de toxing of depressing?

By Fiona Kirk

A lot of people see a ‘detox’ as a ‘quick fix’ and trust me, if you can handle it, it can be a very efficient and reasonably quick way of jump-starting you both physically and emotionally into adopting a healthier lifestyle, losing a bit of weight and eliminating some of those bothersome health problems that plague you. 

But January is NOT the month for a ‘voyage of self-discovery’! 

In my view, if you are keen to embark on a ‘proper’ detoxification programme, consult an expert.  It is a serious and exhausting process for your body and should always be carefully monitored.  It’s not only the liver that is involved in detoxification – your kidneys, your lungs, your skin, your bowels, your lymph system and your immune system are also major players.  No wonder then it requires careful thought before embarking on such a ‘voyage’. 

To find a registered nutritional therapist in your area log on to the British Association of Nutritional Therapists www.bant.org.uk or The Institute for Optimum Nutrition www.ion.ac.uk.   The programmes a therapist will prepare for you are thorough, supportive and geared to your personal requirements and in my view, well worth the money. 

There are also a growing number of ‘detox’ camps and retreats but, I know these can be expensive and require a time commitment.  One I thoroughly recommend which really is a ‘fantastic voyage’ is Detox International www.detox-international.com who run week-long programmes in Spain and Portugal, designed to help people with many different health issues, both physical and emotional.  Many I have spoken to describe the experience as ‘life changing’.  Worth investigating I reckon!

However, if you are determined to ‘go it alone’ my recommendation would be a ‘Spring Clean’? (the clue is in the word ‘spring’) so I urge you to log on again in March or April when I will cover the subject in a whole lot more depth and of course have my usual rant!     

So what should you do this month?  OK - January is the month for planning, discussion and investigation.  How do most of us feel in January?  GLOOMY!  The weather is cold, wet, dark and miserable, the credit card statements are landing on the doormat, your waistband is cutting you in two, your eyes have lost their ‘sparkle’ and even expensive beauty products can’t seem to bring back a ‘healthy glow’ to your skin.  It’s all gone pear-shaped and there is way too much repair required on all fronts to enable you to dedicate yourself to a prescriptive and strict programme. 

By all means, buy all the books, read all the articles, watch all the TV programmes, download all the latest news, discuss all the alternatives with your pals and workmates –

BUT DON’T EMBARK ON A NEW REGIME!

WHY?

Because, unless you are feeling VERY determined, VERY focused, VERY strong and you are VERY organised you won’t stick to it and by the end of January you will be even more miserable than you were at the beginning!

But, the fact remains that you really do want to feel better than you do right this minute, so what’s to be done?  Start the month by making a few small changes to your diet, experimenting with a few new foods and combinations, adding a bit more exercise into your week and adopting a few new habits. 

We really are creatures of habit and find comfort in routine so adopting a totally new ‘diet’ or ‘healthy eating programme’ is hard for some of us and downright impossible for others.  Result – failure and all the disappointment and self-loathing that goes along with the territory.

Here are a few suggestions.  Incorporate some (better still, all) of them into your life for the next few weeks.  You’ll be surprised at how quickly some of them become ‘new habits’ making further advancement in February less of a chore and more of an adventure.

• Swap a snack – if your mid morning/mid afternoon snack usually comprises a cup of coffee or tea or a fizzy drink with a slice of cake, a pastry, a biscuit, a packet of crisps etc. replace one snack a day for a week with a couple of oatcakes or Ryvita, topped with chicken/tuna/egg/cheese, a bag of unsalted nuts and seeds, a piece of fruit, and a ‘smoothie’ or a small bottle of water
• Add a staircase – on the way to work, on the way home from work, on your lunch hour, in the car park or whilst shopping walk up and down one more flight of stairs than you normally do every day for a week (if you are carrying bags of shopping – even better!)
• Break open a bag – buy bags of ready chopped vegetables and every night for a week steam, roast or stir-fry them and have them before, during or after your evening meal (yes, have a whole bag to yourself!)
• Have a nosey – walk round the block once a day for a week (whether you have a dog or not) and have a ‘nosey’ at what the neighbours are up to!
• Go brown – substitute brown grains for white every day for a week  Brown bread, brown rolls, brown rice and whole wheat pasta instead of the white varieties
• Fill a fruit bowl – buy a good selection of fruit at the beginning of the week so your fruit bowl is overflowing, put it in the kitchen, by the computer, on your desk, by the television etc. and aim to finish it by the end of the week (then fill it up again)
• Get fishy add something ‘fishy’ to one of your main meals or snacks every day for a week.  Add fish or shellfish to a salad, have a sandwich/roll with tuna or salmon, have a pack of fish sushi, top a pile of brown rice with a grilled or baked fillet of mackerel and surround with a selection of crunchy steamed vegetables
• Love a lemon – put a slice of lemon (or a few drops of lemon juice) into a mug of boiled water and grate in some fresh ginger (keep a few bits of peeled ginger in a bag in the freezer for quickness).  Sip while you are getting ready every morning for a week
• Strike a balance – every time you have a drink - tea, coffee, juice, alcohol etc HAVE SOME WATER (a large glass or small bottle) alongside every drink for a week
• Forget the frying pan – if you are in the habit of frying foods, opt for steaming, baking, stir-frying or roasting instead for a week  Grill your meats and fish, steam your vegetables, roast your birds and boil your eggs  

    
For more ‘nutritional nuggets’ or to let me know how your January is shaping up, log on to my website www.fionakirk.com