The Scoop on Whole Food Cleanses

By Koren Barwis, Wellness Coach at the Wellness Connection

Three years ago, I was a Coke Zero and Trident Pina Colada gum junkie. While I looked pretty healthy on the outside and ate relatively well, I needed my vices to get through the day. I had heard about cleanses and detoxes and decided to sign up for my first one with the goal of quitting my Coke Zero/gum habit for good. It worked and three years later, I am healthier, happier, and still free of gum and soda.

Dietary fasting and cleansing have been around for centuries. Called by many other names -- detoxing, juice fasts, elimination diets -- they all aim to pull out the junk, while adding in good stuff.

There are countless benefits to going through a cleanse. Every body is different, but here are just a few:

• Gives the body a break from allergens, stressors, and sugars
• Try new foods and recipes
• Shed excess weight 
• Increase energy and improve sleep
• Explore dependencies and habits that might not be serving you 
• Retrain the tastebuds to appreciate real, whole, fresh food 
• Spiritual and personal awakening -- a good program doesn’t just focus on diet modification

The best programs rely on whole foods. Trendy fads like Master Cleanse can actually be unhealthy and cause more problems than they solve. Pick a plan that focuses on healthy foods, as well as movement, new recipes, supporting behaviors, stress reduction, and supplements.


Our 3-week Live Clean program was designed to help you break bad habits and start new, good ones. We refer to it as a “reset” because by the end of 21 days you will have hopefully reset your taste buds, habits, and stress level.

On May 13, a group of us at the Wellness Connection set out on the Live Clean program. We're entering our last week and will have a recap of the first two weeks on Thursday. Just a little sneak peek on how we're doing -- one of us cut WAY back on diet soda, one of us has lost over 10 pounds, and we've all tried kitchari and oil pulling. Check back later this week to hear all about it.

If you're interested in trying the Live Clean 3-Week Program, call us today 703-327-0335.

Ten Reasons to Practice Yoga

1. Stress Relief: Yoga encourages relaxation and helps to lower the levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Regular classes can improve your digestion, blood pressure, heart rate, and boost your immune system.

2. Pain Relief: Studies have shown that practicing Yoga asanas (postures), meditation or a combination of the two, reduced pain for people with conditions such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, auto-immune diseases as well as arthritis, back and neck pain, and other chronic conditions.

3. Better Breathing: Yoga teaches deeper and slower breathing. This can improve lung function, help the body relax, and increase the amount of oxygen available to the body.

4. Flexibility: Yoga increases your range of motion and reduces aches and pains. Over time, the ligaments, tendons and muscles lengthen, increasing elasticity. It also helps to improve body alignment leading to better posture and helping to relieve back, neck joint and muscle problems.

5. Increased Strength: Yoga poses use every muscle in the body. This helps increase strength throughout your body, relieving muscular tension in the process.

6. Weight Management: All styles of Yoga promote weight control by reducing cortisol levels, burning excess calories, and reducing stress. Healthy eating habits which provide a heightened sense of well-being and self-esteem are a result of Yoga.

7. Improved Circulation: Yoga helps improve circulation by moving oxygenated blood to the body's cells.

8. Cardiovascular Conditioning: Yoga can lower the heart rate, increasing endurance and improving oxygen uptake during exercise.

9. Focus on the Present: Yoga helps to become more aware and creates mind body health. It can result in better concentration, coordination, reaction time and memory.

10. Inner Peace: Meditation can help you reach a deeper, more spiritual and satisfying place. Yoga can become a essential part of your daily lives.

(Provided by Yoga Alliance)

The Wellness Connection offers all levels of Yoga from beginner to advanced. Check out our schedule here. 

2013 Wellness Challenge Winner!

Here is Brad's story in his own words:

Jill and I's participation in The Wellness Challenge had a major impact on both our health and our marriage.  For years, we struggled with being overweight due to poor eating habits and unhealthy lifestyle choices.  In addition, my daily commute from Ashburn to D.C. made the significant changes that I knew were necessary seem impossible.  As a result, my 2012 checkup revealed that I had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and elevated blood sugar.  Jill was also diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which impacts fertility.

In February, Jill convinced me to sign up for The Wellness Challenge in an effort to get healthy, both for ourselves and for our two year-old daughter.  With each weekly challenge, we began tracking different aspects of our lifestyle that impact wellness (sleep, water intake, exercise, healthy eating, and even "me time" activities) and gained a better understanding of the changes we needed to make.  Along the way, we discovered that these incremental lifestyle changes were not as difficult as we once thought.  Jill began cooking more and taking control over the family's grocery and dietary decisions.  I began walking two miles every day at lunchtime and later added three trips to the gym each week.  Most importantly, we both began journaling our daily meals, activity, and sleep to hold ourselves accountable for our decisions.

Six weeks into the Challenge, I returned to the doctor for my 2013 checkup and found that the changes I made had dropped my blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels back into normal range.  I lost 60 lb. over the course of the twelve week program and intend to continue that success by living healthier.  In addition, Jill lost 16 lb. during the Challenge.  More importantly, the weight she lost reversed her PCOS, and Jill and I are expecting our second child in November!

Brad & Jill Wiggins