So, four months ago I committed to trying to heal from chronic fatigue; here I am, now, and I’m a lot better! I’ve been healing these four months, and even though I’m not completely better, I really have been getting better all the time. Detox strategies have helped my body immeasurably to heal. A few conditions have disappeared completely: the yucky dry scabby spots on my upper arms, the sick feeling in my head, the brain fog. The pain and fatigue in my muscles has decreased significantly, and my bladder infections are gone, too. So far, I’ve done two 24 hour fasts and one 36 hour fast, I’ve done a bit of oxygen therapy (before discovering that it wasn’t the best thing for me), a colon cleanse, and a kidney cleanse. I’m currently on the fourth day of a more extended fast; I don’t know how long I’ll do it, but four days is good already. :) Before I started any of this, I changed my diet drastically (also a great detox strategy). I basically eat fruits, vegetables, whole grains, oils, and legumes. The changes in my diet came slowly, one at a time: first I quit diet soda (yucky aspartame and bad dehydrating effects), then I quit regular soda (crazy sugar and chemical badness), then I became vegan (for ethical as well as health reasons), then I quit sugar (it’s pretty awful for you), then I quit refined grains. I love the way I eat now, and I wish I had always eaten this way. I never feel like I’m missing out; part of this also has to do with my mentality. I disagree with diet mentality, and although it may seem like I have a bunch of rules, they’re really just choices I make day to day. In other words, if I want swedish fish, I eat swedish fish! The thing is, allowing myself the freedom to choose what I want to eat makes my choices meaningful, and thus, I rarely eat swedish fish. Anyway, a book that really helped me get out of the diet mentality (one of the largest factors that got me into this mess: eating disorder) was Intuitive Eating, by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. I highly recommend it. If you’re trying to get into healthy eating in a way that is emotionally healthy, that’s a great book to read.
I got all of my detox strategies from The Detox Book by Bruce Fife, another book which I highly, highly recommend. He really looks at detox from a holistic perspective. It’s not expensive, and SO worth it. I really believe that I will eventually be in better health that I’ve ever been in my life; this means a lot coming from a high-achieving college student who had to leave school and work. I am now taking an online class through the local community college, and I am hoping that I will be able to take more classes (possibly even a full load) next semester.
Healing is not easy, but it’s a hell of a lot better than being sick and getting worse. True healing is also a long journey, a lot longer than a pill that masks your symptoms immediately, but only for about four hours (and gives you sucky side effects). Detoxing has helped lift the burden on my body so that it can heal itself! I highly recommend it.
