Looking for a New Year's Cleanse? Try These!

Have you been feeling icky about food and your body? Do you feel sluggish and fatigued? Are you often trying to get to the gym but just can't? Do you look at the covers of magazines and the stars of TV shows and despair and wish you had their body?

I'm not going to tell you you "need" anything. But if you are looking for relief from feeling crappy and want some ideas, here are some  cleanses that might help you feel better in 2018. 

A media cleanse!  Go through your Instagram and other social media and delete every account that makes you feel bad about your body.  In it's place, start to follow men and women with bodies that represent all the shapes and sizes that are natural in the world and that really exist.  Stop following people who use filters and touch ups and air brushing before they will even post the picture.  Do the same with your Facebook feed.  Have a friend who keeps asking if you are beach body ready or if you want to try the keto diet with them? Hide them. You don't have to unfollow, but hide them as fast as you can. 

Get rid of your magazine subscriptions to magazines where the thin white ideal is the only body represented and every month there is a plan to "lose weight fast" on the cover.  I'll tell you how to lose weight fast - throw those magazines in the trash.  Stop watching TV shows where every character is a skinny white woman and all they talk about is how many almonds they are allowed to eat for lunch. 

The second cleanse is of your closet.  Throw out clothes that don't fit and are tight and uncomfortable.  Stop holding onto things that you want to fit into that you haven't worn in years.  If you can't bring yourself to throw them away, then at least put them in the basement or attic where they aren't there to remind you of something you equate with failure every time you walk in the closet.  Instead, find clothes that fit and are comfortable so you always have a "go to" outfit when you walk in the closet.  You don't need to have a lot of clothes, but having clothes that fit and are comfortable makes a huge difference in your mindset for the day and how you hold yourself when you are out and about. 

The third cleanse is a cleanse of all your diet tools and diet mentality. Diet books, food journals, scales (both for your weight and your food), point counters, clean eating magazines - go ahead and toss them all.  Free yourself from thinking of foods as good or bad.  Release yourself from rules around eating that constantly leave you feeling guilty and full of shame.  Notice and eliminate messages coming to you from people who want you to buy their products and who are telling you that there is something wrong with your body. 

The fourth cleanse might be a little tougher and take some time, but, who are you hanging out with? Are you spending your time with people who elevate and appreciate you? Do you spend time with people who are focused on what they can do and what they contribute or only what size their jeans are? The point is not to get judgmental of others, but to protect yourself. If hanging out with someone makes you feel bad, then be sure to set boundaries and take steps to mitigate the harm that they do.  Reach out to people online who will be more supportive or make a point to seek out people in your community who really lift you up.  Start a new group of your own!

And last, but maybe most important, cleanse yourself of the negative self talk that you subject yourself to on a daily basis.  How often are you saying something mean to yourself? How do you expect to feel peppy and energized when you constantly feel like you are doing something wrong?  Who wants to go to the gym when someone (yourself) is nagging you all the time?   Your negative voice operates from a place of fear.  It thinks it is protecting you, but you can do a much better job of that without listening to it.  You can thank it for it's service and it can still have a seat on the bus - but don't let it drive.

Once you stop looking at bodies that are not real, and start wearing clothes that are comfortable and speaking to yourself with self compassion, already your energy and your mood will start to heal.  By removing all the negative influences and replacing them with things that make you feel good, you will lose the weight off your shoulders and open yourself up to more joy and freedom and happiness. You will raising your vibration and this will attract more and more people and experiences to you that will make you feel better and better.  

But don't take my word for it - try it for yourself and see how it goes. Then tell me about your experience because I'd love to hear about it.