After six weeks on The Daniel Plan you should start to notice the difference. If you've followed the steps so far, you will likely be losing weight and feeling better than you have in a long time.
However, some of you may be stuck. You may not feel that you are making the progress you'd hoped to see by now. If this is the case, it's possible that toxicity and inflammation are holding you back from achieving your health goals.
For many, toxicity and inflammation are the two primary underlying causes of obesity and disease, and can frequently explain why people seem to reach a plateau or "hit the wall" when attempting to lose weight, where, after an initial drop in weight, further weight loss proves to be next to impossible.
If you think this may be the case for you or you are simply curious about how inflammation and toxicity can contribute to weight gain and disease, I'd like to encourage you to watch the videos I have provided this week: "Toxins Cause Weight Gain and Disease" and "Inflammation: How to Makes You Sick and Fat." These videos will provide you a basic understanding of three key, but often overlooked and under-recognized, reasons people get stuck when attempting to lose weight and heal their bodies. In these videos you will learn:
- How toxic overload can inhibit weight loss and impact health. Weight gain is not always related to what or how much you eat. New research links toxins to weight and health problems.
- Why inflammation is a key factor in weight gain and illness. Being fat is being inflamed. Period. Inflammation is also in virtually all chronic disease from diabetes to heart disease to depression and more.
- How food sensitivities play a role in creating systemic inflammation. One of the hottest and most debated topics in medicine right now is the way in which food sensitivities may contribute to weight gain and illness. In my practice, I have watched over and over again people improve their health when they get foods they are sensitive to—foods like gluten and dairy—out of their diet for a few weeks.
Once you have watched these videos and understand why toxicity and inflammation are such important issues to address, I'd like to ask you to consider undergoing a period of detoxification where you limit your toxic exposure and eliminate the foods you are sensitive to from your diet. For many, taking this step can jump-start your progress toward optimal weight and vital health.
Over the next few weeks, I will guide those who are interested through a detox and food allergy elimination program, step-by-step. I will explain what foods to eliminate, how to get them out of your diet, and give you tips to enhance detoxification. After you have eliminated the most common food allergens from your diet for a few weeks, I will explain how to systematically reintegrate them so you can test to see whether or not they are at the root of your health problem.
This week we will start slowly. Simply take the following steps over the next 7 days:
This quiz is designed to show you how much toxicity and inflammation you are suffering with right now, and it will give you a sense of how much a detoxification program can help you. The higher your score, the more toxic and inflamed you are, and the more a detox program may help you.
Step 2: Consider Supplementation
After taking your quiz from the link above you will be given a specific list of supplements I recommend to support you during this period of detoxification. Consider purchasing these supplements (or an equivalent in your local health food store) and adding them to your detox program starting next week.
For more information on the importance of supplements see my video "Vitamin Supplements: Fill the Missing Gaps"
Step 3: Take a Drug Holiday
If you haven't already started your drug holiday it's time to begin now. Getting the poisonous and addictive substances out of your diet is essential if you want to lose weight and get healthy. It's also the first step in a comprehensive detoxification plan. In my article "How to Detox: Items to Eliminate," I give all the steps you need to take a drug holiday and get the most offending junk good out of your diet. Doing this now will set the stage for the full detoxification and food allergy elimination program I will provide next week. If you have already taken your drug holiday, that's great! You're a step ahead of the game. Just stick with it.
Simply follow these three steps this week. That's all you need to do for now. Next week I will provide you all the details on what foods to eliminate from your diet and how to do it. I will also give you more tips on how to eliminate toxins and clean up your environment as you clean up your body.
For more information on toxicity, inflammation, and food allergies, and to get a step-by-step plan for how to properly detoxify your body and brain see The UltraSimple Diet Challenge.