Dr. Mao's 8-Week Program - Week 1 Wrap Up

We got through the first week of this with no problems. That's really no surprise since this isn't really all that hard, but worthwhile and some things were harder than I thought they would be.

1. Drink 8-glasses of water - This one was the most important task for me and it was a bit harder than I thought it would be.  I really had to make sure I scheduled my glasses out during the day and it was important that I started early enough in the day to get enough in before I drove home from work.  Drinking that much water naturally makes you use the bathroom frequently so I need to make sure I stopped drinking water about 2 hours before my 1-hour commute home.  With that in mind, it was pretty important for me to start drinking my hourly glass of water at no later than 9:30 each morning.  I had to go to the rest room about every hour after that so that was also my cue to have another glass of water.  I also keep a pitcher of water on my desk so that I have no excuse not to drink it regardless of what I am doing.  It is a good system.

One thing I did find is that I was getting horrible heartburn.  Could I be getting heartburn from water?!!  That seemed odd.  Well, it turns out I was and it is not that uncommon for people that suffer from heartburn.  I was really bummed about this until a coworker gave me a little tip.  Put sliced lemon in your water.  That seemed too easy, but guess what? It totally works.  I put a whole sliced lemon in my water pitcher each day and no more heartburn!

2. Drinks two cups of detoxifying tea - With all that water drinking I have to admit that adding more liquid into my daily routine was not easy.  I mean, I still needed my coffee!  Seriously, though, this wasn't my favorite part of the routine.  I had my tea in the afternoon and again before I went to bed.  Yogi DeTox Tea seems as good as any I suppose.  As I said before I don't particularly care for tea, but if I need to detox this would be a good one I guess.

3. Get a plant for fresh air - I did this at the beginning of the week and got a little plant to put on my desk.  Besides giving me air, it makes me happy to just look over at it and it reminds me that I am on this new journey for a better, healthier me!  Each time I water it and take care of it I remind myself that I need to do the same thing for myself.

4. Take a 20-minute walk - This was hard to work into my day and it really shouldn't be.  When I think about it there are many times I easily waste 20 minutes looking at Facebook thinking that I am going to find something earth-shattering in my news feed - refresh, refresh, refresh.  So, I really tried to take that time and walk.  Usually I walked to the market or something.  Having a goal really helped me.  I have to admit on the days I did walk, I felt much better than those I didn't.  20 minutes isn't really as long as it sounds.

5. Close my eyes and breathe deeply for 10 counts - For the life of me this one was so hard to remember, but I found a time that I always remembered to do it and went with it.  I chose to do it in the morning in the bathroom.  That's kind of embarrassing, but it's the only time I remembered.

So, how do I feel after this detox week?  Well, pretty good and I am happy that I am making the water thing part of my life.  Naturally that is the one task that I am choosing this week to carry with me for the rest of the program.  Now on to Week 2!