I’m a big fan of making incremental changes in order to continuously improve, physically, mentally and spiritually. I favour focusing on just one change at a time, maybe drinking more water, meditating daily or taking my vitamins and concentrating on forming that habit before moving on to the next one. Rarely will I adopt a Big Bang approach.

Having said that, last week’s sustained period of gluttony left me seeking some way of feeling better, and had me reaching for The Goop Clean Beauty book.

This book is several years old now, so I was able to pick up a used copy fairly cheap, and set about making some changes on Sunday. The first suggestion was the 10 day detox, which, with such a wide ranging list of what couldn’t be eaten was never going to happen. So, I tailored it to suit my preferences.

Since Sunday I have;

• Reduced my Gluten intake by seeking out gluten free alternatives where available;
• Reduced my caffeine intake to just one coffee a day;
• Increased my herbal tea/ water intake;
• Avoided shellfish (so difficult for me)
• Avoided red meat;
• Increased my fermented food consumption (Kefir, sauerkraut)

It’s not perfect. I’m not perfect. Who wants to be perfect anyway? It is, however, an improvement. So, what changes have I noticed over the week?

Well, I won’t say it’s all been plain sailing. Make that many changes and some headaches, a bit of grogginess and even a cold sore are probably to be expected. There’s good stuff too though!

My skin does look clearer and smoother. I have definitely had less bloating over the week, which is probably due to the reduced gluten, but, most notably has been the consistency in my energy levels. I suppose that I hadn’t really noticed my post coffee peak of energy before, but I had noticed the slump that sent me running for another cup of coffee so frequently. With just one coffee early in the day though, I find that once that burst tails off I then have a more consistent energy level, right through to the evening.

This isn’t a diet, and so my weight has remained the same, but the lifestyle changes that I’m expecting to incorporate from the book are more about putting less stress on your body and maintaining health. So far, so good. Will I keep it up? Who knows, but even if I just adopt one change permanently then it’s and improvement. There’s no necessity to make all the changes at once, slow and steady wins the race.