I grew up in a middle class neighborhood that was a true suburb in that it had less hustle and bustle than that of a big city but still had enough activity to label it more than a small town. But it also had this strange “country” feel to it that “city folk” would make fun of whenever they would venture into our little city. Now when I say country, I don’t mean Garth Brooks and the Grand Ole Opry, I mean I lived on a street that had a community center for teens on one end of the street and a horse stable on the other. Ummm, yeah. Talk about a dichotomy there.

Another thing that we had in my neighborhood was a “beach”.

Let me tell you right now, it is not a “beach”.

It is a river’s version of a “cul de sac” and it sits all the way down a very long, winding road (ironically, the same road as the horse stable) in the ‘city-country’. The river ends in a lake and the city has cordoned off parts of it for people to swim there. I think in my twenty-some-odd years of living on that road, I might have dipped my feet in the beach water maybe once. I wouldn’t swim in that water if you put a winning lottery ticket on a buoy halfway out and told me I could have all of the money when I got to it. Knowing that water, I would have to spend my entire lottery spoils on good healthcare after that.

Why? Because there is no tide; there’s just a river that drains into the lake (and if you knew where that water was coming from, you’d think keeping the beach open would be criminal). There are no filters, drains, purifying systems, nothing. And over the years, we humans have done a number on that water. From pets swimming in the water, to baby diapers left in the sand, people using it as a port-a-potty, to normal toxic waste coming in from the river, Mother Nature has not been given much time to regenerate and restore this body of water. So year after year, the damage has been done and now you are left with a very unsafe body of water fighting to keep some sort of balance with nature. And right about now you are asking yourself, “Where is she going with this?” Glad you asked.

Do you know what that lake represents? Your liver. Yes, your liver. That poor organ that takes up so much precious real estate on the right side of your body that you abuse more than your favorite pajamas is just crying for some love. I wouldn’t trade livers with some of you (I am making this sound like an actual option) if you paid me a million dollars. Right now, your liver is screaming:

“Dear God in Heaven, can you cut me some slack down here? What do you think this is? A waste paper basket? Enough already with the artificial sweeteners, fake food, smog, alcohol, tainted meat, stress and etc. Can you give an organ a break for crying out loud? All day long you have me shuttling junk out of here and then you think I’m going to help you lose weight, too? MAKE UP YOUR MIND! I’m taking this to the union! Convert energy, store energy, digest food, clean your blood. Enough! I need some relief down here and don’t think because you throw me a juice drink here or there that you are helping me out with cleaning up this dump. You’re not.”

Ok, once you get your liver to pipe down and get some sense, you need to pay attention to what he’s screaming about.

I have spoken about the role of your liver on numerous occasions but now it gets its own article. One of the things about ‘dieting with a specific look in mind at the end’ is everything needs to be on point for this to happen. We take dieting for granted and we shouldn’t. It is not easy nor is it guaranteed so we should be looking for ways to take advantage of every gift we are given in this area. Your liver just happens to be the best gift ever in the fight for a hot body but we do not appreciate it. Instead, we forsake it. Think about what we ingest on a daily basis and it is not too hard to see how much we seem not to care about this organ.

A primary function of your liver is to metabolize fat. If you keep it busy doing everything else (your laundry, your taxes, you know, all the stuff you don’t want to do), it cannot help you to lose body fat (Notice I didn’t say weight. If you want to lose weight just lob off a leg, we want to lose body fat here).

The best way to help your liver out is through detoxification. I bet you think that I am going to tell you to buy a detox of some kind to clean out your liver and then love all over it by avoiding the toxins above plus a few more. Wrong. I am going to tell you to avoid the toxins above (and a few more) but do not buy any pills or potions to “detox” your liver. While keeping it as clean as possible will allow you to lose more weight than you would have been able to if it was all clogged up, I am all about espousing nature and letting her take her course. Instead of focusing on trying to do some “weekend detox” or “instant flush”, just stay true to your clean diet, limit the toxins to as little as possible and drink plenty of water. Your liver will do fine all on its own.

Cleaning your colon does not clean your blood or your liver. Drinking a juice blend of 4 fruits and 3 veggies doesn’t do it either. No, your liver cleans your liver and does it quite nicely. It’s the only organ that can regenerate itself! How’s that for efficiency? Knowing that this organ can regenerate its own tissue and filter blood at a rate of 1.5 quarts/min., it almost seems silly to think that an herb can accomplish half as much as this powerhouse can on its own.

If you stop whatever weapon of choice you are consuming right now, you will allow your liver a chance to clean itself. It’s just like a cat, only it doesn’t demand things of you and then ignore you in your own home like an unwelcomed guest. When left to its own devices, it will clean and purify itself on its own and really does not need much outside help from you. Drink plenty of water (close to a gallon), eat lots of fruits and veggies (you should already be doing this) and limit the fake stuff in your diet (**transparency alert** I love diet coke. I’m working hard to wean this habit so I feel for you) and you are well on your way to maximizing the fat loss through your liver.

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