Detox: Wrap-up

Folks! It's almost the end of January and time for us to wrap up our Detox: Life series.

Throughout the month of January I've been detoxing my life through mind, body, and spirit restoration. For me this has included eating fresh, exercising 30 minutes per day, and a lot less internet time. Maybe you noticed? I've tried to keep you updated on my other detox endeavors including running, organizing, and socializing.

My prized orchids

So, how does this end? What did we learn? Where do we go from here?

First off, I learned that I'm ready to move on. I'm ready to take on the issues that clouded my life last year and work on dealing with them in a healthy way. I realized that the big thing that was missing in my life was FUN. I want to stop taking myself so seriously and let loose a little. Hey, I even sang karaoke for the first time this month and, although pretty terrible, it was always something I'd wanted to do.

Even dogs stop to smell the roses

One very welcome side effect to the detox is that my skin cleared up drastically. I've struggled with acne since my move to Hawaii in 2006, (the humidity?) and have resorted to using fairly harsh chemicals on my face, which I don't like. Since the detox though, I was able to stop using the chemicals altogether. Starting in February, I'm going to try and isolate the cause of this. Was it sugar that caused the breakouts? Dairy? Alcohol? Or maybe all of them? I don't eat a great deal of processed or junky foods to begin with so I know it's got to be one of those three things.

The best aspect of completing this detox was just that, completing the detox. The challenge was just right for me, and while I did slip up a couple times, I am very proud of what I was able to do. It truly is a great start to a new year, this feeling of accomplishment and empowerment.

Today marks the last day of eating detox style. Tomorrow is our fifth wedding anniversary, and we're celebrating with champagne. We're also off to Maui for the weekend, so I'm sure there'll be some splurging here and there. Besides that, I'll be easing back into eating dairy and some meat and fish slowly. I'm going to continue to cut out sugar for another couple weeks at least, to see how my skin reacts. Mind and body restoration will continue on, hopefully, throughout the year.

Thanks to those who joined me on this journey. Here's to 2012.