Give yourself a overhaul this Spring
We often just focus on our homes when it comes to Spring Cleaning, but Spring is the perfect season to detox the mind and body…especially if your New Year Resolutions are a distant memory.
Mindset coach and owner of Obsidian Retreat – the ground breaking British-run centre for health restoration through diet and lifestyle, explains why it’s vital to cleanse the mind and body and provides five simple approaches to detox the mind as well as Obsidian’s three-day detox diet plan – guaranteed to leave you feel fitter, lighter and more full of energy than ever.
Andrew said: “With today’s hectic lifestyles, people tend to have too many thoughts going on in their heads and they don’t take the time to clear the mind to focus on what’s important. In addition to being destructive, going round and round in circles can be one of the most frustrating things in life and it can lead to a downward cycle.
“If you’re not achieving your goals, Spring is the perfect time to cleanse the mind and body with a brand new approach to life.
“With five simple steps you can be well on your way to a healthier mindset in just three days.”
Spring Clean the Mind
Day one -
Interrupt unhelpful patterns in your life. Be honest with yourself, analyse what’s going on and understand what you’re not achieving and why you’re not achieving it. E.g. Perhaps it’s why do I keep falling off diets.
Create the correct mindset
It is time to focus on what you really want and to set the positive strategies that are going to make sure you are successful. To create the right mindset, the first thing is to set a compelling view of what you want the result to be.
· Write down every single reason why this MUST happen
· Write down every single way you can achieve this
Day two – 
Goal and target setting
Review your list and pick the 20% that will give you 80% of the results and start working a plan around them.
Start taking massive action towards it. E.g. If you have large amounts of weight to lose break it down into small manageable sections with goals at each stage. This way you can celebrate every goal along the way.
Write out a seven day plan, which you believe you can stick to for the next week based on the following criteria:
· Design your plan around how you normally behave
· Try to plan in the changes you need to make into your daily routine
Day three –
Re-emphasise why you’re moving towards pleasure
As humans we only do things for two reasons, to move away from pain and towards pleasure. Moving away from pain isn’t sustainable so make it clear why your goal is moving towards pleasure. If we find a way to build something into our lives that is constantly leading us towards pleasure we will want to achieve more and more of it and it will keep driving us on. There is no limit to this approach.
Start thinking of what success would be like for you.
You have to see and feel a really strong compelling reason. It might only be a slight change in mindset but it will make all the difference; something as simple as don’t see food as the enemy and eating ‘diet foods’ you don’t like. Learn to cook and enjoy healthy food.
Spring Clean the Body
Juicing is a great way to detox and this three-day plan is easy as well as very effective.
By putting only juices into your body you are going to give an opportunity for your liver, kidney, pancreas and other organs to rest and a cleanse. Your eyes, skin and mind will all feel clearer within days and you will start to ‘feel’ and respond to your body’s nutritional needs.
The idea behind this is that your body is taking a break from doing what it normally does which is to work hard to digest food, and what it can do during the three days is work on areas of the body that need to be repaired.
Qualified juicing therapist Carol West from Obsidian Retreat explains: “Our Western diet is high in calories but low in nutrition. If you feed your body calorie-rich food, like chocolate it still wants more. So if you eat 2,500 calories of chocolate in a day, you will be hungry again within a few hours.
“But if you feed the body healthy fruit and vegetables you won’t because it has all the vital elements it needs. Our programme is so successful because it ensures that you are getting all the nutrition, vitamins and enzymes, without all those extra calories. “
Getting started couldn’t be easier. All you need is a juicer, blender, lots of fresh food and an appetite for healthy living!
The Rules: the first thing to remember is – it’s easy! Second is, try to do the detox at a time when you can just relax and rest, over a long weekend is good, and try to have everything prepared, shop for everything before you start.
You cannot have: Coffee, Tea, Fizzy drinks, Extra food, Dairy produce.You can have: Herbal tea and lots of water – we recommend two litres a day to avoid dehydration
The smoothies and juices you are going to have will fill you up. If you feel tired or hungry drink more water and sleep. Avoid snacking – not even healthy snacks.
It is an easy detox but try to remove all temptations, so have only the food you need in the house and try not to plan any lunch dates or evenings out with friends! This is a time for you to relax and rest and allow your body to heal both physically and emotionally.
The Shopping List (this is for 1 person)
3 carrots, 22 apples (not Cox or Granny Smith), 3 lemons, 1 yellow bell pepper, 2 cucumbers, 3 sticks celery, 4 broccoli stems, 1 large or 2 small beetroot (raw), 2 pieces of Ginger, Small handful of Parsley, 2 ripe Avocado, 1⁄4 cup of blackberries (fresh or frozen) 1⁄4 cup of blueberries (fresh or frozen), 1 medium pineapple, 1⁄2 kilo Spinach, 4 litres Mineral water , 200g live soya yogurt (or soya milk)
The Recipes
DETOX SPECIAL
2 apples 1 carrot 1 slice of lemon (rind on) 1⁄4 yellow bell pepper 1 inch slice cucumber 1⁄4 piece celery 1 inch broccoli stem 1 inch slice beetroot (preferably raw)
Juice all the ingredients. The juice can look a bit cloudy due to the mix of apple and beetroot, but looks are deceptive and it tastes fantastic.
DREAMY DETOX
2 apples 1 slice lemon with rind on 1 inch slice cucumber 1 stick celery 1 inch piece of fresh ginger
Juice all the ingredients.
H2O DETOX
1 inch piece raw beetroot 1⁄2 apple 1 inch slice Pineapple 1 inch slice Lemon with rind on 3⁄4 litre water
1 sports bottle or flask Juice all the ingredients and add to the water.
Put into your drinks bottle and shake.
SUPER DETOX SMOOTHIE
1⁄2 small pineapple 1 handful blueberries 1 handful blackberries 200g live soya yogurt or soya milk Ice
Juice the pineapple, pour the juice into your blender, add all the other ingredients, make sure the lid is on and the blend till smooth.
BEYOND DETOX
3 apples 1 large handful of Spinach 1 inch piece beetroot 1 inch slice cucumber Parsley (small amount – if you have kidney problems or your pregnant leave this out) 1⁄2 ripe Avocado Ice
Juice the apples, spinach, beetroot, cucumber and parsley. Add the juice and the ice to your blender, peel and de-seed the avocado and place the flesh in with the juice. Make sure the lid is on properly and blend till smooth
Three Day Detox Programme
Day one -
Hot water with slice of lemon
Breakfast: Detox special
Lunch: Detox special
Snack juice (3.30pm) H2O detox
Evening: Beyond Detox
Day two -
Hot water with slice of lemon
Breakfast: Super detox smoothie
Lunch: Dreamy detox
Snack juice (3.30pm) H2O detox
Evening: Beyond Detox
Day three –
Hot water with slice of lemon
Breakfast: Detox special
Lunch: Beyond Detox
Snack juice (3.30pm) H2O detox
Evening: Dreamy detox