Day 9 (Late)

So day 9 is complete!

I just wanted to go over the Yoga Meal with you guys as a recap.  Your assignment is to try 1 of these a day and it will be really be helpful, but as some of you may have found out can be a touch difficult to accomplish.  The Yoga Meal is comprised of a few different steps starting with:

1.) Sit down.
2.) Avoid distractions, no TV, cell phone, reading materials ect.
3.) Pause before eating.  Some say grace, some express gratitude, some just use the time to acknowledge their food.
4.) 2 handfuls of food at a time.  Finish this, wait 3-5 minutes then grab 2 more handfuls.  This helps us truly discover where our 2/3-3/4 full feeling is at.
5.) Completely chew and swallow each bite before taking another one.
6.) No talking with food in your mouth
7.) Wait until your food is completely digested (2-6 hours) before having another meal.  The time is based off of what you ate and the individual who ate it.

Keep up your practice, and your meditations.

Good luck!

Dave

Day 8

We made it to one full week!
Monica asked me a good question about practicing from home.  How can we do that?  I know that we all are working hard to get into a daily practice but sometimes our schedule just wont allow us to get into an instructed environment.  We can solve this problem by exploring our Sun Salutations A & B sequence :-)

Here is a poster PDF for Sun A and Sun B

Today we shall be going into more depth on the "Yoga Meal"

Look forward to seeing you!

Dave

Day 7

Yeehaw!  One week down!

So now that we all are eliminating potentially harmful parts of our diet and intake, its good to think of some things that are good to include in our daily meals!  Just remember G-BOMBS which is an acronym for:

Greens: Anti-Cancer properties, Promotes healthy eyesight and Circulatory systems, and reduces diabetes risk.

Beans:  Super good for digestion due to high fiber.

Onions:  More anti-cancer properties

Mushrooms:  Reduces estrogen related cancer risk, and normal cancer risk.

Berries: Super rich in antioxidents reducing inflammation in the whole body

Seeds: Reduces breast cancer risk, increases bodily absorption of other phytochemicals.

Here are some links to this info:

http://www.diseaseproof.com/archives/cat-cancer.html

http://www.diseaseproof.com/archives/healthy-food-gombbs-greens-onions-mushrooms-berries-beans-and-seeds.html

See you tomorrow!

Dave

Day 5 & 6

Good Evening!

Sorry for the great delay in postings.
How is everyone faring?  I've seen many of you in class working hard and looking great!  Day 6 is over now and I must say enough time has passed to notice some changes.  Some days are easy, some hard.  Keep working, allow for imperfection if you must and remember, START AGAIN.

I was asked by Garet for some recipes and he gave a great slow cooker recipe so I figured I would share some as well!

http://www.theglutenfreevegan.com/2012/03/the-vegetarian-chili-cliche/
http://main.kitchendaily.com/slow-cooker-recipes/gluten-free/vegetarian/
http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2008/09/slow-cooker-and-crock-pot-recipes.html

Feel free to comment and add some more!

All the love,
Dave

Day 4!

So the first three days are over,  how is everyone feeling?

I was totally staring at a lemon custard tart from the wedge today.  I even found myself justifying how I needed to eat it!  At that moment I closed my eyes, took a breath, and noticed my heart was racing!  Over time it calmed down and I moved on.  Just another example of how the mind tries to deceive us and how facing these edges helps us identify those thinking patterns.  Just remember that these sensations WILL change and keep working and not reacting :-)

So I was informed by a few of you that the caffeine withdrawals are kicking in.  My personal experience is to make sure you try and take a yoga class around those moments and see if that will change anything.  I can guarantee that it will help.  Also STAY HYDRATED.  Not only will this help with headaches, but also with sensations of hunger and stress on the body.  Eventually these sensations will quiet down and you will be able to identify real hunger and stress versus discomfort that our mind instills on us.

Keep working!
Keep smiling :-)

Dave

Day 3!

Hola Yogis!

Day 3 is now over!  So I was asked an interesting question by Mike about sweetners, even if they come from natural sources (evaporated cane juice) is that ok?  Unfortunately no.  This cleanse is interesting because it helps us open our eyes to how these 5 ingredients get snuck into many of the foods we eat,  especially processed foods.  Now some sweetners that are allowed because they are low glycemic or better for us are: Aguave nectar, Stevia leaf extract, and xylitol.

This is a cleanse based off of a book called "The Quantum Wellness Cleanse" by Kathy Freston.  I suggest we all pick this book up, but that's optional.  Here is a link to Kathy Freston's Website. 

Keep the questions coming and let me know if you have any concerns!

All the love,
Dave

Day 2

Hello Cleansers!

Pardon the lateness of this post Monday was a very busy day!

How goes your constitution?  Im sure now by day 2 you may be feeling some edges coming up.  I know my sweet tooth has been aching a bit.  Before I realized it I ate a fruit snack without thinking!  Just remember that if you happen to slip to not let yourself fall even deeper by giving up.  Rather than that, just start the wonderful mantra of "start again".  It usually helps to smile while you do it as a reminder that our mind has a tendency to drift and wander especially when feeling the stress of change.

Also I forgot to mention on day 1 to make sure to mark any weight change progress by weighing in every morning an evening.  Sometimes it will be up, sometimes down.  No judgement just observe the change.

Keep up the good work!

Feel free to post any recipes you know that are cleanse friendly on the blog to build some community!

Dave

Day 1: The Beginning!

Day 1

Jan 20th, 2013

Howdy Folks!

Day 1 of the cleanse BEGINS!

Here's some follow-up on what we went over today starting with what we are abstaining from and why.

Sugar:  Highly addictive, increases risk of type 2 diabetes, inflammatory to the body increasing risk of cancer and heart disease, causes rapid weight gain, stunts growth of the nervous system and is linked to learning disorders, depression, and dementia.

Alcohol: VERY hard on the liver, converts to sugar, addictive.

Caffeine: Very addictive, causes extreme fluctuations in energy, energy gained is not gained from the caffeine but from the liver's stored energy.

Gluten:  Hard on the digestive system, a high percentage of people are sensitive to gluten causing bloating, inflammation and other forms of pain which is usually misdiagnosed as other ailments,  high calorie/low nutritive value.

Animal Products:  Linked to all forms of cancer, and heart disease.  High calorie/ low nutritive value, and is against the yogic non-harming principle.

Now that that is out of the way that leaves pretty much nothing but the foods that nourish the body and allow it to thrive!  Here is a link to some recipes that Oprah provided when she went on the cleanse Oprah's recipes.

Remember, if you have any questions, concerns or comments to please e-mail me at DHernandez@lifetimefitness.com

Happy Cleansing!

Dave