Poliquin - Healthy. Lean. Strong.

I don’t know about you, but this year I ate a little indulgently over the holidays. I try to stay pretty consistent with my healthy routines during celebrations and vacations, but this year I experimented a bit and ventured out into the world of more conventional holiday fare. Though it was really fun in the moment, it had some unpleasant and unattractive consequences. I rang in the new year looking and feeling like a toad: all puffed up and really cranky.

 

Winter is not the best time of year for a full detox, but after the long holiday season many of us need to lighten up a bit, get off the overindulgence train, and get back in sync with the winter season like all the other animals in the kingdom. Getting back onto a healthy track is not just about food and eating, however. The holidays can be a time of emotional overindulgence as well, both positive and negative. Nothing like Christmas for bringing out the best and worst in people, right?

 

It is possible in these early weeks of January is to restore an internal sense of balance and harmony. The key is to ease up on the harsh eating and to deeply soothe the bodymind system. Try these five tips for two weeks to help transform your “holiday toad” back into a nice calm prince or princess.

 

1. First thing in the morning for 3 days, drink 12 ounces of warm water mixed with the juice of one lemon. Wait 15 minutes before eating or drinking anything else. This tart cocktail acts as a mild diuretic and will support your liver in its cleansing action after a good night’s sleep. Citrus juice is also alkalizing to the body, but it can have an acid effect on the stomach, so reduce the lemon to half if you find it irritating. You can also try substituting 1-2 tablespoons of raw apple cider vinegar or pure unsweetened cranberry juice for the lemon. After those three days, continue drinking 12 ounces of room temperature water on waking, but without the lemon.
 

 If you have gained any weight or are having any swelling or congestion in your body, try also sipping small amounts of plain hot water every 15 minutes during those first 3 days. I boil water in the morning, cool it slightly, and put it in a thermos to carry around with me. This is an Ayurvedic trick for helping to break up the “ama” or congested toxins in the system. It’s very soothing and has a remarkable clearing effect on both body and mind for such a simple thing.

 

2. Stick to lean proteins and vegetables with modest amounts of clean fats for the bulk of your meals and any snacks for at least 2 weeks. Put a mix of different beans on regular rotation during this time. Holiday food has too much richness for us to sustain, so lighten up a bit on any fatty meats and substitute the beans for some of your regular entrees and sides.
 

 

Taking a short meat break with beans is particularly important if you’ve been chowing down on conventional meats at friends’ houses or out at restaurants (because you’re trying to eat mostly high quality grass-fed at home, right?). The beans’ ample fiber is also helpful for giving you a sense of fullness with fewer calories and for sweeping any backed up holiday “revelry” out of your intestines.

 

3. Eat 1-3 servings of green vegetables every day, especially cooked dark green leafies, such as kale and collards. These are alkalizing, nourishing (rich in micronutrients), and calming to your system.

 

4. Go cold turkey off of alcohol, sugar, and flour products for the two weeks (at least) to give your blood sugar a chance to restabilize. If you ate more of these types of carbs than usual you probably woke up your dormant sweet tooth and are still trying to put it back to sleep. Remember, folks, with flour and sugar, the more you eat the more you want. So just cut yourself off for now to get back in control. You don’t have to give up all sweet tastes (though that is the most effective strategy for quickly knocking the cravings out).Get your sweet fix from small amounts of seasonal squashes and root vegetables, especially beets. Beets are a particularly cleansing root because they are high in betaine, which supports methylation. Try them in soups, roasted, or in dips.

 

5. Finally, to assist this gentle system reboot and to deeply soothe your nervous system, try this mildly detoxifying bath routine every few days (or even more frequently if it doesn’t dry out your skin too much). Start by stripping down to your birthday suit and have a seat on the (closed) commode in your bathroom. Cross one foot over your knee and, as if you were squeezing toothpaste up a tube, using both hands firmly squeeze your foot and move right up your leg to your hip. Repeat on the other side. Then squeeze your arms, starting with the hand and moving right up to the armpit on each side –you have to do this one on the top and bottom of your arms because you’re working one-handed. Gently rub your head and massage down the front of your face and neck. You are waking up the essentially passive lymph system, helping it to do its clearing job. Just remember to work from the outside in, always moving toward your heart. Next, take a 20 minute soak in a hot bath with at least 2 cups of Epsom salts. Rinse off, dry off, and end with a light massage using a small amount of either coconut oil or raw sesame oil over your entire body.

 

Finally, try this Orange Black Bean Soup for the perfect post-holiday reboot dish. It’s rich in fiber, has some satisfying layers of flavor (with the garnish) that will help with the sweet cravings, is slow-cooked and soothing, and even has a little vitamin C as a bonus.