sdmmike wrote:I started the Fit for Life program on Sunday of this week. Right now I'm in the middle of day 4 and I feel great. I haven't had any of the detox symptoms yet; maybe I'll be one of the lucky ones and avoid them.
Good luck with not having any detox symptoms... lol, but expect them because they're going to hit. Nobody is exempt from a detox when starting FFL, even the Dali Lama! I'm sure he could use a cleanse too! lol. (er... hmmmm.. dont know if I should post that.... dont think I need all the email that comment is going to generate... hmmmm.)
sdmmike wrote:The only problem I am having so far is that I seem to be very tired in the mornings. We've done a pretty good job of sticking to the diet, but for some reason I've had a harder time getting out of bed in the morning. Has anyone else out there experienced that? Is this normal?
Yep .. being tired is a sign of detox / cleansing and repair. It's your body saying "shut down for awhile, I need some sleep to get through this". It's totally normal. You've read the book right? he outlines what to expect from the introduction of the natural food diet.
drink more water too. I was just telling a buddy who's going to quit smoking to drink more water and celery because of the detox he's going to go through when he quits. Plus it's a good way to exchange habits.. reach for water instead of a cigarette. He thinks he's exempt too. Lol, he said that he could use the few pounds he's going to gain and I said, "ya but it's water retention, so you'll look puffy all over ... it's not muscle dude"
when you begin to cleanse, your body begins to release toxins. They enter the blood stream for elimination. They come out the colon, the bladder, the breath and especially the skin. The skin is the largest cleansing organ we have and it works especially hard to get rid of toxins and more so if the kidneys and bowels aren't up to the sudden increase.
while all the toxins are flowing through the blood, the body then says "whoa... I want to be Alkaline and this crap is all acidic.. I'm becoming too acidic.. I have to lower that acidity, so I'll store some water so that it's more diluted" .. and so it does. Weight gain is certainly possible during the cleanse because of the water. It's one of the reasons people gain weight after quitting smoking. Not the only reason, but certainly one of them.
I advise people to drink more water plus eat more high water content vegetables like celery and cucumber. Celery is especially good because it's alkaline and a negative calorie food. It takes more energy to digest it than it provides... so eat away.
When I used to coach people about Fit For Life, I'd tell them to take the first few weeks or month to relax and get to bed early. Get some extra sleep, take it easy in the gym.. really easy, but increase walking while focusing on the deep breathing. Walking helps move the Lymph system and the deep breathing (right down to the bottom of the lungs) helps increase oxygen in the blood too.
And something else you will soon notice is a change in bowel movements, possibly but not limited to constipation, diarrhea plus changes in consistency and color. Yuck. I know.. but someone has to say it!
Keep us in the loop would you please