I have a secret I have been holding out on you. After every holiday I have the most epic detox routine to get myself feeling vibrant and healthy and lose the bloat and detox from the extra holiday treats.

You want to know how?

1. Detox YOUR MIND. Let go of negative feelings attached to food and treats. Easier said then done but calling them TREATS instead of CHEATS is a great place to start. Cheat implies you are doing something wrong. Cheating is associated with guilt. HAVING FUN FOOD SHOULD NEVER MAKE YOU FEEL GUILTY! What’s the point of indulging if you are going to beat yourself up about it? Might as well just eat your normal healthy foods 24/7 (Kidding, don’t do that. How boring?)
2. I know from enough time in the wellness world- DETOX is a marketing ploy. YOU SHOULD TOO! The only thing you need to detox from your body or sphere of influence are people pushing detoxes as if that is a legitimate healthy option or a necessary technique in a healthy, balanced lifestyle.
3. Drink water. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! Alcohol, sugar, salty foods– all of these dehydrate you and for a lot of people cause bloating so it’s very important to drink even more water than usual! Water has so many benefits. My biggest tip for consuming enough is to have a BIG, reusable water bottle and keep it with your everywhere you go. My boyfriend actually teases me because I carry it around the apartment like a new born baby you can’t leave alone.
4. Eating well portioned, balanced meals. Just because you had 45 servings of carbs in one day, it doesn’t mean you need to cut carbs for the next few days. This is a vicious cycle and you will end up hungry. EAT HOW YOU NORMALLY EAT if anything just UP your veggie intake.
5. Reminding yourself there is no wagon. You can’t fall off a wagon that doesn’t exist. Do we naturally have periods we are more focused on eating for our goals? YES. Does that mean when we have two days eating more for pleasure that we are “off the wagon” and need to be perfect from now on? NO. THERE IS NO WAGON.
6. Move your body! Exercise is not a punishment but the sooner you start (or better yet just continue) moving your body in a way that feels good for you the better. The first few workouts back will be difficult, but muscle memory is amazing. Start where you are and do the best you can FOR THAT DAY. That might not be your best ever. I struggle after even a day of extra sugar, carbs and alcohol. But done is better than perfect.
7. Focus on a HOLISTIC approach– 5 extra pounds doesn’t feel great if you’ve been binge eating, drinking until you’re so full you can’t breathe. But do you need a scale to tell you this? I can tell in the way I feel when I wake up, my energy levels and mood through the day and the way my clothes fit. Your body will naturally fluctuate as a woman with our hormonal changes and menstruation cycle so being obsessed with the scale is just going to leave you defeated every month. It’s about mind-body-soul and how they work together. Weight is simply your gravitational pull. (Did you know everything weighs less on the moon!?)
8. Treat yourself regularly. If you have a treat meal every week or a 80-20 or 90-10 mentality when it comes to eating for fuel 80% of the time and 20% for fun you shouldn’t feel the need to go all out on holidays like this is the only time in your life these options will be there. I enjoy myself on holidays. I don’t restrict myself but I eat in portions that leave me feeling satisfied and stick to my healthy eating habits when I can throughout the day or weekend. A taste of all the traditional foods and doubling up on my favorites is usually how I roll. But this has taken years of trial and error and learning how to be okay with not having three helpings of everything and being in a food coma by the end of the night. It’s a fine line between loving the food, enjoying the food or just going overboard. I don’t need to eat 75 cookies on Christmas because I know I can have a cookie whenever I want one.
9. Switching up your eating patterns is good. You should keep your metabolism guessing. There is a science behind this: refeed days, carb cycling, treat meals etc. But NO ONE should encourage or promote binging. If you are sensitive to this type of information or always looking for a quick fix to lose 10 pounds for you next holiday, the only thing that needs a detox is your mind. Your mindset is such a powerful tool.
10. Feel empowered to make healthy choices. There is nothing wrong with returning your focus to your healthy habits. There is nothing WRONG with having physical goals. There is nothing wrong with choosing not to include certain foods as a normal part of your diet, like processed sugar or alcohol.  Just because I don’t believe in juice cleanses doesn’t mean I don’t think it’s natural for us to want to eat well after we indulge more than usual.

I’m always a little hesitant to post my feelings on diet culture because I believe that the other end of the spectrum gets just as preachy and brain-washy as those promoting low carb, juice cleanse, keto, etc.

Extremes SELL or WIN or GAIN ATTENTION.

Whatever it is.

You are allowed to do as YOU please with your health and you are also allowed to seek help from people who YOU feel align with your philosophy of a healthy lifestyle.

My philosophy plain and simple? I don’t do anything I couldn’t sustain forever unless I have a personal goal that feels aligned with my morals and I come from a place of love.

90 % of my life I am in a healthy exercise routine and nutrition plan I could sustain for the rest of my life.

That other 10% you ask? Because this is my job, I do experiment with different meal plans, eating styles, and workout programs but if something has a hint of restriction in it, I don’t do it.

But I have a newsflash for you: we could follow the same exact program and you could feel restricted by it and I could feel great. My friend could have an unhealthy relationship with the same exercise program I swear by. Why? MINDSET. 

Health is holistic. I will scream it from the rooftops repeatedly. You can’t focus on one aspect without addressing the other. If you are crushing your gym sessions but being a jerk to yourself when you look in the mirror, it doesn’t matter how “fit” you get, you’ll never feel truly healthy. Mind-body-soul. They all deserve equal attention. Different stages and phases of your life may require you to lean into looking after one more than the others but they all deserve you time and effort. But all health starts with how you THINK about the choices (not the actual choices) you are making for your mind-body-soul. 

Consider your mind, body and soul like your three children. (If you’re a mom this will be easy, if not, just play along) You can’t choose a favorite child. Maybe one is easier to deal with. Maybe one needs extra attention for a personal or health problem but no matter what, you have three children who need your time, attention, love, care, and guidance. One might ask for more help and one might be more reserved and think they have it all together, but you are in charge. You have to consciously pay attention to all of them, whether they verbalize the need for help or not.

Mind-body-soul needs constant time, attention, love, care and guidance. They don’t a detox after they have a little fun. They need you to treat them with kindness and unconditional love, no matter what. The kinder you are to them, the stronger your relationship is, and it becomes almost effortless. Until life changes, crisis happens, emotions arise and you remember, relationships with our loved ones and relationships with our mind-body-soul always deserve our time and attention and having a healthy relationship make you feel joyful and strong from the inside out.

Next time you’re tempted to reach for a detox post holiday, try this method and let me know how it goes. You deserve that healthy holistic relationship with your health, and you can start improving it today.