I figured she’d offer the best perspective than I would, so I let her run with it.  And it just so happens that I happen to run a blog about deception, and I’ve probably said “It’s easy to be deceived,” at least 10,000 times in the past 10-15 years.  To date, it’s been my life’s message.  So enjoy this guest post, written by her, conveniently located here.  Here’s Kate…  

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It’s one of the biggest buzzwords of the last 18 months: Detox.

Thousands of programs and regiments that are designed to “rid your body of toxins”.  And you know what?  It’s one of the biggest hoaxes that has hit the public since the Atkins Diet craze. But, as my husband often says, “It’s easy to be deceived.”

The word detox, according to Webster’s Dictionary, means the following:

“To undergo treatment to rid the body of poisonous substances, especially alcohol and drugs”.

It’s origin is 1972. Most people who detox are people in rehab (we’ve all seen Intervention) who are coming down off years of abuse of drugs and alcohol.  They are ridding their body of a literal “poison”.  But somewhere along the way, someone realized that the word “detox”  could be used for an entirely different purpose: marketing.

If you were to get on Google (or Bing or Yahoo or whatever engine you use), and type in the word “detox”, you would find over 12.5 million pages of cleanses, diets, plans, blogs, and other various opinions on the subject. You would find things like the Acai Cleanse, the Master Cleanse (or lemon cleanse), Evercleanse, the Cabbage Soup Diet, the ColoThin, and Colonics.  Each one claims to detoxify your body in the most effective, and fast, way.
I’m pretty sure that even though you may not have participated in one of these programs, you know someone who has, or you’ve heard of them.  But the thing that so many people have failed to realize is that they are just a fad.  Go ahead and hate me for saying it, but they are no better or different then weight loss programs like the Atkins diet, the South Beach diet, or my personal favorite, the What Would Jesus Eat? Diet.

We have bought into the fad hook, line, and sinker all over again.  Especially us women.  We want to be thin…and would do just about anything to get to that point quickly.  Everything except give up our Starbucks Frappuccinos with extra whip and the Wendy’s at 11pm.  We want a quick-fix to our poor eating habits and have believed that the only way to a healthy life is through not eating for 10 days and drinking a concoction of maple syrup, cayenne pepper, and lemon juice.

When I searched for a scientific perspective on these cleanses, I consulted a doctor, Wikipedia, and WebMD among others.  The opinion was repeated across the board:

“…Symptoms may improve with a detox diet, but there is no evidence that this [detox diets/cleanses] is due to clearing toxins from the body…As it turns out, a balanced, proper diet is more helpful than a detox diet.” WebMD also stated that, “Perhaps one of the biggest dangers of detox diets is the fear they instill in the public…The good news is that your body has its own natural detoxifying process that works quite well.  The liver and kidneys do a good job of processing chemicals and eliminating them…”  WebMD goes on to make the statement that, “fasting can be addictive because it causes a kind of ‘high’.”

(I am putting this statement in there based on the fact that the Master Cleanse is one of the most popular cleanses out there, and it requires a 10-day fast.)  There was also a statement in Self magazine that said that women who don’t eat (fast) during a cleanse or diet are, on average, 8 pounds heavier than women who just ate right and exercised!  Is anybody getting this?

ARE WE OUT OF OUR MINDS??

In all honesty, I am just wondering when we stopped paying attention.  We believe just about anything, more specifically when it comes to shedding those pounds and that other buzzword: wellness.  If we really look deeper into it, we aren’t really interested in a lifestyle change, or being healthy for that matter.  Instead, we want to do what we want, when we want, but don’t want the consequences that come along with it.

I have read status update after status update on Facebook and Twitter from friends of mine that have decided to “get clean” by choosing one of these diets.  The irony, however, is that when all is said and done, they “celebrate” their success and their new-found energy by hitting up their favorite drink at Starbucks and noshing on a cupcake or ice cream.  And even more commonly, they just go back to their old food and drink routine, thinking about the next time that they’ll “clean out”.  I’m not kidding!  Just think about how ridiculous that is!  You’ve “rid” the toxins from your body only to put them right back in. the dangers of detox diets and cleanses is right in front of our faces, yet we remain blind.  Especially us as women.  There’s a lie that’s easy to miss, but it’s there nevertheless.  It’s that nasty lie that tells us over and over that we aren’t good enough, and God and his design are not enough. We take products like these because we find ourselves 25 pounds overweight, lazy, and sometimes even subconsciously blame God for making us with a faulty system. No…we are faulty because we live in a broken world. We don’t want to work hard, eat right, or exercise.  We find ourselves caught up in fad diets and quick-fixes because we need to experience that we are enough.  We want to feel like we are doing something…anything. But we are left unhappy and empty, cheeseburger still in hand.

DO NOT BUY THE LIE.  It’s that simple.  (For real…it really is).  Understand that we all are left with a choice to be healthy or just pretend to be healthy.  I would challenge any person, fad-cleanser or non-fad-cleanser, to make a lifestyle change for the better.  Just eat healthy. And then, go get some excercise…

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Be sure to check out Kate’s blog, I AM KATE. You’ll love reading her thoughts!

QUESTION: What do you think? Have you done a detox, and what was your experience? Is Kate crazy, or have a lot of people been cleverly tricked and deceived?

But…

But, the world has a tendency to reprogram our minds, and make women think you have to look a certain way to feel beautiful. The pictures are everywhere, and so many of them are fake. So next time you see a photo on a billboard, or on a magazine cover while waiting in line at the grocery store, remind yourself that even the most beautiful women in the world still just aren’t beautiful enough.

If this photo of Faith Hill wasn’t good enough for the Redbook Magazine cover, and… if the images you see every day impact you on a deeper level than you probably realize… well, you can begin to imagine why my wife doesn’t always feel pretty. (And why you a lot of times don’t feel pretty either.)

Before:

Faith Hill Unedited Redbook Cover Photo

After:

Faith Hill Edited Redbook Cover Photo

Or, in case you couldn’t see just how dramatic the changes actually are, check it out this way:

As if Faith’s arm was just WAY too fat. Ugh.

Remember, you are beautiful, and you are enough, just as you are. Don’t let Photoshop and it’s shallow users tell you otherwise. Do not be deceived.

You could read more of this issue of Redbook Magazine and learn everything from make up tricks to “how to show your sexy side.” But if you can’t even trust the cover, why even open it’s pages??  Look at the photos, then read the headlines printed on the cover. Am I the only one that finds the advertised articles utterly ridiculous, considering the irony of the over-editted photo??

QUESTION: Am I the only one who thinks this is ridiculously sad, and incredibly unhealthy for our culture?  As a girl, does it impact your ability to feel beautiful?

If you’ve seen me perform live, you may have heard me talk about how easy it is to be deceived, and one of the ways it happens is how the world attempts to define what true beauty is.  Every day you drive by billboards, see ads on TV, and look at pictures as you flip through magazines, and it’s everything inside of you to feel pretty.  Does the world and it’s blurred messages of self-image impact how you see yourself in the mirror?  

Eating disorders, thoughts about ideal weight, affording the right clothes, and questions of how to feel beautiful are asked every single day by millions of people who live in a photoshopped world.

Imagine the pressure felt by three sisters who signed a major record deal with Hollywood Records, toured with national acts like Miley Cyrus, the Jonas Brothers, and the Cheetah Girls.  Glitz, make-up, lights, photo shoots, (and a massive machine called Disney), certainly has high standards to say the least, and I could imagine it’d be hard to deal with the constant pressure to look a certain way, weigh a certain amount, and fit certain expectations, all while being teenagers.

Well, now those girls have grown up a bit, (and their music and sound has matured), and they’re speaking up about one of the issues almost all women face.  It seems like the issue doesn’t go away, regardless of how old you are.  Find out what my friends and recording artists, Everlife, have to say about what it means to feel beautiful, and hear their brand-new song, “What’s Beautiful.”  If you really listen to the lyrics of this song, I think you’ll be as blown away as I was!  And I’m not even a girl!  ;-)

After you check out this video and hear the song, you’ll want to do 3 things:

1. Buy “What’s Beautiful” on iTunes, and enjoy the positive message…you need it!

2. Come see the girls play live on my tour, “Sens de Vie“ in a city near you this Spring!

3. Spread the word!  You and I both know that you know someone who needs to hear this song! Forward a link to this post to your friends, girlfriends, and daughters, encouraging them to watch the interview, start following Everlife by checking out their website, and getting the song.

Enjoy!  This is one of the world’s first chances to see a recording of this song played live…

[Facebook Note readers, click here to watch the video.  Facebook doesn't embed the video here when automatically importing these notes from my blog.]

Remember, buy the song, and spread the word!

Do YOU feel beautiful?  If not, remind yourself that God created you in his image, and in his eyes, you are perfectly beautiful and wonderfully made.

How do you fight the temptation each day to tune out the lies around you that scream you have to look a certain way in order to feel pretty? Share your comments, questions, frustrations, experiences, whatever.  Others might need to hear them, or you might just need to hear from them…