First of all, if you aren’t familiar with what “My Personal Journey To Total Body Nourishment” is all about, read this post first.
It’s been 7 days since I officially started my healing journey!
I have already noticed positive changes in a couple aspects of my health. The most noticeable improvement is in my skin. My hives have subsided, my psoriasis hasn’t flared, and my acne has drastically reduced. I have no new skin breakouts which is amazing! With these conditions, they are chronic, but having a period of time where no new flares or breakouts happen is a big win.
The coolest part about these results so far is that they have solely been with food and lifestyle changes. The only thing topically that I have been doing for my skin is putting fresh aloe vera gel on my face in the morning. I wanted to do a bit of an experiment to stop all skincare and solely rely on nourishing my skin from the inside out. That means, other than the aloe vera gel, I’ve only been washing my face with water! I was using so many cleansers, oils, and creams on my skin when it started to get really bad and during this process I haven’t used any. The one exception is that I did use the Cocokind Chlorophyll Mask once and I also used moisturizer if my face was feeling dry – I believe it was only a few times, definitely not everyday. So this just goes to show that treating the skin topically is not always the answer. I also have much less inflammation in my face, you can see in the photos below. These photos were taken 7 days apart!
The second positive thing I have noticed so far is that I have been able to truly relax. In the past, even if I had a day off, I never took the day off. I was either responding to emails, writing content, making meal plans, etc. I did not know how to “unplug” even on the weekends. This week so far has shown me that the world keeps turning even if I don’t check my email inbox. Moving forward, I am going to have boundaries with my work. Being a business owner, it’s so easy to fall into that mindset of “I have to be creating, I can’t take time off” and wind up in this spiral of always feeling like you have to do something. I’m going to be more aware of my time and make sure I truly take days OFF because I know those days off will reset me to work even more intentional during my workdays.
The rebounding and infrared sauna sessions are both important and also key to getting the results I’ve gotten so far. Rebounding stimulates the lymphatic system and I only do it for about 4-5 minutes in the morning, but I do it daily. And the infrared sauna I did twice during the first week, and I feel like a million bucks after. Sweating is SO important for detoxification and I will be the first to admit, I don’t exercise like I should so I went a long time without breaking a sweat. My system was probably dying for a good sweat session. Infrared saunas are not like traditional steam saunas. They heat the body from the inside out rather that outside in. This is much more beneficial, so if you want to incorporate sauna sessions into your routine, I highly recommend finding a local spa that has infrared.
Now I’m sure you’re wondering by now… what the heck am I eating?!
I have been tracking everything I’ve been eating, what supplements I’m taking, how I feel, what I do that day, etc. in a journal so I can keep an eye on what’s working and what’s not.
So, I am sharing a few days with you so you get an idea of what a typical day looks like during this healing journey.
Tuesday, April 3:
- 16 oz. celery juice
- Smoothie: orange juice, banana, cilantro, mango, spirulina, hemp seeds
- Collard wraps: collard greens, detox pesto, tomato, cucumber, carrot
- Arugula with roasted sweet potato
- Dates with almond butter
- Cashews
- Nourishing Vegetable Broth
No supplements yet (beginning week 2)
Did oil pulling in the AM, rebounding for 5 minutes, and 30 minutes in an infrared sauna
Wednesday, April 4:
- 16 oz. celery juice
- Smoothie: water, romaine, watercress, orange, apple, banana, spirulina
- Collard wraps: collard greens, detox pesto, tomato, cucumber, carrot
- Handful of cashews + dates
- Cauliflower mash, roasted brussels sprouts, roasted sweet potato, + detox pesto
- Nourishing Vegetable Broth
- 2 dates with pecan butter
No supplements yet (beginning week 2)
Did oil pulling in the AM and 5 minutes of rebounding
Monday, April 9:
- Lemon water
- 16 oz. celery juice
- Smoothie: water, cilantro, wild blueberries, dulse, orange, spirulina, barley grass juice powder, raw honey, banana
- 16 oz. celery, kale, pear, + pineapple juice
- Salad: spinach, arugula, tomato, beets, avocado, radish, salt, pepper
- Almond flour crackers
- 2 dates with almond butter
Supplements = Vegan Safe B12, Thorne Cal-D-Glucarate, Thorne 5-MTHF, Gaia Herbs Vitex
Did oil pulling in the AM, 5 minutes of rebounding, walked a mile, read outdoors, journaled, and stretched.
I started with all the positive changes over the last week, but I’m also going to talk about what I’ve struggled with.
Saying NO.
There have been multiple social activities and invites I’ve gotten that I simply had to say no to. Not because I didn’t want to go, because in fact it was quite the opposite. But I know that if I’m going to get the most out of these 3 weeks, I need to go all-in. Focus all my energies into healing. Even if it means I miss out on a few things.
Feeling dizzy.
There were a couple times where I had extremely bad dizzy spells this past week. And I was struggling with this before I started this healing journey. I had my eyes checked and it doesn’t have to do with my vision (I’m still 20/20!) so my next step is to find an ENT and get my ears checked to see if that can be the culprit. Not giving up on figuring this one out!
Being physically tired.
Although my mental energy seems to be at a peak this week, my physical energy is low, which I know is because of detoxing. I don’t feel super strong, and I get tired around 7pm in the evenings, but I knew this would be the case so I’m not worried about it at all. My energy will pick up as I go on!
I am very excited with what I’ve been experiencing so far and it gives me hope for the next two weeks. I know a lot of these positive changes has to do with the fact that I am not working. I have had each and every day over the last week to fill my soul as well as consume tons of fresh food and allow my body to go through this detox process. Relaxing and incorporating all these changes is making the difference.
Looking forward to starting week 2 and I will share another update in 7 days!
With joy and health,
