January Check In

I know! The month is almost up and I have yet to update how this month's challenge has been going.

My first two weeks were a combination of light salads, protein, a detox tea mix with lime essential oil and pure unprocessed honey.  Just when I was starting to add in some exercise once again as my energy was improving post antibiotics, I got hit with a doozy of a viral infection.  Probably picked up by one of the numerous ill patients that came into the clinic or from the giant indoor playground I took my son to as a reward for him working so hard on his school work to catch up before his quarter ended.  An almost solid 36 hour sleep with only the detox tea or water when I was up and a total of three days without any solid food and I was on the mend.  Now I'm moving more towards a solid food with fresh juices detox diet and herbal supplements to help rebuild my immune system.

And now for the super cold, negative temperatures!

January's Challenge: Getting back on Track

I know January the start of a new year and everyone is proudly and boldly declaring their Resolutions.  Personally I really dislike that word.  It has become synonymous to failure in my mind as most people do just that; they over think or over pledge themselves to making radical changes without understanding the impact that those changes can have on their personal life, personal time, family, etc -and in the end the resolutions are the first thing to drop off the must do or even the general to do list.

That is one of the reasons I love doing these monthly challenges.  Beyond keeping me fresh and looking for something new and exciting to do, it forces me to constantly change my perspective of myself and my life.  30 days of change is nothing compared to the whole-hearted pledge to "Quite Smoking!" "Lose 10, 20, 30 pounds" or whatever resolution people are making this year.  At most resolutions are kept for maybe 8 weeks, 12 if you have a very strong constitution or made rather simple resolutions.  The truth is the first "big" thing that comes along that disrupts your life, even the tiniest ripple, and so much for that "fill-in-the-blank."

Enough of my tirade on New Year's Resolutions.  My challenge this month?  Well since I will be finishing this round of high-dose antibiotics which I've been on for a whooping 3 weeks, I would like to Reboot my system.  Antibiotics even for the normal 10 day stints wreak havoc on the intestinal system beyond generally being hard for the kidneys and liver which have to process and filter them.  Antibiotics are a non-discriminatory killer of all bacteria -the good, the bad, and the ugly.  While getting rid of the bad and ugly helps our bodies to heal or recover faster from whatever bacteria has invaded our otherwise perfectly closed system, we need to restock and replenish the good in order for everything to get back to a semblance of normal.  And, yes, I have been taking a daily probiotic -but after 3 weeks, I just don't feel right.

The term Reboot may be similar, you may have heard it on an infomercial or if you watched one of those anti-food industry documentaries.   In simple terms the process of rebooting your body’s natural system is very simple.  There are several ways one can go about it.  Fasting is probably one of the fastest (no pun intended) ways, but if you have never fasted before it can be dangerous.  There are quite possibly hundreds of books devoted to the lemon water fast, or the juice fast, or some such fast.  Simply put, if you do NOT know what you are doing when it comes to fasting -please don't fast!  Then similar to my summer challenge there is the elimination technique and while I enjoyed that diet I need to consume yogurt at least to help rebuild intestinal flora (the good kind that is).

While I am not sure yet which method I will go with -most likely a combination of several different types- I do wonder if when I visit the hand surgeon next week if he will put me on yet another round.  I of course am hoping that he will give me the all clear.

To your health in the New Year!  May you find a challenge to enjoy for 30 days -it may just change your life!