Tired? Sleepy? Non-stop yawning? Bloated? Sluggish? Constipated?

Well, once again its the time of the year to go for a free of toxic weekend lifestyle, which means going for plenty of fresh natural raw foods and drinking plenty of fluids, cutting out all those junk foods,sugar, caffeine, canned foods and processed foods! Oh dear, do I hear the “oh oh’s” and “argh argh’s” but there’s also the guilty conscious lingering somewhere in the back of your mind… ?

If you are done with all those merry making, this weekend would be a good time to do the simplest body detox, nothing too drastic. It is better than not doing at all, right? I don’t think it would make much difference missing all those toxic foods just for 48 hours.

So, we’ll start the weekend taking it real easy.
On Saturday and Sunday morning, drink about 400ml of filtered tepid water upon waking up. It would be ideal if you could squeeze some lemon juice in the water to your acceptable taste, no sugar added. Fluids help to eliminate the toxins that have been accumulated over the holidays and at the same time this will give your digestive tract and organs a well -needed rest.
You could start doing some light exercises after that like stretching, breathing, any of yourfavourites as long as they are not strenuous. After 45 minutes or so, munch on your favourite fruit like apples, pears, bananas, etc

For lunch, prepare a salad of your favourite fresh raw vegetables and sprinkle some chopped up nuts and olive oil.

At the same time, some fluids or if you prefer your favourite herbal teas like rooibos, crysanthemum, mint, green tea, etc would be great, and they do not contain caffeine.

Fresh and natural whole foods contain the important different nutrients, fiber and enzymes. They are known to nourish the body cells and at the same fight free radicals. If your budget permits get all your stuff organic.

In the later part of the day, you should include juicing of fresh fruits and vegetables like apple, cabbage, carrot, cranberry, celery, pineapple and spinach for effective cleansing process.
Take 30 minutes and go for a walk in the open for some fresh air as this would help to clear the ‘cobwebs’ on your mind.

For dinner, you could make some vegetable broth, munch some more fresh fruits and drink more fluids of filtered tepid water or herbal tea.

Lastly, before you end the day with a shower, do some skin brushing as it removes old skin cells, stimulates the lymph system and draws out toxins through the skin. Skin brushing is also a gentle way of detoxing and a dry skin brush made of soft vegetable bristles is highly recommended.

By Monday morning, you will be able to feel much better, feeling more healthy and have higher energy levels. Your body will thank you for your efforts to change to a healthy way of life.
Now, it is not that hard is it?

There are many ways to detox the body. I always believe it’s up to individuals to customize what suits their lifestyle and preference because no one is the same.
Remember, we are not on prescription but if you do have any health concerns, it is better to consult your physician first!

During this long holiday season, as expected there will be a lot of merriment in shopping, eating and drinking but then it can be also be the most stressful time of the year. So here are the 12 ways suggested to help you to preserve your health and sanity so that you can enjoy your holidays smoothly.

On the first healthy way of X’mas : balanced diet

Watch out the calories of minced pies, log cake, canapes and X’mas punch, your body needs all the different nutrients to maintain health and well being in appropriate amounts through the foods we eat.

On the second healthy way of X’mas : exercise

There should be no excuses to skip it, just because you have to go shopping and/or partying. Just put a side, a minimum of thirty minutes for brisk walking which would burn 150 calories, and if you choose to cycle or running this will burn approximately 300 calories each. This will offset the extra calories intake.

On the third healthy way of X’mas : fruit juices and herbal teas

Over indulgence in greasy, spicy or over eating of foods would cause indigestion. Therefore, blend one banana with either mango or pear juice and drink it as this will relieve stomach inflammation because the drink is smooth and easy to digest. Suggested herbal teas like peppermint, thyme and chamomile would also help indigestion.

On the fourth healthy way of X’mas : moderation

Do you know that for 230gm of turkey breast without skin, the fat contains is 2 gm when compared with the skin on is 26gm. So bear in mind to keep to moderate portion size even though turkey is lean meat but its skin is full of fat. No wonder people put on weight during the holiday seasons.

On the fifth healthy way of X’mas : breathing

One of my favourites, as breathing helps to calm down and reduce mental stress. Take long, slow and deep breaths by breathing in through your nose allowing your stomach to expand at the same time. Hold your breath for two to four counts and then slowly breathe out through your nose while your stomach contracts at the same time. Hold your breath out also between two to four counts before breathing in again. You can do it as many times as you like at any time and any where. Please check with your physician if you have any health concerns before trying this out.

On the sixth healthy way of X’mas : pudding temptation

X’mas pudding is a must for some diehards, after all it is a classic X’mas staple. Guess what is X’mas without the pudding and turkey. Instead of serving the pudding with brandy or rum butter, maybe with plain yoghurt. It is also suggested that instead of the dried fruits in the pudding, maybe serve with fresh fruit salad.

On the seventh healthy way of X’mas : quality time

Share quality time, relax and enjoy with your family and friends during this holiday season of joy. Learn to decline invitations that you rather not attend and also learn to prioritize your tasks to reduce stress levels.

On the eighth healthy way of X’mas : cinnamon-spiced

Spiced up your rice pudding with cinnamon because a study has been carried out in Sweden that cinnamon lowers the blood-glucose levels, hence it could help prevent diabetes because the blood sugar was moving efficiently into the cells. Even the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has published a study that cinnamon might help in regulating blood-glucose levels.

On the ninth healthy way of X’mas : snacking

Instead of minced pies which is considered a X’mas snack, it is suggested by the British Dietetic Association to consider a bowl of fresh fruits. Do you know that one mince pie has 250 calories in it? And instead of salted peanuts, you could choose chestnuts which is the only low-fat nuts around. Also, you could opt for reduced-fat crisps or pretzels or even have raw vegetable sticks with low-fat dips.

On the tenth healthy way of X’mas : do a stretch

With all the stress from shopping, cooking and entertaining, its time to loosen up your muscles… stretching, which is another favourite of mine and also this is very simple and easy that can be done at any time and any where as long as you are comfortable.

Go on the floor and sit upright with both legs straight out with hip width apart. Press ankles to the floor and your toes pointed upwards. Next, stretch out both your hands in front of you and take a slow deep breath, then exhale while easing your body towards your toe, all the while keeping your back straight and knees pressed to the ground. This act focuses on stretching your back and calf muscles.

On the eleventh healthy way of X’mas : stop smoking

It is best to kick the habit before the year ends…give up smoking! It is an effective way of protecting yourself against lung and coronary heart diseases. Studies have shown that the risks of cardiovascular complications will be reduced by fifty percent when the body starts to repair the damage after a year.

On the twelveth healthy way of X’mas : detoxing

After all the merriment of eating and drinking, it is time to detox and re-energise, re-hydrate the body system to begin the new year. For flushing the system helps to alleviate indigestion, bloatedness, foggy mind, improves sleep and increases energy levels. Suggestions would be vegetable juices, raw vegetables and filtered water.

Here’s wishing you ‘A Merry X’mas and Happy New Year’ from Enya

Just ended my one day mono-diet detox today, for lately I have been feeling lethargic and body aches all over, and worst, getting so lazy that I feel my brains have been fried! I supposed when one is away from home, the challenge of watching your food intake gets fly out of the window….

Anyway, I haven’t done detoxing for quite sometime which is normally a three-day regime, but when I am lazy I just do the one day detox on a mono-diet. So since my return last weekend, I have been cutting down my intake of food in preparation for today’s detox.

Actually, this is a good introduction for those who just wants to do a quickie detox as you won’t experience any dramatic side-effects but a positive effect on your well-being after. Well, there’s no harm in giving it a try is there? Have to start somewhere….

All sorts of information on dietary supplements can be searched for on the internet. An effective medicine used to loose weight is hydroxycut. Serenoa also known as saw palmetto is one of the very useful species in this regard. Some people do mono-diet detox. In this way they eat raw fruits and vegetables with plenty of water which has abundance of vitamins, minerals and powerful cleansing effects on your body.

Going on a mono-diet detox means you choose one type of your favourite raw fruit or vegetable that you won’t mind eating it the whole day and plenty of water, filtered if possible. Raw fruits and vegetables are ideal for detox because of the abundance of vitamins, minerals and fibre and also their powerful cleansing effects on the body. Besides giving the digestive system an opportunity to rest, the stored toxins in the liver gets the chance to be eliminated too.

For today’s detox, I have chosen organic apples… bought a bag of 12 for $6.80 from my local supermarket the day before, standby 2 litres of filtered water and my favourite herbal tea from Dr Stuart’s Botanical Teas. I chose organic apples because of its natural sweetness, smooth firm texture and with enough moisture unlike some apples which tend to be too crunchy with a metallic taste and dry.

Pre-detox day, I had blanched broccolis and cauliflower with chopped almonds sizzled with some olive oil and wheat germ for lunch, dates for my snack and a bowl of clear chicken soup with mushrooms for dinner. Oh, upon waking up, I had my normal drink of lemon juice water. Then after an hour or so, for breakfast…I had oats with raw honey and yoghurt. Throughout the day, I just top up with water to keep myself hydrate and at the same time to kickstart the toxins.

So today, I had my usual lemon juice drink, did about a 30 minute stretching exercises including the swiss ball. Had a shower and munched two apples for breakfast, decided to tidy up my bookcase and later in the morning I had two more apples. Had a slow lunch….munching three apples and then took a short nap. In the later part of the afternoon, had an apple and a cup of herbal tea. Did some work on the internet and another round of apples for my dinner. All this while, sipping filtered water throughout the day.

As I blog now I have just snacked my last apple for the day. After this, going for my dry skin scrub before showering. How time flies huh….? Should I continue tomorrow? Nah…got a seminar to go to. Looks like I am REJUVENATED already!!!