Inside Out
A new you
By Cory QuirinoPhilippine Daily Inquirer
(Part 1)
Call it holiday fatigue, both physically and emotionally.
Once you feel the fullness of the holiday season, what with all the excesses of celebrating, it’s time to take full control. Now.
A new renewed, revitalized you—is it possible? For as long as you are living and breathing, yes! You can feel the benefits after seven days if you embark on a wellness regimen today.
The secrets? Cleanse and boost. Just two words. But it requires commitment. So how committed are you?
Toxic buildup
It’s inevitable. There is toxicity in the air we breathe plus the food and drink we consume. Despite the advances in medicine, disease is still rampant and rising at an alarming rate. It has been noted that in first-world countries, where food is plentiful and nutritional deficiencies absent, lifestyle diseases like cancer and heart problems are prevalent. And in third-world countries, majority of the population is afflicted by malnutrition and infectious diseases. The lifestyle and diet of the western world have greatly influenced the Asian culture. Thus, today, the same degenerative diseases are commonplace.
Victims of excess
That’s right. We are really guilty somehow, sometime in our lives, of doing too much, going overboard and not heeding the inner warning signal we all hear. With people chasing after time, the tendency is to cram it all into a space we call our lives.
And so the grab-and-go mentality manages us. This is how it works: Get up early, rush through breakfast (or skip it altogether). In fact, others may even forget to shower, wash their faces or brush their teeth. Arrive at work with stomach acids building up and adrenaline rushing through your body.
Plunge into meetings and presentations, etc., which run past the regular meal hours. Meanwhile you’re on coffee overload, having downed four cups by now. Then you gulp down your meal while hardly chewing it. The rest of the day is more work until evening. You unwind with a glass or more of wine or hard liquor or binge on it because you feel entitled to it. Hunger pangs overtake you and a plateful isn’t enough to satisfy your cravings.
Sounds familiar? For the married woman, it’s a more complicated form of stress. Between managing a household and office while attending to the family’s needs, the demands are burdensome indeed on the nervous system.
The results of accommodating twice as much demands into our everyday lives by using shortcut methods can be devastating: no exercise time; eat anything you see; while on the road, sleep less. All these will eventually lead to hypertension, chronic fatigue syndrome, cardiovascular problems, cancer, fatty liver, diabetes, etc.
Spring cleaning
To banish the mold and mildew of the winter of our excesses, we need to do some spring cleaning. In short, detoxify, cleanse, unload. A buildup of excess waste and toxins accumulated over the years can be removed through a health regimen.
Remove anything from your ref that has not been freshly picked. This includes holiday leftovers. It’s more than just cooked food. It’s dead in the nutrients and enzymes. For all you know it’s already moldy. Throw it out. Keep as far away as possible from anything sweet and sugary. Add fresh fruits and vegetables, fish, herbal teas, ginger, garlic, sugar beet, coconut.
Trivia: Recent studies indicate that any food you crave has already become an allergen. This means your body has developed an intolerance to it.
To do:
Yes to water. Drink freshly squeezed fruit and vegetable juices. (Nothing canned or bottled) This is because you want to avoid the hidden sugars.
Avoid sugar in any form for 30 days. Try it one day at a time. This means you will not eat any cake, chocolate or candy. Enrol in any form of exercise. Commit yourself to any kind of physical activity. Walk, run, bike, dance, swim, etc. Try 20, then 30 up to 45 minutes daily. It’s the repeated, regular movement you need.
Try a trampoline. It is the best workout I have ever experienced. Just 10 minutes of bouncing will warm you up, work out your heart and lungs and give your lymphatic system a big boost. As soon as you begin bouncing, the toxins in your body are pushed out through the lymph, the traveling liquid garbage collector which collects all the toxic waste, especially what’s stuck in your liver and kidneys. You work up a sweat and this is perfect. After the trampoline, do the treadmill for 30 minutes. And you’re done!
Cut back on the portions or servings you place on your plate. Get rid of the expression which you have long used as an excuse to overeat: “Anyway, it’s the holidays!” That is license to abuse your body.
Whatever stresses, hurts, disappointments you experienced during the year, let it go. Unload the mind and heart of all that has weighed it down and held it hostage. It’s time to lighten the load. Make room for newness in your life by clearing out the space within you.
Affirm today: “New year, new me.”
Love and light!
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