LAST DAY! So I heard from the masses -- and not everyone is looking forward to "eating whole foods" next week. 😉 Which isn't surprising. If we are being honest, I've done many cleanses where all I could think about was when I could have something fried, greasy, and unhealthy. After the first long whole foods cleanse I did, I swore off of studying nutrition and decided I wanted to learn something completely different at college. It was terrible! Now it feels like a privilege to reset my system and to gain some perspective. Here's something reasonable I want to challenge everyone to. This is something I was REALLY bad at for a long time. Baby. Steps.

1. Do not commit to eating nothing but raw eggplant next week, but also…

2. Do not crash into eating only processed foods after this!

Why throw away hard work? Devouring bad food because you deserve it after the cleanse, or because your body is clean enough that it'll be okay, is bad logic. Good logic is to maximize on what you have already done.

Consider eliminating one food for the remainder of the month while you already have this head start, such as gluten, sugar, processed dairy products, soft drinks, etc.

Perhaps introduce organic/free range homemade chicken stock to your diet for a month! Or buy a bottle of digestive enzymes to try them out. Whatever you pick, I challenge everyone to select something to change (for the better) about their diet for the rest of this month and then add another next month.

Chin up, last day & your hard work is paying off! We are so proud of you and all you did for your body this week! Way to go!!!

Congratulations on Completing Your Cleanse! Now What?

Now that you’re entering back into normal life, remember that while supplements and food are incredibly important pieces to cleansing, they are just that…pieces. Make sure that you don't get tunnel focused on any one part of your health and ignore the others! Make clean living a lifestyle, not just five days out of your year!

Pure Water

• Research filters, the condition of your water, etc. Pure water is a life source. You simply cannot be well or clean without it. If you want pipes to be clean, pour good water through them! Dehydration causes a myriad of easily fixable issues in the body. INVEST in clean water for your family!!! Avoid storing it in plastic bottles which can leach even more yuck into what you are drinking. (AquaOx, Pelican, and Berkey are three highly respected filtration brands.)

Proper Elimination

• Not once a week, not once a day, not difficult, not uncomfortable. All of the things we’ve learned to expect as normal are not. 2-3 times a day, well-formed, easy to pass, and showing the shape of the colon. My kids know that if they say they feel poorly, my next question will be about what's been going on in the bathroom. They usually go into, "I have a headache…and I went to the bathroom at this time and it looked like this. I also had a full glass of water." These NEED to be our questions and answers!!!! Waste system functioning, check.

Rest

• Contrary to our beliefs, we still require it. Rest is as much a state of being as it is the hours that we close our eyes. We must learn to let go. To have days we devote to spiritual and mental recuperation. The best decision we made a few years ago was to truly honor a day of rest in our week. This has trickled into our entire mindset about life. Your adrenals will thank you forever if you will honor your need for sleep and for release of what you cannot control.

Food

• You cannot pour in waste and expect to somehow miraculously turn that into energy and nourishment. It's like pouring tar into your gas tank and being surprised when it doesn't run. Vibrant, whole, nutrient-dense foods are required for the body to run well.

Essential Oils

• Working on a minute level, they drive in goodness to every point and system. Able to address emotions we may not even be aware of yet, the body is supported in its own God-given functions by God-made plants. We were made to run beautifully and oils give us little cheerleaders saying, "Go, body, go!!! Do your awesome thing!"

Supplements

• Poor quality supplements are worse than useless. Difficult to assimilate, they overwhelm the body. High quality, whole-food supplements are key in a world where it's getting tougher to source what we need from foods. What are your favorite habits and tips in these areas? Is your toolbox full and ready to assist you?

Clean Products

• Everything that you put on or into your body matters from soaps and detergents to makeups and perfumes. Make sure that you are giving yourself only the best so that you don’t continue to clog and weigh down that beautiful body working so hard for you!

Do you have a particular tool you have been leaving out of your health equation? Make some changes today and hang right here with us as we continue to give you our best tips for living a vibrant life!