I promised I would share my secrets on detoxification and healing. It is very important to detox your body on a regular basis. As a cancer researcher, I often find that I sit for several hours each day. Consequently, my lower extremities would always appear swollen. As I age, the circulation in my lower extremities worsen.  For the longest, I did not like my ankles. I tend to retain a lot of water around my ankles. The problem eventually became so bad that I temporarily lost mobilization in my right foot.

How did I solve the problem?

1. Remove food additives that cause inflammation. For me, I began paying attention to foods I ate and how my body responded. Although I love Chinese food (from New York City that is), the monosodium glutamate does not love me. It causes my ankles to swell instantly. MSG is toxic to the body. I won’t bore you with the details for now. Eventually,  I had to eliminate all seasonings that had MSG or “spices” or so called “natural flavors”.  When I prepare my food, I tend to avoid seasoning blends, unless I am confident that it does not have MSG or similar chemicals that make food taste great.

2. I drink a mild detox tea on a daily basis. I don’t drink the tea for weight loss but for weight management and to remove toxins and excess inflammation from my body.  Yes, we carry about 15 lbs of excess inflammation in our body.  So if you remove the excess inflammation, this can promote weight loss.  I use a premium daily tea that has senna leaf, moringa oleifera and 8 other botanicals.  The premium daily tea is expensive on the front end but it is very effective.  With my special recipe, I know how to make my investment in the tea last for 2-4 months.  I box of 30 tea bags cost $45 plus S&H.  One tea bag is ideal for 2-4 servings depending on how stubborn colon tract is.  The tea is effective but for best results, you need to have a balanced diet, proper liquid nutritional supplementation, and exercise.

3.  Exercise regularly.  I exercise at least 2-3 times per week. When I don’t exercise, my lower extremities lock up on me.  I have to keep moving.  But two years ago, I did not receive the internal signal to exercise.  I worked 12-18 hour days and I came home and watched my favorite TV show.  Finally, after losing mobility in my right foot, I was convicted to start taking better care of me. An advertisement for Aspirations Fitness Institute bootcamp with a former professional football player gave me that jolt to get started on a fitness journey.  When I first started, I could barely run.  Initially, I came in next to last place every time we had a race.  As I stuck with it, I became stronger and was able to rank in the top 5 or better.  Eventually, I became bored of bootcamp, so I tried personal training.  To reduce the cost, I formed a small group to share the expense.  Personal training may be too expensive for most to maintain long term, so consider it only for 2-3 months until you feel confident that you can exercise on your own.  To maintain variety, I engage in yoga, pilates, salsa dancing, zumba, the wave, and P90x.  I may even pick bootcamp back up when the weather warms up.  The key is to keep your exercise regimen varied so that you won’t become bored.

4.  Engage the smaller muscles.  Yoga and Pilates help to engage the lower muscle groups.  And Yoga and Pilates is not only for women; men benefit from Yoga and Pilates as well.

5. Drink plenty of water.  Drink half your body weight in ounces.  I am 140 lbs, so I need to drink 60 ounces a day at the bear minimum. On the days that I get sick of water, I will add some lemon juice and a dash or two of natural stevia powder.  Do not use artificial sweetners (more on that later). Please note, I actually feel a lot better when I drink closer to a gallon of water a day.  To keep track of my water intake, I purchased a 32 ounce BPA free water bottle. I just make sure I fill up my water bottle 3 to 4 times a day.

6.  Stretch Daily.  Actually what is important here is to rotate all  you major joints.  Rotate your ankles, knees, hips, shoulder blades, wrist and neck 30 times clockwise, then 30 times counter clockwise.

To some this may all sound overwhelming.  The key  that you have to start somewhere.  Make a goal to change one thing on the list above for 14 days.  Then after you have mastered that one thing, then select something else you want to change.  If that does not work consider finding a friend or loved one to serve as an accountability partner.  If you do not have any positive motivators, then consider hiring a nutrition and lifestyle coach.  A lifestyle coach will typically cost $30-$60/hour or onetime fee of $30. Some may be willing to give you your money back if you complete your 90-day or 12 month challenge. Often people say they want help but most people just want a quick fix.  Look for a nutrition and lifestyle coach that offers health assessments, SMART goal setting, weekly follow-up calls, regular social media motivation, health tips and recipes, and weekly/monthly weigh-in sessions.  To save money, look for lifestyle coaches who share nutritional products because often they may be willing to waive their fee, if you purchase their product or give them referrals.  Just do your research to make sure that the products are natural, organic and safe.

Wholistically Improve You offers nutrition and lifestyle coaching and wellness products from the multi-million dollar moringa company.

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