The holidays have passed, and the New Year’s resolutions have begun. The number one resolution among American’s is to lose weight.

Anyone who has dieted knows, once those first few pounds come off the motivation begins. It feels so good you just want more!

Detoxing isn’t just a fad diet, or a prescription to loose those first few pounds. Cleansing detoxes have been practiced for centuries by cultures all around the world. Detoxification is about cleansing the body (and blood) of excess toxins the body has stored. Then nourishing it with healthy nutrients – designed to renew your body from the inside out and boost your immune system.

Here is a way to get those first few pounds off in a healthy way – without starving yourself and then eating everything in sight days later.

First and foremost is ridding the body of stored toxins as quickly as possible. The best way to do this is to first, eliminate all toxin prone items such as alcohol, coffee, cigarettes, refined sugars and saturated fats, all of which will slow down the cleanse.

The most proven effective detox is the elimination of solid foods, for a few days to at least a week. Fresh fruit and vegetable juices, coupled with green tea and lemon have been the most recommended cleanses by nutritionists and doctors alike.

Keri Glassman, M.S., R.D suggests, “foods with insoluble fiber (like raw veggies) or a diuretic effect (like green tea), promote speedy digestion and “flush” the GI tract.

Fruits and vegetables are cleansers and the quicker you clean out your system, the more rapidly you lose those first few pounds and can be ready to get started eating whole foods again.

There are options however, if juicing is just too much… such as a strictly fruit detox diet – eating only fresh fruit for a week or just a veggie detox, or both fruits and veggies – raw – for a week.

A good guideline for eating fruits and veggies in food or juice form can be found at Gaiam Life, as well as suggestions for your cleanse that might speed things along.

The most important success factor for real weight loss after cleansing is never, never go back to the way you were eating before – which caused the weight gain. You’ve done the detox, you’ve lost your first 1-5 pounds, what you eat from here on is going to determine the amount of total weight loss. Stick with foods like healthy salads, fruits, stir fried veggies, brown rice, and potatoes – complex carbs and fiber rich foods that will keep that weight coming off, without those dreaded hunger pains.

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