As we are saying goodbye to 2010 and opening up our doors to 2011, one of the things we are all doing is creating a New Year's resolution. One of the biggest things a lot of us want to do is lose weight. We all start purchasing gym memberships and start looking at our schedules to figure out when we will be going to the gym. Then, we will look at what new diet we will be trying to maximize our weight loss. We all start looking at the South Beach Diet, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig and so many more.

Today I am going to talk about what starts the weight-loss process, what helps you feel amazing, increase mental clarity and help battle stress better. On a related note, I'll be speaking on this topic at La Grange Park Public Library on Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. The talk is called "Slim in 2011" and it is free to the public. 

OK, Ready to find out exactly how to start off your New Year's resolution off to the right start? 

The first thing to talk about is detoxing. We have heard so many different things about detox and maybe some of you have done a colon cleanse, liver cleanse and so forth. I want to inform you how you can maximize your detoxification process and why it is highly important for you to detox. Let us talk about why detoxing is so important for you.

Since I am finishing up my certification as a Wellness Practitioner, one of the things we emphasize on is the exact cause of all diseases. Every illness and disease that exists is due to either one of these two things. It is either from too much toxicity or from deficiency.

We are constantly consuming, breathing and drinking toxins every day. (Did you know that we dump trillions of pounds of toxins in the air?) Most of the foods we eat have herbicides, pesticides and so forth. We drink water that has fluoride, lead and research in the U.K. is showing it also contains anti-depressants. Research also shows that each human has about many known chemicals in their blood.

The other factor is deficiency. Herbicides and pesticides have depleted the minerals, probiotics and iodine in our soil. Since we are depleting minerals and nutrients in our soil, it is depleting the amount of nutrients and minerals in the vegetables and fruits we eat. Let us put something into perspective. If you consumed a cup of spinach in the 1950's, to consume the amount of minerals and nutrients in that one cup, it would take 23 to 25 cups of spinach today to be equivalent to the cup of spinach in the 1950's. This is the biggest reason why I recommend multi-vitamins to everyone. 

Since we have talked about why we need to detox, let's talk about how to detox and maximize the experience.  To truly detox, you don't herbs, meds, potions or lotions. You actually detox through foods—through vegetables and fruits. Foods are what help the detoxification processes within each organ. Different foods do different detoxification processes. For example, to help the function of the liver, consume red beets. If you want to help cleanse the kidneys, consume asparagus.

As we look at most detoxification processes on the market, most of them don't consist of only food. If you want to have a wonderful detox program that will increase your health and vitality, then whole food detox program is the best to do. It will use the natural detoxification processes within the body and help maximize them. The body can only detox so much at one time. When it has an overload of toxins, the body will produce fat cells to protect the body from these harmful toxins.  How smart is that? So, when people try to lose weight and just don't get the results, it is due to them being so toxic.

Toxins make the body very acidic, which causes havoc on one's health systems. When we start detox program, the body will start to get rid of toxins within the body. When the body starts losing all the toxins out of the organs, then it will get rid of the toxins within the fat cells. When the toxins are out of the fat cells, there is no need for them to exist. This isn't the reason why all fat cells exists but it is for some. 

So, what are the benefits detoxing?

• Improve our immune function
• Scavenge free radicals and eliminate toxins
• Strengthen body's fight against cancer cells and generate healthy cells in our body
• Cleanse mucous, congestion, fermentation, inflammation in our digestive tract
• Purify our blood
• Reform our lifestyle addictions for sugar, salt, high glycemic carbohydrates, alcohol, junk foods, nicotine, etc.