Detox Day 6

Detox Day 6

This is getting easier!  I am not craving coffee so much, although the smell is tempting.  I think more than the taste, I enjoy the experience of coffee.  The smell of the coffee brewing, the sound of the pour, a bit of cream, the warm cup in my hand.  The sit back and enjoy....or get down to business.  This detox is a good time for me to examine what I have been eating and why I eat it...
Otherwise, as I mentioned on Day 5, I am not really hungry, I notice I am calmer as well.


I noted yesterday that food is tasting much better.  The crispness of an apple, the true sweetness that it has, the freshness of broccoli with a bit of lemon juice squeezed on top, even the warm cinnamon in my tea.  This goodness aside, did you know that there are food alchemists that make "flavors" to boost the taste of our food?

Check out the following: www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7389748n 

Tweaking tastes and creating cravings
November 27, 2011 12:45 PM
Meet the scientists who create flavors that make foods and beverages so tasty that critics say they're addictive. Morley Safer reports.

From soft drinks to chicken soup...alchemists have changed to content of our foods to stimulate our brain to crave more!!!  Don't believe it?...check out the cbs video, they did a great job reporting, it's quite surprising, and the comments are also notable!
My point: Be educated and inspect everything that you put in your mouth!
As our tongue (and brain) become accustomed to these chemicals or sugars, we are less sensitive to them and require more of them to aquire the satiety we did initially. These chemicals trigger endorphins.

Thought you may find this interesting:

Sugary soda spike insulin levels, making it difficult for other hormones in your body to know that it is time to stop eating and drinking. The soda triggers endorphins causing you to crave more and more. Have you ever eaten or drank something so sweet that it leaves you wanting more? That is a sign that it is playing with your insulin, your endorphins and it is something you should stay away from. The sugars from soda move through your body faster because they are in liquid form. (NOTE: do not drink your calories - chew your calories) Insulin levels will shoot faster because the sugar is delivered to the body as a liquid.

Also:

Release Endorphins and Relieve 
Anxiety With 6 Easy Activities 

Staying calm and collected has obvious health benefits both physically and emotionally, in your relationships with others and with yourself. The release of endorphins does just that -- soothes physical and emotional pain. The risk of stress related illnesses and complications diminish significantly when one is not bound by an anxious mind. High stress disrupts our hormonal balance and homeostasis.

Endorphins are our body's internally produced means of sedation and euphoria. The science behind them has been  presented to the public from an exercise science perspective and not so much in regards to mental health. A sense of Zen and control for one's emotions is not necessarily in the hands of a personal trainer or psychiatrist.

There are around 20 different types of endorphins and according to an ongoing clinical study, the soothing aid of endorphin release can be accessed in many more ways than going to the gym or running down the block.

These 6 simple options release the feel good effects of endorphins and are accessible to all of us in Toronto!

• Pet your Pet- it has been scientifically proven that feeling the warmth and trust of animals increased activity in the pleasure centre of the brain. There is also concrete evidence that endorphin production sky rocketed with this form of pet therapy.
• Practice Yoga & Cardio- Yoga focuses on slower breathing to decrease rapid heart rates due to anxiety and soothe tense muscles while freeing negative energy from the body and mind. Ironically, increased heart rate caused by cardio exercises instead of stress releases the most intense endorphin response!
• Meditation- does not have to be a complex or corny form of relaxation; meditation exists in many forms unique to every individual. If you cannot achieve the physiological response of controlled endorphin release, soothe your mind by thinking of all that makes you smile- take yourself away to an individually defined happy place and nurture your soul.
• Eat Spicy foods- Strangely, spicy foods such as hot chili peppers and wasabi release endorphins from the brain  for the body processes these spicy sensations as pain! Sudden pain and shock is numbed by the release of endorphins. Some of you may  know the sedated state of extreme endorphin release when the body responds to a broken digit or deep cut. Eating a dollop of wasabi can in fact switch the gears of your building anxiety to neutral in a heated arguement or state of rage.
• Make love- A healthy sex life which involves physical and emotional release between you and your partner keeps steady endorphin levels flowing through your body and keeps the pleasure centre of the brain from accumulating cobwebs!
• Be a thrill seeker- Adrenaline releases endorphins and a sudden fright such as that of a scary movie enables people to forget any other lurking anxieties and troubles of the mind. Thus adrenaline junkies always crave the thrill factor because emotional well being is a healthy addiction- just remember to balance safety with happiness!

Back to the detox:

Breakfast:
Pear
1/2 cup apple cider (non-sweetened)
1/2 cup steamed broccoli
Ultrameal 360 2 scoops
1 scoop dynamic greens.
Not your average breakfast, but I am being mindful that its less about what I want and more about what my body needs.  My brain certainly doesn't need a donut or toaster strudel (is that cardboard with icing?) to "break" the "fast"!!

Snack:
Ultrameal 360 1 scoop
Ultrameal sustain 1  scoop
Dynamic greens 1 scoop

Lunch:
Green Salad
Ultrameal 360 2 scoops
1 scoop dynamic greens.
Apple

Snack
Ultrameal 360 2 scoops
1 scoop Dynamic Greens

Dinner
2 cups broccoli steamed with seasoning
Apple


1 hour of pilates :)

YEAH!  4 pounds down!

Feeling good!  Even with some additional stress and meetings today, I am feeling calm.
W.