Regular detoxing - a healthy relationship with food

Today is Day 1 of my Master Cleanse for October - so I didn't do much of any cooking and no eating for me until 12 days from now. The first day of any MC, I always spend sipping only water or herbal teas. 

I will start with the MC juice either tomorrow or Tuesday. I really enjoy this little clean out and besides my body takes a couple of days to adjust into detox mode. That's when the real work begins, not that it hasn't already!

I can honestly say I don't know how everyone doesn't live like this - my body gets a good clean out, repair, replenishment and healing takes place on every level and I always feel great after a cleanse. But, my house gets a clear out too, the kitchen will be reorganized, tidied and sorted and much more. 

Careful planning and thought goes into where things should be, creating better flow and ease of food preparation as well as finding better ways to store my kitchen gadgets. I really enjoy the down time -- for those who have been following along with my other detoxes, this is truly a creative time for me!

So, today has been enjoyable, I started in this morning and have not really stopped yet - even the windows were done today. It was such a beautiful sunny day (for the most part) that we were able to accomplish a lot.

The same with these past few weeks - I have been putting a lot of effort into concocting new recipes and revamping some old ones to suit our needs here. I have made some lovely dishes and played around quite a bit in the kitchen. 

Some of my favorites have been Rosemary Lamb Cobbler, Sheeps Cheese & Duck Egg Pie and my very own homemade dandelion coffee (we dug up dandelion roots, roasted them and made our own coffee). 

It just seems that whatever is made with love and from the spirit of wanting to have a healthy relationship with your food - tastes so much better!

April

Coconut balls and dandelion coffee - a favourite around here! 

Loving our feast and other weight loss stories

This is grueling, day after day of non stop eating!! LOL

Back into the kitchen again today to make crackers, gingerbread men, spelt breads, naan bread, garlic butter, pot of jam (use up fruit), chilli con carne with lamb mince, and the list goes on. All of that today and I still found time to make our meals, get some gardening done, read, write and exercise.

It all just seems to fall into place, of course it really helped that the day was bright sunshine for most of it, warm and pleasant all around. Everyone felt great, the kids kept themselves busy, the work got done and all with smiles on our faces because of the sun.

One of my favourite breads to make are naan bread, I made them especially to go along with the chilli (tomato free of course) and used my handy food mixer to make the garlic butter. I needed an excuse to use it! 

Naan bread dough

What makes naan breads different is the goat's yogurt I use to make it. Otherwise it is a simple easy bread to whip up in minutes - whole grain spelt flour, soda bicarbonate, salt, goat's yogurt, water and sesame seeds. Mix these ingredients together, with more yogurt then water, place onto a flat pan for baking and into the oven for about 20 -25 minutes or so.

Naan breads ready for the oven

The result is a very soft flat bread that tastes great with a stew or chilli. I also add herbs into the mix and sesame seeds on top to give it some more texture. Naan bread is great with garlic butter or used as a bun for burgers too.

Naan bread cooling on rack

After all that baking and cooking, I even had a chance to do some reading online - looking through some nutrition articles I came across one mentioning the problem with weight being stuck or doing all the right things and still not losing the excess weight.

That was me not so long ago. Excellent diet, exercise program, busy lifestyle and still the pounds crept on. Of course it is hormonal for the most part for nearly all of us, but what brings down our hormones and where does it all end?

For me, the answer lies in the toxins carried around, buried deep within inflamed cells. It has long been established overweight and inflammation go hand in hand. Of course, high levels of toxicity are also present in any site of chronic dysfunction.

The one area each of these articles missed was glaringly obvious - remove the toxin load from the body and you will reduce the inflammation, while losing excess weight and balancing body systems. It really is this simple. They mentioned nearly everything else, but the absolute necessity of detoxification.

Cleansing your body on the inside is as easy as cleaning it on the outside and should be carried out nearly as often. Using water, our bodies will be gently detoxed of embedded poisons over a period of time - this has changed my life or I should say simply given my life back to me. 

All of life, eating, living and being who we are should be simple, otherwise, why would we do it? 

Have a healthy day,

April 

Lamb tomato free chilli