HELLO!
It’s such a pleasure to be embarking on this 5 week journey with you - and the first thing we want to say is THANK YOU.
Of course we thank you for being here, but most of all, thank you for all the work you do on yourself - for getting to this place where you’re exploring your health, and looking after your body & mind in the way that you are :)
It isn’t easy to cultivate that desire to take good care of yourself, and it’s even harder to show up for it and make it happen, but we’ve all made it far, and to be on this path together with you is an honour :)
It can be super confronting - creating this new relationship with ourselves and our health. It challenges a lot of our beliefs and ideas about ourselves & the world, particularly subconsciously - it can feel so weird at times…
But this way of relating to life is a portal to rich & deep experiences whilst here on earth, and we want to thank you for all that you’ve done to get yourself here.
LETS GET IT STARTED!
So let’s start looking at the more practical side of things.
Food - our ingestion during the course is the primary tool we’re using to cleanse and detoxify the body. Throughout the course you’ll be learning about some of the different systems and organs that we’ll be working on, this will be through video content each week.
To begin with, this first week is about locking in our diet, adding more hydration, and removing the foods that we’re aiming to avoid during the course.
These first 7 days we’re looking to bring intention to what, and how we eat. Really taking care of our intake - preparing our bodies & minds to go deeper into detoxification in the weeks to come.
This is a very important preliminary step for moving deeper into detoxification, so that we don’t shock or stress the body, going into detox should be a nice smooth transition, and this first week is to adjust the body for us to move deeper.
We’ll start with the foods that we’re looking to avoid for the duration of the course:
Caffeine.
Seed oils.
Alcohol.
Gluten & yeasts.
Refined sugar.
Refined grains.
Animal foods - dairy, eggs, meat & fish.
Corn. (Raw / steamed / boiled in salads is okay - but needs to be non GMO & organic).
Soy.
No cooked oils (cold pressed organic olive oil or coconut oil can be used for salad dressings).
Cutting these out for the duration of the course is going to produce best results, but we do know that it isn’t always possible, do your best, don’t stress or beat yourself up, because that’s not at all useful, just do what you can!
AN
EXAMPLE
DAY
(FIRST WEEK)
1L of lemon water before anything else. Followed by 1L of green juice. Then 1L of smoothie, or snacking on plenty of fruits until lunch.
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Lunch: a big salad with some chickpeas, dill, cucumber, iceberg lettuce, cabbage, hemp hearts, tomato, grated carrot & sprouts, all dressed with a mixture of olive oil, apple cider vinegar, lime, cumin, honey, salt & pepper.
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Dinner: Baked sweet potatoes filled with hummus (made without seed oils) & topped with alfalfa sprouts, some steamed asparagus or broccoli, and a big leafy green salad.
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Water throughout the day (wait 60-90 minutes after lunch and dinner before drinking, and try not to drink with meals, instead, drink water up until 20-30 minutes before eating).
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Herbal teas in the afternoon - between lunch and dinner, and in the evenings after dinner.
PREPARATION IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS
So, one of the keys to your success during these weeks is going to be your preparation & organisation.
Always having enough of everything you need at home to make all of your food & juices will make your life SO much easier. It’s so hard to make the best choices when you don’t have what you need. Having to go out to the shops everyday because you forgot something, or ran out of something is tiresome - you’re already expending a lot of energy and willpower with the changes you’re making, and it’s important you don’t make things overly difficult by not having what you need.
Prepare your juices ahead of time, for today & the next day, especially if you have work early in the morning. Cook extra sweet potatoes or chickpeas to have in the fridge for the next day if you know you’re busy. Or again, prepare your lunch/dinner the evening before so you have it ready, because when you’re tired or stressed, making the best choices is difficult if you haven’t already organised it for yourself.
Plan ahead, make shopping lists of what you need, know which days you’ll have time to do your shopping, and which places you need to go.
Another important tip that can help both with time & money is buying in bulk.
You’ll be using a lot of apples, cucumbers, carrots, oranges & celery (maybe pineapple too if you can find a good source) - so it can be a good idea to seek out places that you can buy in bulk - you may be able to find markets, wholesalers or stores that can sell you produce by the box, which will make things cheaper than going to the supermarket for everything.
Do a google search for wholesalers/markets in your area, as well as for middle eastern, Asian/Indian & Mexican owned/run grocery or convenience stores, as they’re often much more friendly, and tend to be helpful when it comes to doing business and helping you out. This was the case for me when I lived in the UK, it saved me a lot of money, and I always had a great time meeting & interacting with the people there.
Speak to the staff/manager, make it be known that you want X amount of oranges, or a box of celery, often they’ll sort it out for you, and you’ll save time & money.
Make sure, or at least try, to keep your fridge always clean and organized. Having a nice visual experience every time you open up your fridge will make you feel inspired and more connected to the process. Digestion starts with your eyes!
Structuring our food throughout the day.
You may want to eat some more fruit 60-90 minutes before eating your lunch if you’re not used to eating large volumes of food. This will help you feel more satisfied, and should also help with sweet cravings.
If you find yourself getting hungry after lunch before your dinner, add more of those denser foods like potatoes, sweet potatoes, lentils or chickpeas to your lunch.
Dinner again should include a salad, but this time with more cooked foods, you can use any of the cooked foods on the list of 250 foods from Ollie's ebook.
Let’s have a look at how we’re aiming to order our meals throughout the day during the course.
We’re looking to move from least to most dense foods throughout the day, as this will keep our digestive system moving most effectively, and will also impart this cleaning/hydrating/brushing effect on the intestines that I talk about in the video.
We’ll share some meal/day examples below, but practically, this means:
Each morning starting the day with 1L of lemon water - 1 lemon (or equivalent of lime) per litre, or more if you desire - feel how your body reacts to it, lemons and limes are great detoxifiers, 1 lemon may be enough, or you may notice your body craving more, try to find what feels best for you.
Next moving onto juices, fruits & smoothies:
We’re aiming for 1L of juice each day as a minimum, this is the first part of our breakfast. Then moving on to smoothies or fruits.
Drinking juices before (separate from) fruits & smoothies. Drink/eat (chew) smoothies by themselves, and eat fruits by themselves.
When eating fruits, use the fruit combining chart for your combinations, and also explore eating MONO MEALS sometimes (see below) - for a deeper cleansing effect from what you eat.
Lunch this first week should be a salad - with some cooked foods, or completely raw - it’s up to you. It’s important you make sure you’re eating enough (see below). Steamed/roasted veggies and some carbs like potatoes, sweet potatoes, lentils or chickpeas
*mono meals & eating enough.
A mono meal means eating just one type of fruit as a meal.
The best fruits to mono meal are water rich, & detoxifying fruits, such as: oranges/mandarins/tangerines/grapefruit, pineapples, grapes, papayas, watermelon/other melons, pears & apples.
Mono meals act as great gut & lymphatic cleansers - when a fruit interacts with the body alone, without being mixed with another fruit, the unique properties of that fruit (think enzymes, level of acidity, mineral/vitamin balance etc.) can have its own unique effect on the body. When we mix multiple fruits, we may have access to a wider variety of nutrients in one meal, but when we eat a mono meal, the cleansing properties of that fruit can have greatest effect.
In regards to eating enough, here's a little example to think about. 100g of watermelon has around 30 calories, whilst 100g of whole wheat bread has around 250 calories. So comparatively, you’d have to eat 800g of watermelon to get the same amount of calories contained within 100g of bread, quite a difference… when eating whole foods, especially fruits, you have to eat A LOT more than you might be used to.
START THE DAY WITH 1L LEMON WATER
1L OF ANY TYPE OF JUICE (CELERY, GREEN, ORANGE, ETC)
FRUITS OR SMOOTHIE (EAT FRUITS OR DRINK A LARGE SMOOTHIE THROUGH OUT THE MORNING, KEEP YOURSELF SATISFIED)
LUNCH: SALAD WITH COOKED FOODS OR FULLY RAW
DINNER: SALAD WITH COOKED FOODS, CAN INCLUDE SOUPS
IF YOU’RE FINDING YOURSELF FEELING HUNGRY BETWEEN LUNCH AND DINNER, YOU NEED TO EAT BIGGER PORTIONS OR INCLUDE MORE DENSE FOODS (CARBOHYDRATES)
SOME IMPORTANT TIPS
Chewing - whilst you’re eating, really try to bring your awareness into your mouth, try to be as present as you can be with the sensory experience - feel the textures, taste the flavours, connect with your food through the feedback your tongue is sending to your brain.
It’s important we chew our food into as small pieces as we can, and for anyone with digestive issues, putting focus into this should improve your digestion a lot.
The more we chew, the more nutrition we’re able to extract from our food. When you watch the digestive system video, consider that the more broken down your food is, the more you’ll be able to extract from it with your villi.
Wait to drink after meals, ideally, don’t drink anything for 60-90 minutes after your lunch and dinner, as liquids interfere with digestion.
Don’t drink with meals, again, water, or liquids interfere with digestion, by diluting stomach acid and enzyme concentration. If you’re thirsty during meals, you are likely dehydrated, and you can add some cucumber slices to eat with your meal to provide water.
Squeeze some lemon or lime onto each of your salads/cooked meals, especially if they contain fats. The enzymes in these citrus fruits are great in supporting the digestive process, particularly of fats, as they act as an emulsifier. If you think you have a sluggish liver, poorly functioning gallbladder, or notice you don’t digest fats well, this tip should be helpful.
Use cooking methods like steaming, boiling or baking as they’re easiest for the body to digest.
Avoid cooking with oils, you can still cook in a pan (ideally not using non-stick/teflon), but use water as a substitute for oil when cooking. Keep a glass of water next to you as you cook, and add water whenever necessary as it evaporates.
Lower the fat content of your diet, fat is an incredible macronutrient, it’s essential for the body, but during this period of detox we’re keeping the amount of fat lower than what we would be eating usually. This helps us to cleanse the liver, gallbladder, & lymphatic system more effectively.
Try to avoid eating at night, the best time to have your evening meal is sometime between 5-7pm. But of course, if you’re busy, or that doesn't work, adjust according to your schedule. If you sleep late, try to use the rule of not eating within 3 hours of going to sleep.
Use less salt where possible, you’re not here to torture yourself - you still need to enjoy your food, but do try to go easy with the salt, don’t exclude it completely, but cutting it down for a period can be helpful, especially if you notice you have a lot of water retention or inflammation in your body.
Include sprouts & some raw foods alongside each cooked meal, sprouts are some of the cheapest foods on earth if you grow them yourself, it’s very easy, all you need is a sieve or a colander. Once they’re ready, just store them in a container in the fridge.
Sprouting lentils, chickpeas, mung beans or alfalfa is an easy way to add some living foods to your meals, they’re also full of enzymes that will help with digestion.
Good raw veggies to include with your meals that also give a great brushing action on the intestines are raw cabbage, carrot, beetroot, & kale (small amounts), and sprouts.
All beans, grains and legumes should be soaked in water for 12-24 hours before being cooked - as this releases phytates and enzyme inhibitors - which are compounds that make these foods more difficult to digest. They can be stored in the fridge for 2-3 days once cooked
Some ideas and inspiration to get you cooking and preparing amazing, healthy and delicious food :)
EXCERCISE & SLEEP
Sleeping at night time is when we heal and regenerate, we already discussed not eating at night, but a few other things you can do to optimise your sleep are as follows:
Don’t look at screens 60-120 minutes before getting into bed.
Make your room as dark (black) as possible.
Sleep with a window open if you can to allow some fresh air in.
Turn devices on aeroplane mode at night so you aren’t disturbed, this also decreases the EMFs the phone is producing.
Turn off your wifi router at night - this can stop you from being tempted to check your phone at night, or as soon as you wake up, but it also means you won’t have as many frequencies interfering with your own brain waves as you sleep.
Movement is really important throughout our detox, if you can do some form of exercise at least 3 times a week, that would be great. It doesn’t need to be anything heavy, especially if you’re feeling tired, even some gentle yoga, or a relaxed swim is amazing.
Also try to walk a little each day if you can, it helps with digestion and movement of the lymphatic system (if you work on your feet all day, this one you don’t have to do everyday).
If you have inflammation or water retention in your legs, you can lie down and rest your legs up against a wall for 5 minutes in the morning or evening (or both). It can help a lot with draining fluid.
INTRODUCING THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
THIS IS THE FIRST OF A SERIES OF VIDEOS WHERE WE’LL BE LOOKING AT DIFFERENT AREAS, OR SYSTEMS WITHIN THE BODY, TO UNDERSTAND HOW THEY RELATE TO DETOXIFICATION AND WHAT WE’RE DOING IN THE COURSE.
IN TODAYS VIDEO WE RUN THROUGH THE BASICS OF THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM, AND THEN LOOK IN DETAIL AT THE SMALL INTESTINE.
IN PARTICULAR AT THE VILLI & THE INTESTINAL WALLS - TO UNDERSTAND HOW NUTRIENTS ARE ABSORBED, WHY WE MAY NOT BE ABSORBING NUTRIENTS WELL, A BIT ABOUT INTESTINAL PLAQUING, AND HOW ISSUES LIKE SIBO OR CANDIDA CAN ARISE.
AROUND THE 5 MINUTE MARK THE AUDIO CUTS OUT FOR ABOUT 9 SECONDS, I HAVE NO IDEA WHY, OR WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE MIC, BUT LOL. SORRY ABOUT THAT!