Hi guys, Kris from Custom Fitness here, your personal trainer in Amarillo. Hopefully you know that because you’re part of our 21 day detox. I wanted to take a moment and explain more in depth about today’s e-mail titled “Kickstart your detox by cleaning your living and kidneys with a cup of warm water and lemon juice”. If you have questions about today’s blog or would live further information on how you, too, can jump start your detox, give us a call: 806-322-3188.
A lot of people want to substitute other fruits like oranges or limes in replacement of the lemon or mix up the ingredients because it just isn’t to their taste. Please try not to do this. Let me tell you, this comes concoction comes from Eastern Medicine and has been successfully used for hundreds of years. Adding or substituting things can actually wreak havoc on your system. To deter you, I want to break down the reasons why warm water and lemon works.
First step is to warm the water. If you’re drinking cold or hot water, you are literally shocking your body. Your body has an equilibrium temperature that it maintains. When you consume things or expose it to the elements where the external temperature is warmer or colder than the internal equilibrium, the body will respond by going into shock. Meaning everything that isn’t essential to living (lungs breathing, heart beating) will stop while the body warms or cools the food to the equilibrium temperature for processing. Aim for luke warm water (or foods); your body will be able to process and absorb the nutrients easier.
The e-mail said to drink some in the morning. That cup should be around 8 – 10 oz of water. Obviously, you can always have more water. Add 2 – 3 Tbs. of lemon juice *not concentrate. You can squeeze one lemon to yield 2-3 Tbs. If that’s not feasible, Natural Grocers sells a jar of lemon juice (not lemonade and not concentrate, it will say that right on the label) by the brand Santa Cruz that I really like. Depending on your body chemistry, 3 Tbs right off the bat might be too much. Start with 2 and work your way up to 3 if you feel like it.
Lemon juice and water will get your kidneys and liver moving by ridding them of excess toxins and stimulate your digestive tract – in a good way! You’ll eliminate waste products and increase the absorption amount in your GI tract. The citrus from the lemon has a compound that aids the stomach in breaking down foods. The warm water activates intestinal contractions and keeps things moving along. You want to add this into your schedule. I personally have had this brew every morning for the past 9 years. Even if I wasn’t a personal trainer in Amarillo, I would vouch for it. It helps me get my day off on the right foot. There are mornings when I forget or am too busy to make it and on those days I feel the repercussions. I am sluggish, dehydrated, and just feeling “blah”.
Another advantage is that it also boosts your immune system. Now that flu and cold season are upon us, so anything we can do to protect ourselves is great. Obviously, it helps you hydrate, but it also help your body calibrate some internal functions that you take for granted. When your body gets wrecked by stress, terrible diet (looking at you, processed foods), poor exercise, alcohol, or even sitting too much, your immune system gets compromised. This shows up in your body’s pH level. For those of you who didn’t major in Chemistry, your pH is your body’s balance of alkaline (or basic) and acidity. Throwing your body off by any of the above mentioned habits will create an acidic environment internally. Digesting more alkaline-friendly foods will help bring your pH level back to neutral and in turn pump up the immune system.
Lemon juice and water has Vitamin C too. Obviously, this nutrient is the go to when you’re feeling under the weather, but did you know that it also can protect your skin against damage? If you’ve spent a fair share of your time out in the sun absorbing all those lovely UV rays or been around smoke or even pollution in the air, your skin is taking a hit for it. Vitamin C has antioxidants in it. Antioxidants are great at penetrating cells and preventing further damage. The Vitamin C will increase the collagen production to keep your skin vibrant and strong.
I’ve had a few people call out sick this week. If you are sick, exercise will lower your immune system. Please don’t try and elevate your heart rate at that time. Maybe you’re just suffering from sinus junk and have yet to reach the head cold phase or chest congestion, you can do light training or exercises such as yoga/pilates. Symptoms that require rest include: feeling dizzy, feeling overly lethargic, having trouble breathing, a fever, difficulty moving like normal, and more. Take the time to rest. It won’t backtrack you on your goals. You will come back twice as strong. If you try to double down at the gym and keep going, it will take you longer to recover. Just rest. Drink your lemon water – this will help aid in the recovery.
Ok that’s my spiel today. If you have questions, comments, or would like to hear from others in the group, that’s exactly what the facebook group is meant for. If you notice anything funny like you haven’t been receiving the e-mails or you have no idea what facebook group I’m talking about, please let me know. We’ve been having some technology issues this week with a few participants. Thank you for your patience while we work out these problems. If you have questions about the program or would like some more information on the manual, please give us a call at 806-322-3188 or e-mail me at info@customfitness.biz. At Custom Fitness we are YOUR personal trainer in Amarillo, Texas. Good luck with the detox and I will see you soon!