"In you fail to plan, you are planning to fail" Benjamin Franklin
Whist it's great to be enthusiastic and jump headfirst into my Anti-inflammatory Program, it's also good to keep a few things in mind before you do.
With a little planning and preparation, your journey ahead will be smoother with greater success. Here are some things to do before you start, they are also covered in the first chapter of the program.
1. Set clear goals
The first thing you need to do is write down your goals to help stay focused.
It's important to be clear with what you want to achieve and how you intend on getting there. Here's some ideas how to set effective goals:
A blank goal tracker sheet is available in the first chapter of the program for you to fill out and use.
2. Give up caffeine
The Cooling Habits Anti-inflammatory program eliminates caffeine in the early stages to give your body and adrenal glands a rest.
Coffee is so widely used and socially accepted, that people often don't question it's use or consider it an addictive drug. Most people are happy to rely on caffeine to begin their day and stay alert, but give no thought to the fact it creates hormonal imbalance by increasing the stress hormone cortisol, aggravates PMS and fibrocystic breast disease.
Caffeine reduces bile flow, creates acidity, heart palpitations and nervousness. It's also a vascular constrictor that increases blood pressure and decreases blood flow to the brain.
Coffee is not a good choice for those on a healing program. Like alcohol, caffeine can be reintroduced into the diet, once healing is established.
Coming off caffeine can be challenging and can cause various detox symptoms like headaches and irritability. It's best to go through this before you start the program, so you don't have to cope with too much at once and give 100% to healing.
3. Be prepared for detox symptoms
Detox symptoms can occur when we remove something from our diet and lifestyle (like coffee, sugar, alcohol, cigarettes). They can also occur when we include more detoxing foods into the diet, like green juices.
As your diet changes, the bacteria in your gut will need time to adjust to the new foods you're eating. Be aware this can cause a change in bowel habits while your body adjusts.
Whilst most people won't experience any detox symptoms or discomfort, some people may, so it's good to know what can happen and how to deal with it.
Some common detox reactions are headache, nausea, diarrhea or constipation, fatigue, moodiness, brain fog and increased urination.
There's lots of ways to cope with any discomfort:
- Drink plenty of water
- Gentle exercise to move the lymph from the body
- Reduce green juices to slow detox
- Saunas
- Rest/sleep
- Liver support - herbs like milk thistle & homeopathic nux vomica
- Pain killers for headache
- Green tea to ease the caffeine withdrawal
- Enemas
- Homeopathy for the liver
4. See you doctor and get blood test
It's important to continue working with your doctors and specialists, as we need them for tests, monitoring, advice and prescription medication.
As the body heals, our requirement for mediation can change very quickly, so it's vital to get regular check-ups and bloods tests to monitor this. Blood tests are a handy tool to help identify deficiencies and to help track progress. Helpful blood tests are:
- Vitamin D and B12
- ESR - An inflammation marker
- Iron study - Ferratin, haemoglobin, iron
- Also, anything specific to your condition
5. Go shopping
There are a few things you'll need to complete the program.
First, you'll need to invest in a juicer (if you not sure which one then check this post out), so you can make your own nourishing green juices.
Secondly, start looking for a water filter to purify your drinking and cooking water. Ideally one that removes fluroride, but at the end of the day any water filter is better than none at all.
The Cooling Habits Anti-inflammatory Program contains a very specific elimination diet, which includes many low inflammatory, low allergen, nutrient dense foods you may not have tried before, like quinoa and green juices.
A full list of ingredients is given in the program and should be easily accessible for most people. You will need to go shopping for these items before you start, so you have everything on hand ready to go!
With good preparation and planning, changing habits and healing can be uncomplicated, practical and enjoyable.