6 Ways to Detox After the Holidays and Kick Off the New Year Right
Registered Dietician
| 4 min read
Christmas has come and gone and now you feel like jolly old St. Nick. Stress on the jolly? Well, after all the fun, food and festivities, this can happen easily. Well instead of waiting until the new year to start your resolution, get on the ball right now.
Here are 6 ways to help you detox from the holidays and start your new year’s resolution before 2012.
1. Water
Drink up! Lots of water will help cleanse your system and get you back on track to a healthier you. Many people — especially in Michigan during the winter — forget to drink enough water. Remember you should have at least 64 ounces of water per day or half your body weight in ounces of water daily. If you are active and exercising you should have even more. So think about it: Are you drinking enough?
2. Exercise
I know you’re probably planning this elaborate workout schedule for your New Year’s resolution, but why not get started now? Challenge yourself and try a new exercise that you have never done before. If you are a regular at the gym, mix it up a bit. Try a class like Zumba, dancing, kickboxing, aerobics, step aerobics, yoga, Pilates or Pure Barre. Try a new sport or get involved with a team by playing golf, bowling, tennis, volleyball, or basketball — not only is it exercise, but it is social.
If you are a cardio person, try incorporating stretching and resistance training to have a complete workout routine. Also try setting a goal for yourself, like running a 5K, 10K, half marathon or marathon. Sweating out the excess calories and toxins from the holiday is a great way to detoxify the body.
3. Yoga
Yoga is so great that it needed to be highlighted as its own specific idea. Incorporating yoga into your exercise routine helps your body eliminate toxins while also soothing your mind. In the hustle and bustle of the holidays, we don’t do that enough. Yoga helps your posture, builds lean muscle and is a great workout to help increase your fitness level. If you are a newbie who has never tried yoga before, try a video first if you are too intimidated to go to a class. I promise if you try it, you will like it.
4. Give Up a Food Vice
Many Catholics and Christians know that during the season of Lent, which is 40 days long before Easter, you give up something. Growing up Catholic, I usually gave up some kind of food vice. It was great for my discipline and will power. Why not try this until the Super Bowl? That is my challenge to you. It will help you get back on track, and it’s good to test yourself every once in a while. Believe me, I am not encouraging deprivation by any means, just a little challenge.
5. Add Healthy Foods or Try Something New
If you don’t have a food vice, maybe try adding some healthier foods into your diet. Here are some ideas and principles to get you started. Do you get at least five fruit and vegetable servings in a day? Try making all the grains you eat whole grains. Choose only lean protein foods. Eat breakfast daily. Do you drink enough water (see No. 1)? Make a conscience effort to include some good nutrition into your daily meal plan. Or if you are a picky eater, set a goal to try a new food every week. Remember it takes 20 to 30 times to try something before you acquire a taste for it.
6. Cleanse or Detox
I don’t recommend this as a long-term solution for good health, but there is some evidence that cleansing the body can help kick start people into a healthier routine. There are a variety of ways to do this. Most simply, you can add more water and nutritious foods to your diet and cut out all processed foods. Another way may be to fast. Again, there are many pros and cons to cleansing and detoxing diets. The bottom line is that this is not a long-term solution for weight loss or living a healthier lifestyle. The goal is to build up healthier habits slowly and manage them to ultimately lead a life-long healthier lifestyle.
Do you think you may try one of these tips? Remember to stay focused on the longevity of better habits. I recommend ringing 2012 with a plan already in mind. Cheers to a healthier lifestyle!
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Photo Credit: Ron Sombilon Gallery
