It’s an ad, so yeah, they’re trying to sell you something. 

They sell 9 books about weight loss based on the concept that each person has a specific body type and metabolism. Amongst the books there are also recipes and meal plans, devided by body types. They want $47 and you have a 60 day guaranteed money back period. 

The plan is called “Your Body Your Diet”, but through the years it has changed names a few times. It used to be “The Healthy Way Diet” and also “Fatburning Autopilot”. 

THE VIDEO IS VERY LONG AND TEDIOUS, BUT IT DOES SHARE SOME USEFULL INFORMATIONS:

3 SECRETS FOR A SUCCESSFUL WEIGHT LOSS:

1. SUGAR IS YOUR NUMBER ONE ENEMY: read the lables of 3 random things you have in your house right now and you’ll see this in the ingredients:

High fructose corn syrup: this is sugar and it is in EVERYTHING!!! 

“Sugar free” or “diet” items have sometimes one of these SUGARS in the ingredients list

• Agave Nectar

• Barley Malt Syrup

• Corn sweetener

• Corn syrup, or corn syrup solids

• Dehydrated Cane Juice

• Dextrin

• Dextrose

• Fructose

• Fruit juice concentrate

• Glucose

• High-fructose corn syrup

• Honey

• Invert sugar

• Lactose

• Maltodextrin

• Malt syrup

• Maltose

• Maple syrup

• Molasses

• Raw sugar

• Rice Syrup

• Saccharose

• Sorghum or sorghum syrup

• Sucrose

• Syrup

• Treacle

• Turbinado Sugar

• Xylose

You might think you’re buying sugar free, but you really aren’t. The only way to make sure there’s no sugar in it is to buy the raw ingredients and make it yourself. 

2. Eating sugars sends your insulin levels up, which sends your body into FAT STORING MODE. After the “sugar rush” is over your insulin comes crashing down, leaving you feeling fatigued and HUNGRY. So you start eating again. Sugar filled food are also addicting. A good source of sugar is fruit, which makes those insulin spikes a lot milder.

3. Know your body type. We’ll get to this point in a moment. 

5 FOODS NEVER TO EAT

This was the most interesting part of the video but it was hidden in all the bulls**. I’ve added my own knowledge to some of the points they have made. 

Whole grain bread: we’ve been told not to eat white bread becaue it has been refined too much and stripped of all the minerals and vitamins. Well, whole grain is not much better. There are other grains, healthy grains that we can eat like rice, quinoa, barley. Plus the bread you buy at the grocery store has high fructose corn syrup as one of the main ingredients, so we need to find an alternative for that. 

Margarine is high in hydrogenated fat. Which turn into Trans fat. Canola oil and other vegetable oils have the same problem. They go through such a heavy chemical process to get oil out of corn, for example, the oil then doesn’t resist high temperatures and turns into trans fat in our bodies. On the other hand Olive Oil, Butter, Coconut Oil, which are all saturated fats, can be consumed in moderate ammounts, the body needs a certain percentage of fats to survive AND to burn fat. The body needs fat to burn fat. Yup. The best fats are the fatty acids and Omega3 found in salmon, avocado, nuts, eggs. Eat them once a week each and you won’t have any problems. 

Lowfat peanut butter: to make it low fat they take more then half of the peanuts out and dilute it with .... Sugar! Yup, so it’s not lowfat at all, eat the other one in moderate portions (aka don’t go dig the spoon in the jar..)

Soy products are not great for your health because they have been processed to death. The soy beans have been stripped of all the minerals that they had, so they can be turned it into all the different shapes and forms. Plus (and this is my own personal addition) soy in the U.S. is 100% genetically modified unless it has the USD Organic sticker on it. GMO have proven to cause infertility and they have been connected with gastro intestinal cancer. So I mean, it’s up to you, do you really like Tofu that much? 

Concentrated orange juice. It’s filled with sugar. Nutrition elements are taken out to make the concentration. You basically end up drinking sugar water. 

SO WHAT CAN WE EAT? 

First of all, and this is all me, stop buying processed food. Stop eating candy bars, sodas, pre-made microwaveable meals, sliced bread, store bought desserts. 

GO BACK TO BASICS, eat foods that are made from one ingredient. Eat more barley, more rice, those are basically fat-less grains with carbohidrates and protein content. 

Know what your body needs foodwise. You have to know your body and your metabolism. For example, don’t deny your body pasta and bread if you’ve always been able to eat it without gaining any weight. Some people need more carbs, some more proteins, some prefer raw foods and some others can’t digest raw vegetables. 

THE “ONE DIET FITS ALL” CONCEPT IS WRONG AND IT DOESN’T WORK, and with this, I agree with the rotting banana ad. 

WHAT DO I THINK OF THEIR PLAN

I agree with a lot of things shown in the video. They make excellent points when they say not to eat sugars and eating foods that are made from one single ingredients. I have not read their books. I don’t know how well they can take you through understanding what kind of body type or what kind of metabolism you have. I did all of that with a session with a dietician. So I would say save your money, stop buying books you’re not gonna read off the internet and go see a real human, whom you can talk to honestly about your problems, about what you eat, and she can give you a diet that meets your need. Their plan also doens’t cover exercise, which is key to weight loss. 

The video will keep going until you either shut the page or buy the product. 

Resaurches:

http://www.weightrater.com/your-body-your-diet-review/

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/whattoeat/a/sugars.htm)

http://www.thehealthywaydiet.com