I struggled with the title of this blog post. The alternative title was going to be "My New Found Appreciation for My Husband's Career as An Advertising Executive". Here is why......
If you look up Detox in the dictionary it is defined as a process or period of time in which one abstains from or rids the body of toxic or unhealthy substances.
Now that I have graduated from my Health Coaching Course, I am on lists with various other health coaches and I am constantly inundated with the latest "Detox" Diets that fellow Coaches are running. In addition, now that it is January and everyone is trying to stick to their resolutions, everywhere I turn I seem to see an offer for a Detox, 7 day Detox, 28 day Detox just choose your number!
So I was particularly intrigued, when a friend of mine recently posted an article on Facebook saying that you can not Detox your body and that it is a myth. In Nutrition School I studied over 100 different dietary theories, and learned about toxins in our world, and how simple dietary and lifestyle changes can improve your health and happiness.
The article states "the idea that you can flush your system of impurities and leave your organs squeaky clean and raring to go – is a scam. It’s a pseudo-medical concept designed to sell you things.There are two types of detox: one is respectable and the other isn’t.” The respectable one, the article says,"is the medical treatment of people with life-threatening drug addictions. The other is the word being hijacked by entrepreneurs, quacks and charlatans to sell a bogus treatment that allegedly detoxifies your body of toxins you’re supposed to have accumulated.”
At first I was horrified to see this article. I had just graduated from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, and I had just run a 5 Day "Detox" with a group of women. Was I marketing a scam to these women? That's impossible, everyone in my group started to feel good, was back in the kitchen cooking and at the grocery store shopping, starting to feel healthier, energized, and inspired, not to mention the dropped pounds as their body's began returning to their more natural weight. Of course I was not marketing a scam, and I should have realized, its all in the name. But as a new business entrepreneur, with a background in accounting not marketing, and not used to running my own business, I was just trying to call it what I was seeing in the media, A Detox Diet. I should have better understood that the name was confusing to many, and created skepticism with some, when someone emailed with interest in joining our group, but mentioned that she worked full time and was worried that she would constantly be running to the restroom if she did the "Detox" during a workweek.
Of course when you change your dietary habits, your digestive system readjusts, and yes for some people their elimination habits may be altered for a period of time while their body adjusts. And yes, some people call this "Detox". I now prefer to refer to this process as "healing your body though diet and eliminating digestive distress, and creating healthy strategies for dealing with the stress in your life." I also have a much deeper understanding about the challenges advertisers go through on a weekly basis, and the value of good advertising and the potential confusion that advertising can create.
So, I have since learned from my mistake, and I renamed my program the "Feel Great Program". Detox is "sexy" and people want to buy it. People are looking for a "quick fix". My program is NOT a quick fix. So let me be very clear, if you are looking for a fast solution to losing weight, improving your health, and creating permanent change, I am NOT your girl. While I do offer abbreviated versions of my 6 month program, like the 5 day group I recently ran; which will give you a "taste" of what it will be like to work with me, I truly believe that it takes about 3 months for people to develop new habits, and an additional 3 months to understand the obstacles one will face and support my clients in fine-tuning their new habits. That is why I believe the 6 month program works.
While I might suggest you drink water with lemons, or apple cider vinegar to increase the alkalinity in your system, I would never put people on a liquid cleanse detox or a juice cleanse. While I might suggest that you add some "superfood" greens into your diet, I do not believe that there are miracle "superfoods" that you should eat or drink all day everyday that will solve all your problems. I don't think drinking a daily green juice will fix your life, but depending on what I learn when we sit together or work remotely, and discuss your health history, I might suggest drinking one now and then.
Before I began my "Feel Great Program" I used myself as a guinea pig and journaled what I was noticing and how I was feeling as I put myself on it. While it is true that everybody is unique and not everyone will react exactly the same way to every diet and lifestyle plan, I can promise you that following my program will give you the following:
- keep your energy level more consistent and eliminate that midday slump where people often are tempted to re-energize using caffeine, sugar or other processed junk food.
- Improve your overall mood, ability to stay focused, calm and level-headed through improved nutrition, wellness routines and improved sleep.
- by eating a wide variety of whole foods, and spices that I incorporate in the "Feel Great Diet" you will be amazed at how your cravings will begin to diminish. I am not saying you will never crave chips or cookies ever again, but incorporating more tastes into your diet will provide you with more feelings of satisfaction when you eat, and help control your cravings.
- help you to learn what triggers you to make poor food choices, and understand that this is not a sign of weakness but your attempt to make your body feel better. This will in turn help you to become more patient with yourself and love yourself more.
- help you to learn about mindfulness and its connection to poor eating habits, so that you begin to actually want to do things like meditate, journal,or stretch because you actually feel and notice how it affects your food choices.
- your body will naturally begin to get to the perfect weight for you, where you feel comfortable, energetic and healthy. Not an ideal weight as defined by society, but an ideal weight for your particular body.
- after just a few weeks on my "Feel Great Program" you will start to see that you are becoming more aware of how your body feels, and you will really begin to understand the importance of defining your goals so that you live a more fulfilling and satisfying life and fulfill your true potential.
So while I don't have any magic pills, powders, tinctures, or colonic irrigations, and my program doesn't have a sexy "Detox" name promising results in some unrealistic amount of time like 10 or 30 days, I do have a program that will make you "Feel Great". When you stop to think about it, isn't that we are all really searching for? To look and feel great, and live a "HARMONIOUSLY HEALTHY" life.
To learn more about my One-on-One Coaching Program, my group Programs, my Workshops, opportunities for Physicians and other medical professionals to partner with me, to hire me to speak at your group or organization, or to have a Complimentary Break-through session to learn more about how I can assist you with your health needs visit my website or email me at Harmonioushealth@sbcglobal.net
With gratitude from this realistic and painfully honest marketer...
Suzy
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