SPRING CLEANING!
Detoxing your mind, body and home.
Part 1 -Education

Consider me your “detoxing diva” or “the queen of cleansing”. I’ve spent countless hours, not only researching all types of cleanses, but doing them too. Many people have come to me asking all sorts of questions about detoxing so I’ve decided to create a 3 WEEK DETOX CHALLENGE SERIES . So many people suffer on a daily basis and wonder why they’re chronically tired, have headaches, are anxious and/or depressed, are congested or have allergies, have chronic acne, aches and pains, dis-ease type A, B or C…. I really could go on forever, but these are the most common complaints. And they are things that I’ve suffered with myself! But it became my mission to figure out where these things stem from and to do something about it.

WHY DO WE NEED TO DETOX OUR BODIES? Well first and foremost, our worlds are more toxin-filled than ever before and it’s causing us to be sicker than ever; we need to do something about it if we want to have a long, healthy, good quality life. Our foods are filled with too many pesticides, herbicides, hormones, antibiotics, sweeteners, artificial colors & preservatives… is that enough? How about the facts that our SOIL isn’t as nutrient rich as it once was or our AIR isn’t as clean as it should be? Our WATER is severely contaminated. Oh, and one more thing… did you know that our largest organ is our skin? It is an extremely porous membrane, highly sensitive to toxic chemicals. Think about all of the things you put on your largest organ that are toxin-filled; soap, shampoo, deodorant, perfume, make-up & lotions. It’s proven that what we put on our skin affects our health more than what we put into our mouths & that the carcinogens in beauty products create greater cancer risks than eating contaminated food. Add in daily stresses, alcohol and bad habits like (or even minor exposure to) cigarettes and you’ve got plenty of reason to detox!

Isn’t our liver supposed to do that for us? Sure, our liver has enzymes that somewhat detoxifies the things that we eat. But with the noxious overload that we are experiencing on a daily basis, toxins build up in our bodies and even cling to fat cells, making them harder to get rid of. And if you’re not eating enough cleansing foods, such as fiber, it’s even harder for your body to efficiently move waste through your intestines. What happens when toxins build up in your body? Well, aside from the physical and less severe issues like bloating, indigestion & acne, tumors can develop and your body becomes a breeding ground for all sorts of dis-ease like cancer, diabetes & even arthritis. Not to mention the mental issues that may occur like anxiety & depression! Your body, your organs & your cells are super powerful, but they cannot do what nature intended them to do when suppressed. Over time, their powerful abilities can even end up buried forever. Trust me, the toxins need to go and they need to go now! And THEN we can work on lessening the toxic load in your world over-all.

“Therapeutic fasting & cleansing is not a magical or mystical cure. It works because the body has within it the capacity to heal when the obstacles to healing are removed.”

“When the disease-causing stresses are removed, the natural healing and self-repairing powers of the body begin to work unhindered. Within a short period of time, allergic & mucus filled individuals clear their nasal passages, asthmatics breathe easier, arthritis sufferers report their pain is resolving and cardiac patients begin to have increased circulation to their hearts. HEALING has begun.”
Both quotes are excerpts from Dr. Joel Fuhrman, M.D. ‘s book
Fasting & Eating for Health

I find it best to cleanse with the change of the seasons, 4 times per year is preferable. For some people that may be unrealistic, so at the very least, you should cleanse once per year. For the women, I’ve also noticed it easier to cleanse around menstruation. I tend to lose my appetite on that first day & why not cleanse while your body is naturally cleansing and rejuvenating? This should normally also be a time when you are resting more. I know that sometimes our lives are too busy & hectic and while that’s okay, it’s imperative to always make time for your body & mind to relax and restore itself. For many people, cleansing is also a great time for introspection, visualization, meditation and yoga practices and it’s common to have a “spiritual breakthrough” of sorts. I happened to lose my writers block on day 8 of cleansing! You become more clear minded, and rightfully so.

Other holistic therapies like massage, reflexology, aromatherapy and colonics do help aid in the detoxing process, but I suggest you start slowly. If you are “super toxic” (drink coffee & alcohol everyday, eat processed/contaminated foods, smoke, wear many body products) you might have a harder time cleansing and may experience many side effects. Adding other therapies may make you detox too fast and increase these symptoms. It IS recommended to do things like “body brushing” or “tongue scraping” to aid detoxing and these are also less harsh. If you feel that you aren’t as “super toxic”, perhaps a weekly massage (not too deep!) will be fine. I’ve actually caught a fever a few times after a massage because it released what toxins were built up in my body! Couple that in while your doing a cleanse & in my opinion, it’s too much, too fast.

Many side effects during a cleanse will mimic allergies or being sick. This is natural and essential to go through. Increased mucus production (even not during a cleanse) is your body’s way of naturally washing away infected cells & removing virus particles from the body. A fever even means the body is hard at work activating white blood cells that are made to seek out & destroy invading viruses! (You may want to think about these things the next time you are sick; perhaps fasting or cleansing is really what the doctor should order instead of filling you with more toxins.) Not everyone experiences such severe symptoms, but it is important that you are aware of what’s going on inside your body. By the second or 3rd day, you may not even experience many symptoms at all, not even hunger! There are things you can do the week before your cleanse to prepare yourself properly and ease the uncomfortable-ness.

WHAT KIND OF CLEANSE SHOULD I DO? There are a quite a few different ways to go about detoxing your body and what works for one individual may not work for others. There are Juice Fasts, Raw Food Diets and Algae Capsules to name a few that I have done. There are also very specific cleanses like a Liver Cleanse, a Gallbladder Cleanse, etc. What you want to do first is establish your purpose for cleansing and your personal goals; look at your lifestyle and your schedule and decide which will best suit you. It’s advised to work under the care of someone who knows what they are doing, like a holistic doctor, health counselor, wellness coach and even some personal trainers. Many factors come into play when planning a proper cleanse or fast.

In closing to part one, my Yogi Tea very smartly told me today, “There is nothing more precious than the self.” We only get one body in this lifetime; so let’s make it the best it can be!

In Love & Health,

Tara Marie ♥

Your home is the heart of your world and your kitchen is the heart of your home, so it only makes sense to keep it as healthy as possible! There’s no room for processed junk food that causes stagnant energy and has no nutritional value. I take great pride in my kitchen. It’s super clean, well organized… and best of all, it’s abundant with foods and things that nourish me. My cabinets are virtually empty aside from cooking products, some organic pasta (some people just can’t give up their pasta!), organic soup, some nut butters and some tortilla chips (I make the BEST healthy nachos!). I have a section for my organic coffees and teas (I LOVE my TEA!). I have a section for all of my whole-food supplements, herbs and tonics. Lastly, I have a section for my kitties, and even their stuff is high-quality, organic foods, treats and catnip!

I mention this because what most people have in their cabinets is JUNK. PROCESSED JUNK. If there are a boatload of ingredients in something (most of which we can’t even pronounce) it shouldn’t be consumed… period. And you have to be careful too, because many companies are trying to jump on the “health food bandwagon” and label their foods as natural, when in fact they’re NOT. Yes, unfortunately they can say whatever they want on the label.

To make this very simple for you, I’m going to repeat something that I’ve heard from many healthy people and health counselors over the years and follow this myself. SHOP [predominantly] THE PERIMETER OF THE SUPERMARKET. How simple is that? The perimeter has all of your fresh produce, your fresh poultry and seafood, your dairy and breads; the main staples of the food pyramid. Think about what’s in the aisles? Chips, soda, cookies, crackers, boxed, processed desserts and snacks! Other than condiments and some cooking/baking supplies (which you don’t need every time you shop), there’s virtually NO reason to be going into these sabotaging aisles! And that’s exactly what they are…. sabotaging your health and your family’s health.

If you only shop at places like Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods, then you are already a bit ahead of the game, but you still need to be mindful of what you’re buying. I would say that most healthy foods end up in the refrigerator, so I will help paint the picture of your very own “health food vending machine”. You want to keep your fresh food snacks at EYE LEVEL. Often they get shoved in the crisper and forgotten about! The crisper DOES help keep your fruits and veggies a little colder, but try to PRE-CUT some and put them in containers for easy grabbing. Nut butters and nuts last much longer when chilled and I almost always have some hummus and organic salsa on hand! For my non-vegan friends, you can add a few hard-boiled eggs, organic yogurt and cheese, and some pre-grilled organic chicken for a quick protein boost! I add pre-grilled, organic chicken to a quick sandwich or salad and I even chop it up and put in on my famous nachos! Try your hardest to avoid salty and nitrate filled deli meats and cheeses as these processed foods are bad for your heart, are linked to cancer and are especially dangerous if your pregnant!

As far as drinks go, it is IMPERATIVE that you avoid soda. The dangers are enough for a whole separate article. Juice is even too high in sugar but if you MUST buy juice, be sure it doesn’t have high fructose corn syrup or a host of other ingredients. The least amount of ingredients something has… the better. If milk is a staple for you, please be sure it is organic! All of those antibiotics & hormones that go into the cattle are also in their milk. These antibiotics and hormones are severely screwing with our genes and our health, so ORGANIC IS A MUST. All I pretty much drink throughout the day is water, and you can make it fun by adding some fruit or mint sprigs to it! Instead of buying plastic water bottles, just use reusable, BPA FREE water bottles that you can take with you wherever you go. You can even brew some of your favorite herbal teas and chill them for when you want something different.

Here’s a quick, time saving tip that I use: Sunday or Monday night when I make dinner, I use THAT time to cook some EXTRA chicken, chop some EXTRA veggies, hard boil some eggs, etc. I then have it all done in one shot and ready to go for the week! Not to mention that pretty much everything I cook takes about 20-30 minutes tops. You can use one night per week to cook up some soup, sauce, pasta or rice and store them in meal sized containers for those nights when you come home late from work. Cooking everything in one night doesn’t take as long as you may think and this way you also only have one set of dishes to do!

I had recently posted a quote from a health booklet I received: “REDEFINE YOUR GOALS: If you’ve been trying to lose weight and are struggling, make it your goal to get superbly healthy, well nourished, fit and energetic instead. Don’t be surprised when the excess weight starts falling off.” This isn’t about dieting, people; it’s about getting healthy. When the inside of you is thriving, the outside starts to glow. Your skin will look better than ever, you will have more energy and your mind will become more clear and focused. Who doesn’t want that?

“Let thy food be thy medicine”. ~Hippocrates.

I LOVE my healthy haven. I feel good knowing that everything I cook is made with health and love. And when I eat or drink, I try to imagine my cells being nourished and imagine health flowing throughout my body. When used in combination, the MIND and BODY can create magnificent changes.

In love and health,

Tara Marie ♥

It is through our life experiences that we gain knowledge, wisdom and strength, and if we didn’t struggle or suffer, there would be no way to learn from our mistakes or appreciate what’s really GOOD.

I once came across a very profound quote, “You teach best what you most need to learn”. Some people use their past traumas and life experiences to be able to help as many people as they can. Think of the addiction counselor that was once an addict or the cancer survivor that counsels cancer patients… the list could go on, and who better to help than someone who has gone through and sincerely KNOWS what it feel like! Even better is that these people not only know what it feels like, but they know how to survive, thrive and make the best of their lives.

I have been through so much in my short life and the truth of the matter is that everyone struggles and suffers at some degree, and everyone has a story, a journey that they went through from the time they were born until now. I’ve learned that the answer truly lies in HOW YOU REACT to the hurdles that come at you, how you handle them that can make all the difference in your world.

I am by no means perfect, in fact, I struggle quite often! But going back to, “You teach best what you most need to learn”, is that I believe I am so incredibly drawn to holistic living, nutrition, fitness, yoga, meditation, positivism and imagery because I, beyond a doubt NEED it. And I believe with all my heart and soul that EVERYONE needs these things; you don’t have to be a hippie or “metro-sexual” or religious to practice yoga, meditation & holistic nutrition!

“Wellness is not a luxury, it is a necessity.”

Everyone in his or her divine right deserves to live the very best quality life possible & after all, why wouldn’t you want to? We all deserve to thrive with energy & glow from the inside out. If given the tools to look your absolute best, feel healthy & vigorous and truly BE the very best version of yourself, would you use them? We shouldn’t need any convincing, it should be a priority! Like I said, IT’S YOUR DIVINE RIGHT to be the person nature intended you to be… disease & stress free.

I have overcome physical obstacles that so many people suffer with such as severe acne, allergies, lethargy and stomach troubles to mental obstacles like abuse, addiction, anxiety and depression. These things are extremely common and believe it or not some of which, RELATED. I have learned the correlation between issues like these and so many others as well. There are simple changes you can make to your diet, your lifestyle and your thinking that will have a tremendously positive impact on you AND on those around you.

I have dedicated more than 10 years of my life to reading, writing and re-searching so many health topics and concerns that I or someone I knew has endured.  It is my passion to figure out the rhyme or reason something physical or mental occurs and how to fix it. Am I medical doctor? No. Did I go through many years of expensive colleges? No. I did, however go through the school of life. I learned from every experience and re-searched the cause and effects of my experiences obsessively! And whenever a topic comes up that I’m not familiar with, I make it a point to learn as much about it as I can.

There was a time that I thought I would be a substance abuse counselor. There was a time I thought I was meant to help troubled teens and abused women. I then discovered holistic living and all of the amazing benefits it brings. Year after year, chapter after chapter of my life, I went through different things, struggled, endured, learned and thrived. I love how the school of life has taught me so much and how no matter what I’ve gone through, I’ve ALWAYS known that I was meant to help people, I was put here to LOVE.

“Nobody in this world is perfect, but we ARE all perfectly beautiful human beings and we ALL are in need of a little guidance.”

All we can do is make it a point to do our very best every day (and some days our best is better than others and that’s okay!).  If the day ends and you’re not happy with the way it went, all you can do is LET IT GO. Right now and tomorrow you have a chance to change your life. The choice is yours. We all deserve to live a truly vibrant, relaxed & peaceful lifestyle, no matter what walk of life we come from, no matter what our jobs may be & no matter what traumas we may have been through. It IS achievable… sometimes all we need is a little guidance.

In Love & Health,

Tara Marie ♥

A little bit about me:

I have been working in the Salon, Spa & Wellness Industry for 10 years; I’ve worked & trained with the largest spa company in the world in England & for a world-renowned Cruise Line; I recently graduated as a Holistic Health Counselor/Health Coach & hold additional certifications through The State University of NY & The American Association of Drugless Practitioners; I have plans to attain additional holistic health/fitness related degrees in the near future; I have a very clear vision of creating a personal holistic health based business & I am currently writing my first book.

My mission:

It is my mission to spread as much knowledge & LOVE as I can through my writing & health counseling services. In my opinion, there is nothing more important in this world than being healthy, happy & thriving.

Don’t you want to LOOK your very best, FEEL your very best & BE the very best version of yourself? What would that look like? Take a minute and think about it. What does it look like to GLOW, to THRIVE, to feel LOVE through everything? Imagine ABUNDANCE, ENERGY & HAPPINESS in your life because it’s there for the taking.

Every single person on this planet deserves to live their very best life possible & if you stick with me, I can show you how! There are many small, yet extremely profound changes you can make to your diet, your lifestyle & even your thinking that can lead you to your very own personal bliss.

I’m excited for you to take this journey with me!

In Love & Health,

Tara Marie ♥