January 03, 2017 · Written by Foodtolive Team
Post-Holiday Diet to Detox Your Whole Body
Holidays are the time of indulgence, especially when they are filled with Christmas parties that always come with delicious meals. The downside of this wonderful time is that you often come out of it feeling heavier and a bit stressed because of the break-in your eating habits. Sometimes, this may also be accompanied by a bit of weight gain. Today we’ll share our super-effective post-holiday diet to detox as well as a few other tips that would help you regain your balance after the Christmas season.
If cleansing is your main concern, you can do this easily by filling your meal plan with special detox foods. You won’t even have to change your regular eating pattern, just make sure that your dishes are mostly based on the right ingredients. However, if you also want to lose some weight gained through tasty Christmas cakes, or just need to have a start on your weight loss New Year’s resolution, our simple diet would be a great choice.
Healthy 7-Day Diet to Detox
The main idea of a post-holiday diet is not to start eating less but to start eating right. Over a few days of parties, your body gets used to a certain level of food intake, but the meals you have are usually rather heavy on calories.
Simply reducing your portions makes your brain believe that you aren’t getting enough food, so you feel hungry even if logically, you shouldn’t be. The solution is to keep the portions the same size, but replace the foods with those low on calories and high in fiber. This means fruits and vegetables would become your main produce choices for at least a week. You can cut down the sizes of portions gradually so that your body gets accustomed to the new rate of calorie intake more easily.
The basic foods that should make up your weekly diet to detox are:
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- Fruit
- Vegetables
- Freshly squeezed juices
- Tofu
- Oats
- Legumes
- Rice (preferably brown)
- Nuts and seed (unsalted)
- Honey
- Herbal teas
Use olive oil or balsamic vinegar as a dressing for salads, complementing them with natural spices and herbs.
Foods to avoid during your diet include:
- Dairy products
- Meat
- Butter
- Bread and anything that contains wheat
- Junk food
- Store-bought snacks and juices
- Pickles
- Alcohol
- Coffee
Please note that some people are so used to drinking coffee every day that excluding it completely becomes a stress for the body. This may give you headaches and even affect digestion. If you are a coffeeholic, try to limit your daily intake, but be sure to get your morning cup of joe.
You can get quite creative with all the foods included in this diet to detox and help you lose a bit of weight. Your meal plan for the day can look like this:
Breakfast:
Overnight oats with fruits, berries, and nuts are always a great way to start the day. A breakfast smoothie is a great choice for those who are always in a hurry before work. For the weekend, start your day with a delicious fruit salad, sprinkled with some oats to give you energy.
Midmorning snack:
This is the perfect time for some fresh fruits. Have some herbal tea and an apple or a banana. This would hold the hunger pangs at bay and get more of the precious dietary fiber into you.
Lunch:
A detox diet lunch should always include some vegetables, so a salad is usually the best option. Sandwiches are a definite no, regardless of what type of bread you use. A light veggie soup would be a good choice if you have the time to make it. It would go well with rye crackers.
Midday snack:
This small meal should give you more energy, especially if you have a workout after work. This would be the time to indulge in nuts and dried fruits. Don’t forget water or herbal tea as staying hydrated is essential for any diet to detox.
Dinner:
It’s imperative to make your dinner light but nutritious. If you eat fish, now would be the perfect time for some baked salmon and steamed vegetables. Otherwise, vegetable stir fry and fried rice are good choices. You can also enjoy some rice noodles served with prawns and/or vegetables.
Desserts:
Sadly, an effective 7-day diet to detox and lose weight must not include any desserts. In fact, excluding sugar is essential, so even the dried fruit you eat must be free of syrup. This can be a challenge after Christmas indulgences, but you must persevere. You can reward yourself later by cooking some healthy, low-fat desserts.
Non-Food-Related Tips for Post-Holiday Recovery
After the fun parties are over and you are back to work, your body can struggle not only because of the digestive changes but also because of stress. In order to get back into the rhythm of things, you need to improve your time management. Create a detailed daily schedule and follow it. Use your smartphone and a specialized app for setting reminders that would keep you on track.
Allow yourself a bit more relaxation in the evenings, leaving all your work at the office. Taking a walk would help clear your mind and it’s also a good exercise to complement your weight loss efforts.
If your New Year’s resolutions included joining a gym or some hobby class, now would be the best time to do this as new activity will keep you motivated and entertained. This would help with overall stress management.
On the whole, you just need to give your body some time to adjust to the change of pace but don’t overindulge as this may turn into a bad habit.
