DETOX 2012 – Week 1…Here we go!

Its a new year…well hello there 2012! The holidays were amazing and filled with family, food, booze, sweets, indulgence, and so much fun!

Homemade apple pie for Thanksgiving

Some people probably think I’m crazy but I’m starting the new year with detoxing or a cleanse, if you will (not to be confused with fasting!). For me, the month of January means having more intentionality with what goes in and out of my body. Today is day 5 of eating ‘clean’, which to me means cutting out alcohol, gluten, processed sugars, flour, fried and packaged foods. This means no beer while watching football, no cookies, chips, bread, french fries, etc. I’m adding in lots of water with lemon, herbal tea, fresh organic veggies, fruits, eggs, fresh water fish, and eating natural meats sparingly. I’m also supplementing with lots of healthy vitamins, minerals, and detox tea to flush out the toxins. Finally, I am going to run or go to yoga each day to aid in detox and I’m sleeping at least 7 hours a night.

Falafel and avocado salad

Blueberry superfood protein smoothie

In addition to the physical benefits of detoxing, my intention is to cultivate mental clarity for not just the month of January but for the year ahead. I reach mental clarity when I bring more mindfulness into my life. With the challenges that lay ahead in 2012 with graduate school, I’m certain this will help buffer some of the stress and anxiety that many people experience.

I hope that blogging about my experience this month will help me to stay accountable to my commitment of physical, mental, and spiritual wellbeing. I also hope that it may inspire some of you to set an intention for this first week of the year, first month, or even all of 2012!

Many people say that choosing a new years resolution will not work — that those silly fools who join the gym to lose weight are just destined to fail. I think this is probably true for people who don’t incorporate realistic goals, and they don’t have the support or accountability to help them stick to their guns. So if you’re game choose a goal(s) that is specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. Share your commitment of changing this area of your life with people who love you and have your back! Make it fun and get your friends together for a little competition. I am so inspired by the friends in my life who are using the new year as a catalyst for change. We are helping each other create new habits that will hopefully be life changing and life lasting!

I’ll be sure to post about my experience this month – the good, the bad, and the ugly. I hope this will be somewhat of interest and maybe even a bit motivating. I wanted to end this post with a beautiful and inspiring quote by Debbie Ford.

“In this beautiful first week of January, you are called upon to begin 2012 by allowing a new dream for yourself and the world to emerge. It’s not enough to write out a short vision or list a particular goal. In order to step into the next greatest expression of your soul’s highest desires, you must dare to dream. You must allow a dream that already exists in your soul to come to the front of your conscious awareness…”