New year has now come and gone, the pledge to ourselves that we are going to lose weight and get into shape has been agreed, but oh no, the chocolates are still there, the Christmas cake hasn’t been finished and there’s still a drop of port left in the bottle! Excuses, Excuses!

Let me give you some tips on where to begin:

Throw the rest of the chocolates away, or give them to a friend who needs a bit of cheering up.

Give the rest of the Christmas cake to a residential home, they always have cake in the afternoon and the elderly will be very appreciative. Put any booze away at the back of the cupboard ready for the next occasion.

Once these excuses have been addressed, the next issue to deal with is to find the right frame of mind to start your plan. Look at the reasons why you would like to go through the process to become healthier; is it purely to get the Christmas toxins out of your system? Is it because you feel that you should cleanse through because everyone else is, or is it because it really is time to take control of your life and lose some of those pounds that have been creeping up over the years?

I would hazard a guess that it is the latter of those options.

What ever the reason a detox is a great way to start and to refocus your eating habits.
Start by cutting out all the things that you crave, these would be in the form of coffee, tea, fizzy drinks i.e. coke; These drinks go hand in hand with biscuits, cakes, and crisps, the addictive type of foods that you also need to be avoiding. The drinks can be replaced with herbal / fruit teas and water; water is imperative in flushing out those nasty toxins and also quickly helps to give your skin and plump and healthy glow.

Fruit and vegetables can replace the snacks. Sunflower and pumpkin seeds mixed with raisins or dried apricots make a healthy tasty snack or you could try and dip your carrot slices or other fruit and vegetables into some fresh creamy houmous. Some strawberries stirred into a pure organic natural yoghurt makes a slightly sweeter snack. With the right advice, a healthy lifestyle should be fun and interesting to put into place. If you are the housekeeper of the family, encourage the entire household to eat healthily, it will make it easier on yourself and it certainly will benefit the rest of the household.
To become fit and healthy it takes more than just a quick diet for a couple of days, this in fact can be quite damaging to the body.
Of course, the best place to start is with a complete clean through, using a supervised, well-organised detoxing programme, and by that I don’t mean starving yourself on vegetable juices for three days! Gently controlled, with the help of the correct combination of herbs and the removal of all toxins, you are able to detox the body thoroughly, by continuing to eat a well balanced diet, avoiding the renowned ghastly feelings, and are able to keep going with our everyday lives.
By detoxing the body gently, it gives our organs the chance to function in the way that they are meant to, allowing us to have maximum health. Once we have cleansed through our liver, kidneys, blood supply etc, we obtain a wonderful feeling of well-being, our skin looks glowing, our energy levels rise and our weight loss programme has begun.
Once the nasty toxins that cause us to feel bloated, lethargic and low have been removed from our bodies, it then becomes easier to maintain a healthy eating programme; you lose the cravings that the toxins have encouraged and because the organs are now able to function correctly, the nutrients that we consume are absorbed properly into the body, so we are less likely to get the mid morning / afternoon cravings. Life becomes lighter and you walk into spring feeling fabulous.

There are many detox and slimming products on the market today; these can be purchased in chemists and supermarkets to help reduce your cravings, to detox your system and to help you lose weight quickly. I would just like you to consider on the side of caution with these products. Some of them can genuinely help but others can be so short on the correct ingredients too be effective, or too full of chemicals to be safe to use. I would therefore recommend that you consult your nearest nutritional advisor before you start taking a product, to check that the supplement that you wish to take is actually the correct one for you and is going to perform the job that you wish it to do.

For more information to begin your new healthier life, please contact me for a free lifestyle analysis check.

Copyright Nicci Evans 2007
 

Nicci Evans qualified as a beauty therapist in 1981 at the London Institute of Beauty Culture, practising in a variety of salons prior to setting up and running her own business. Since that time Nicci has studied widely, enabling her to introduce new therapies and offer a fully holistic service to her customers. A qualified practitioner of Reflexology, Reiki, Aromatherapy, Hopi Ear Candles and Life Coaching, Nicci is also qualified in Advanced Nutrition and holds a Higher International Diploma in Nutrition. Nicci is a member of the British Association of Beauty Therapy and Cosmetology and the Association of Reflexologists.
www.niccievans.co.uk