Life After Detox

"Cleansing." It's downright fashionable nowadays, in any fitness-minded or nutrition-oriented conversation. Just dash off the term--I'm going on a cleanseor Can't come to dinner Friday. I'm cleansing--and they'll all know what you mean, or think they do.

"Cleansing" ought to mean the same thing as cleaning, or cleaning out, but it doesn't seem to when it comes to the body. Now, me--when I clean my office or living room, it's all about getting things out. Dirt. Dust bunnies. Old magazines. Junk. I don't put anything in. And so should it be with bodily "cleansing." Such "cleansing," for all too many, means buying a box at your health food store, drugstore, or supermarket. Inside the box is a jar, canister, bottle of some kind, containing a powder, a liquid, something. Read the directions. Mix it. Eat or drink it, and ... you're cleansed.

You can't cleanse without stuff, industry tells us. Got to have this "miracle," this "super" cleansing stuff. 

Cleansing for me means three things. Thing one--it means less. It means getting out, not putting more in. Thing two--it means using a safe, time-tested method and not some "latest gimmick." Third--it means to stay as raw as possible. So your cleansing might be a juice fast. Maybe a water fast. Sometimes, a green smoothie cleanse, or even a predesigned program put together by seasoned raw food experts. Such cleansing also includes healing of your digestive system. For more information, read Cleansing and Digestive Issues.

So you did a cleanse. Now what?

The thing about our office and our living room is: Dirt and dust bunnies and old magazines come back over time. Cleaning is not permanent. The same is true of bodily cleansing. 

How unclean your house or your body becomes, after your cleaning or cleansing respectively, depends on what you do. Cleansing this week is not a license to drink Coca-Cola or eat Mac and Cheese next week.

I believe wholeheartedly in cleansing and have made it an integral part of my raw food lifestyle. But what do I do, or you do when the fast or the cleanse is done? That's where the rubber really meets the road.

Cleansing, please know, can be as unpleasant as it is beneficial. You might experience detox issues. Don't use your next cleanse as an excuse to retreat into old habits. Use it, rather, as the opportunity to upgrade your diet and to start or improve on your exercise program. Use it, in particular, as a tool to eliminate some crappy--yes, that's what I said--foods permanently. 

The time after a cleanse is just as important as, and maybe even more important than, the cleanse itself. After detox, please don't retox! Once your cleanse is done, up the ante. Make some changes toward increasing your health and your commitment. 

Now is the perfect time to advance your progress and begin gradually incorporating Quantum Eating principles. Picture how it is when you clean a messy house with years of accumulated rubbish. At first, the effort expended is huge, and the mess gets worse before it gets better. Each day afterward, though, it gets easier. Doesn't it make much more sense simply to devote a little time each day to maintenance? Do that steadily, and you'll never have to go through that mess again! Your house, for the most part, will stay clean. It is much the same with your body. An extra bonus: the next time you do a cleanse your detox symptoms will likely be less bothersome.

Cleansing works when you follow it as a lifestyle, rather than as a sporadic "fix."  I used to fast regularly, 36 hours every week. Since adopting the Quantum Eating method, however, I no longer find it necessary. Why? Because fasting and cleansing are inherent to the QE lifestyle. Juice daily, avoid eating in the evening, and you'll find you easily maintain the progress you made when you went through the effort of a cleanse. No more yo-yoing back and forth--which is outright harmful to the body in the long run. With a Quantum Eating lifestyle, your juicing and periods of abstinence are built right in. Follow it, and from then on you don't have to go on a special cleanse at all. You are in fact living a cleanse. We age daily ... why not cleanse daily?

Cleansing is a necessary part of eliminating years of built-up toxins and waste that the body must deal with daily. Quantum Eating is your way of keeping these from accumulating all over again. Learn the basics. Maintain the progress you have made, and move beyond. No time like the present to get started!

Answering Your Questions

Q: Who can practice Quantum Eating program? 

A: Everyone can benefit from skipping the evening meal, but women in their childbearing years should not be restricting calories. 

It's important to educate yourself before making any changes in your lifestyle. Be sure you know what you're doing. How Not to Start the Raw Food Diet.

Q:  Are any of your books available in Russian? I want my Mom to read them.

A:   I have many Russian-speaking readers. Good news, my first book, Your Right to Be Beautiful: Miracle of Raw Foods, is nearly ready for publication in Russian. What's more, we've launched our new Russian website: http://чудосыроедения.рф/

Maybe you have Russian-speaking relatives who don't know enough English...I invite you to invite them to visit our new Russian website. It's in its developmental stage now, but in the future, I'm determined to make this website a valuable resource for Russian speaking people, where they can find an abundance of information about the far-reaching possibilities of the raw foods lifestyle.

If you speak Russian, I need your help! Please, take part in the forums. Write about your personal experience with raw foods. Share your raw food knowledge with first time visitors. Newcomers are in need of your encouragement and support.

Q:  Tonya, will you do a DVD on Facial Exercises?

A:   I've made every effort to make the pictures in my Rawsome Flex book self-explanatory and the directions easy to follow. Surely, I would have made a profit on such a DVD, but I haven't created it. Why? Because I don't think it's necessary. 

To perform facial exercises, at least initially, requires effort. To you, it might look like an arduous task to master. Naturally, you might be thinking, a DVD would make it easier for you. But it will not. After all, how much can you learn about riding a bike by watching the DVD instructions? My facial exercises are very simple, but remembering and mastering them, gaining familiarity with your own face, will still require a lot of discipline.

You'll find that to refresh on an exercise, opening a small book is more convenient. Plus, a DVD may even be a distraction because I don't want you to watch me doing the exercises. You should be watching yourself in the mirror. Feel how your facial muscles contract and relax, how the fresh blood is rushed to your skin and underlying tissues. Creating an awareness of your own face, that is what will make a difference how effective the facial fitness will become for you. Often it is closing your eyes that proves to be the most helpful. Go inside yourself and become an observer of these subtle muscle movements.

I suggest you learn by doing. Start gently. Adapt my techniques to your own face. Your own bodily sensations should be your guide--no need to mimic the visual exactly. If you've been following my work, you know I always discourage you from following exactly what I do, or exactly what someone else does. I only share my ideas and always leave space for you to explore and grow on your own.