My 30 Day Mind & Body Detox... Dispatches from the first 3 Days

What is it they say about the road to hell…? Paved with good intentions, you say?

Well the eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed that, whilst my last blog post dealt with the formalities of what my 30 day mind and body detox would involve, there have been no subsequent posts to check in on how I’m doing.

“Mixed” would be an honest appraisal of the last 3 days…  In the mornings I feel really proactive and then, I don’t know if it’s cutting out sugar and caffeine or whether getting up and getting on with the day at least 2 hours earlier are to blame, but I am dog tired come the afternoon!

Things I’m loving:

• OK, it sounds crazy but I’m loving finishing my shower with an icy blast. My strangled yelp still causes consternation from my other half but he’s learning to just roll his eyes at the whole thing and is even getting on board with some (other) aspects of the detox programme
• I genuinely feel my skin is softer, smoother and more toned since I started dry skin brushing and using my organic toning body moisturiser... can’t believe I’m seeing a difference already!
• I have more energy in the mornings… noticeably
• I feel happy I am being really planet friendly :)
• Realising that I have done by lunchtime what would previously have been a whole day’s worth of tasks #oohgetme #superproductive
• I can still drink red wine!!

Things I’m not:

• Getting up with a ‘To Do’ list as long as my arm before I can start my day! Meditation & yoga followed by an hour of exercise, then hot water, lemon, manuka honey and root ginger to drink (actually this is yummy) whilst I make fresh vegetable juice, then it’s off to body brush and shower… phew! There must be a better way of doing this
• The fact that I cannot stop thinking about what I’ll make for dinner while I’m supposed to be meditating, although I think this will just take practice (she says hopefully)
• There is no longer any such thing as convenience food! A quick snack means prepping veggies and dips and whatnot… This has really highlighted to me that even though I thought I was good before, I have a long way to go before I am living as well as I think I am!

There have been challenges aplenty in the last 3 days to encourage me to stray off the path of the detox but I have overcome them, even managing to eat out before going to a show last night. OK so it wasn’t organic food but I didn’t have any wheat, yeast, cow’s dairy, sugar, processed foods etc and I still enjoyed myself!

Too much information:

Consider yourself warned. So I promised there would be photos and honesty aplenty, so here are my slightly horrifying ‘before’ shots… Aged 32 and following a pretty horrendously stressful time in recent months and a horrible eczema on my face after becoming allergic to a common preservative chemical (which is not in Neal’s Yard Remedies products!) I have really started to see some ageing and a general ‘tiredness’ in my complexion. My main body concerns have been excess weight, lack of muscle tone, cellulite and less than glowing skin.

Did you know that fat is often created as a ‘safe’ way for the body to store toxins? (Dr Mark Hyman has written extensively on this) So I’m hoping that in addition to upping my water intake and exercising more, this detox in general will help me shed some fat by cutting out pesticide toxins, chemicals in beauty products and all the gunk in processed foods… We’ll see in the next set of photos :-O

My face has started to get spots and the fine lines between my eyebrows where I frown and across my forehead are a lot more visible than even a few months ago. The visible pores around my nose and on my cheeks have been a concern too. Let's see what the next 27 days can do!

Sarah is an Holistic massage & beauty therapist, owner of Edge of Eden and Senior Consultant for Neal’s Yard Remedies. You can call her on 01277 220301, email at sarah@edgeofeden.co.uk or comment below and she’ll get back to you x

My 30 Day Mind & Body Detox... The Plan!

Did you know that this is the ideal time of year to detox?

Even though glossy magazines with bikini-clad babes sold in January may wish us to believe that immediately post-Christmas is the best time to detox and start working on that mythical beast 'the bikini body', in fact you are much better off waiting for Spring. Warmer weather is more conducive to feeling positive and eating salad after all, and longer lighter evenings mean more likelihood of getting to the gym or out to exercise even with a busy working/family life. And the lifting of the S.A.D cloak generally gives most of us some much needed extra get up and go.

So I've gotten up and gone on a mission - a gentle mission, but one designed to use the next 30 days to detox myself, not only through cleansing the body of the accumulated toxins of a winter's hibernation but also through focusing on the mind to soothe, organise and clear out any cobwebs... that's the idea anyway ;)

I have designed my own programme based on the accumulated knowledge of years of interest in Holism, my own experience as an Holistic massage and beauty therapist and more recent research into the affects of diet on cancers and other chronic diseases. All this is coupled with a small obsession with how to do things kindly (to myself, other people, animals, the planet) and this will be a key principle for me.

My programme is in no way supposed to recommend a course of action for anyone else, although I am very happy to share my thoughts and experiences with you all. I'll be honest, there will even be photos(!) and I do hope you'll find it interested and maybe even useful - either way please do leave me your comments below.

Here are the bones of my detox programme...

The Mind: I have always been fascinated by (but utterly useless at) meditation so I am going to try some 'guided' meditation CDs, starting with my reiki one that I haven't touched since doing my Reiki I course months ago. I'm also going to combine this with yoga practice as I often feel quite mentally relaxed after a class. To keep costs down (I want to start my day with an hour of this 5 times per week) I'm going solo so it might just be the sun salute for now as that's all I can reliably remember!

I'm also certain of the importance of the little things in life when it comes to 'detoxing' the mind. I have made a little weekly schedule for the next 30 days (I know, I know!) and have scheduled in some quiet time, creative time and some time outside with nature, even if it's just doing the weeding. I'll be exploring all of these aspects and more, such as how to get the best sleep and how much to have, the benefits of aromatherapy, music and more over the next month too.

The Body: In a nutshell, I'm going organic. I'm already pretty organic to be fair but I'll be upping the ante and cutting out processed food, sugar, sweeteners, wheat, yeast, cow's dairy, low fat products, caffeine (except in green tea) and alcohol (except in red wine, purely for its resveratrol content obviously!) I'm going for a high vegetable diet and a lot less meat, and I'm also going to be trying a few supplements including various vitamins, manuka honey, apple cider vinegar and some remedial teas and oils.

As the skin merely reflects the inner health of the body I'm confident I should see improvement in my skin anyway, but it can't hurt to focus a little organic attention directly onto it either; I've got a pretty good skincare routine anyway but I'm going to be adding some exfoliation, body brushing, masques, detox salt baths, cold water blasts (eek!), regular massage (yay!) and various other factors into the mix too.

Exercise is also going to play a key role as I'm aiming to get six 1 hour sessions in a week... this is considerably more than the zero I do now, but I'm going to start slow and listen to my body but push myself too... wish me luck!