Taking control of your wellness path doesn't have to be overwhelming. In fact, simply asking yourself a few core questions can help guide you in the right direction of exactly where to begin. With any cleanse or “new beginning,” I like to first start with an intention: what is my purpose for following this new plan? (The more specific the intention the more apt you are to succeed. Examples include reducing inflammation to play a better tennis game; gaining more natural energy in the morning so as not to have to rely on coffee; or transforming body fat versus muscle percentages into the “fit” zone.) Second, I also like to look at the holistic benefits: how does this plan promote long-term health? Is this plan actually providing whole-body benefits, while tuning in to my specific needs? And lastly, how do I see myself moving forward, continuing to make positive changes in the future, once this plan is complete or my objectives have been met? How does this plan support my big-picture healthy maintenance? For all these reasons, I believe there is one key strategy to launching a new (or renewed!) wellness goal that is truly superior: cleansing with food. Here's why this “secret” is so incredibly effective.
Enjoy A Clean Start
Whether you've just swayed a little off track lately, or you've never known a day without pizza, that kind of cold-turkey, “it starts today” mantra is vitally important. Going on a cleanse for a few days is akin to a factory reset on your computer: by removing a lot of junk, you effectively have a blank canvas (or at least a cleaner canvas) on which to rebuild a better version of yourself. In fact, you may be surprised at how quickly your body “wakes up” and responds to this positive, gentle change. Cleansing with food gives you a new baseline, safely and effectively, and teaches you just how good real food can make you feel.
Think Nourishment, Not Deprivation
Much to the chagrin of health professionals, the word “cleanse” has become increasingly loose in definition, and I'll be the first to admit there are a plethora of difficult, bizarre, and sometimes even unhealthy so-called cleanses on the market. But don't let these fallacies taint your view of cleansing! Real cleansing is not about stripping your body of as many things as possible, and it's definitely not about making you go through an unhappy marathon of physical distress. More pain does NOT equal more gain when it comes to eating right! Instead, detoxifying using food looks at cleansing the opposite way: saturating and enriching your body with the nutrients it needs. And as it turns out, when you ensure that every single food you put in your body has a functional purpose, your energy goes up, your cravings go down, and your goals are met more easily than ever as you are able to come from a state of balance. Superfoods are the epitome of this kind of nutrient-density we're referring to here, which is why they're a foundation of all the courses we teach here at Luminberry.
Ensure Sustainable Wellness
The biggest reason diet plans fail is they're too extreme to follow regularly, often stoking nutritional deficiencies which can result in severe cravings, binges, and the notorious yo-yo diet effect. Instead, if your cleanse is balanced from the get-go with best-of healthy foods, your beneficial next-steps are much easier to follow, as you're beginning from a place of abundance – an addictive good feeling that is motivating to maintain. Cleansing with food is basically just an exaggerated version of your wellness plan to come: the one that you can maintain everyday with confidence, while reaping the benefits with ease.
If you’re looking for more “cleanse with food” ideas, take a look at Beaming's lifestyle cleanse collection for more inspiration; their programs epitomize how to coerce a healthy lifestyle back on track (deliciously)!