Okay, here’s where we put it all together! In the coming weeks, I will roll out 1) The Plan, 2) The Move, and 3) The Life.

Many people have expressed wanting something they can sort of wrap their hands around; something more than general guidelines about eating for health and more like, “Today, eat this and exercise like that.”

I am hearing you! Mark your calendars for Monday, July 7th as our official START DATE for The Plan!

So, to start off, The Plan will give you details on how you can conduct your own ‘cleanse’ or detox to reset your metabolism, get your body back to basics, and allow your body to ‘rest’ from the constant barrage from the Standard American Diet. The Plan will keep you satisfied and full, and will assist your body in ridding itself of some of the toxins and ‘sludge’ that have been clogging up the works and making you feel sub-par.

The Plan will focus on: 5 ‘Superfoods’ for all ages in your family; being adequately hydrated in more creative ways than just plain water; enjoying food preparation with simple recipes that maximize flavors; how to incorporate simple additions to your food to strengthen bones; how to easily add fiber to your diet, and much more! The Plan will start with a 10-day detox period, followed by gradual unique-to-you additions over time, all within the definition of clean, gluten-free eating.

The Move will help you discover how to get more out of exercise by doing less—just in a different way. Exercise can be the more difficult change for me to make, so I will be sharing what I have learned from various sources that all advise a different approach from the sweaty, gym-oriented, chronic cardio that this lady is just never going to do anyway! No more expensive gym memberships! Yay!

The Life will open up easily sustainable goals for a life-style that will help you rebalance your mind, body, and spirit, for a more natural rhythm of eating, moving, and being. Too often, today’s world pushes us to physical and mental extremes that are out-of-sync with our natural rhythms. Once you have made the decision to re-connect with your own pace, the daily ebb and flow of life will not feel so much like an artillery bombardment. Learn how to continually implement your new-found food and healthy life-style habits.

Health is a process. Each of us has a unique set of “issues,” but we all can travel the path to improved health together – One step at a time. Everything I will be describing in The Plan, The Move, and The Life, I will be doing, too.

Before starting the The Plan, we should go through a period of tapering now. The detox phase will be caffeine-free, sugar-free, grain, dairy, and alcohol-free, so we need to get ready.

It’s certainly not a good idea to go “cold turkey” in regard to caffeine because of the resultant headaches; thus, the tapering off is needed. Even the moderate amount of caffeine I consume has to be tapered. I resist doing this! I love that little dab of caffeine; but I have learned that caffeine can adversely affect our hormonal balances, in addition to the usual ‘jitters’ and irregular heartbeats that come with ‘over-doing’ my favorite morning brew. So, ‘a tapering we will go!’

Decreasing the amount of caffeine we consume will also include reducing caffeinated beverages of all kind (tea and colas) as well as chocolate. Pout! But abstaining from chocolate will not be forever
Other tapering involves sugar. That usually means colas. Oh, you use diet sodas? That can be exceedingly bad for normal hunger-influencing hormone functions as well. We’ll discuss creative water flavoring techniques in the very next post, but the colas just have to go. Again, this should be a gradual process as most colas involve caffeine. This is supposed to be a user-friendly experience, so ‘gradual’ is the best bet throughout this tapering process.

Alcohol. What is it but liquid sugar? Granted, there are many heavily cited health benefits to moderate wine drinking, but sugar is sugar. Additionally, just this week I learned that one alcoholic beverage can lower a woman’s metabolic rate the next day by up to 70%! Wow! Definitely not the drink for getting into shape!

Let me know if you are ‘IN!’ We will be doing this together! During the countdown to The Plan, I will be giving you tips on tapering and getting prepared. Join us as we commit to a 10-day detox and 20-day follow-up to reset our health – one meal at a time!

In health –

Deidre