young woman in yoga pose

12 Ways to Detox for Spring!

Most of us love this time of year. The days get longer, we start to see more sunshine (hopefully), and it feels like a time of new beginnings. A time where we want to come out of the hibernation of winter with a little “Spring” in our step if you will. We feel like moving again, want to get some weight off with summer around the corner, and generally just want to feel healthy.

It’s kinda like a New Year’s Resolution – we decide it’s time to “Detox,” and perhaps sign up for a quick fix, a cleanse, or a “short-term thing.” Now a well placed, guided-juice cleanse or detox can have its value for sure depending on your health status. But what if there are other ways to detox your body and life that have lasting change?

Here are just some high-level suggestions to try out and get started (don’t get overwhelmed, you can just pick one or two):

  1. Detox some stress from your life. Meditate! Yep that again…Keep it simple. This does not have to be on a Mountain in Tibet. The easiest is to find a meditation app like Calm.  You can select even 5 minutes to begin or end your day. Or check out your local yoga studio, they may offer classes and yoga itself is moving meditation.
  2. Detox your food. This is a BIG one.  Instead of worrying about some cleanse, how about checking that you’re eating real whole foods? Why not challenge yourself to see how you feel if you eat nothing processed for 7 days? Or go crazy and try a whole month! Read labels. The ingredients should be food and NOT something you can’t pronounce or never heard of. This may mean you have to cook and prepare your foods (Don’t panic). Make shopping lists and be strategic. This can truly alter your long-term health in the best way. This sounds like a much less crazier plan than drinking cayenne pepper mixed with honey 🙁
  3. Get rid of the artificial sweeteners. There are lots of natural options these days.
  4. Add celery juice to your morning or another green juice at some point during the day (always on an empty stomach) or a smoothie if you prefer.
  5. Add a salad to one meal a day or an extra veggie
  6. Eat the rainbow! Lots of color in our veggies.
  7. Drink water! If you need flavor try some lemon or lime. Check out that coffee creamer. Long list of ingredients? Ditch it altogether or try a coconut milk or non dairy creamer with as minimal ingredients as possible. Oh and the alcohol? Minimize or try getting rid of that too. Relax! It’s short term, but you would be amazed at how much clearer your mind and even skin could be.
  8. Ditch sugar. Not sugars from fruit, but you know, the kind that sneaks in everywhere else. A few squares of dark chocolate 70% cacao or above are fine.
  9. Suspect food sensitivities? Pick that one thing you know is causing inflammation and cut it out. Just try it. Gluten? Dairy?
  10. Find movement you will actually do! Try yoga, walking, dancing, playing basketball, or a group fitness class.
  11. Practice good sleep habits: cool room, no devices for an hour before, no food or drink right before bed, make the room as dark as possible, and my fav…add some white noise.
  12. Detox from your devices for a couple of hours or even a whole day or weekend!

One, two or all, can certainly be major steps to detoxing things you just don’t need in your life. Stress, foods, and technology cause inflammation in our bodies. Why not pick some things to keep for a lifetime instead of a few days?

You totally got this!
Tara Rayburg
Holistic Nutrition and Wellness Coach

Contact Tara today for a free wellness consultation! Together, we will discuss a program that may be right for you.

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eTalkTherapy - Health and Wellness Holistic Nutrition CoachingAbout the author: Tara Rayburg is a Holistic Nutrition and Integrative Wellness Coach. Her devotion to healing with a healthy lifestyle was born from having to take her health back into her own hands for her own illnesses many years ago. She works with each individual on their unique health needs and supports you on accountability and support with food, improving energy, movement, and stress relief.

eTalkTherapy - Health and Nutrition Coaching

What is a Health Coach and how can they help improve your life?

This term gets thrown around a lot and there can be a variety of types of Health Coaches with different areas of expertise. However, the Institute for Integrative Nutrition defines a Health Coach as:

A Health Coach is a wellness professional who works with clients one-on-one or in group settings to help them achieve their personal wellness goals including weight loss, boosting energy, or sleeping better.  It doesn’t stop there, though. Health Coaches act as a supportive mentor and guide to help their clients discover which foods and lifestyle makes them feel best. Coaches are accountability partners and even friends who give an unbiased approach to their clients and empower them to live the lives they love.”

That last line says it all, we teach you how to take the power back into your own hands. Too often those of us who struggle with any type of health issue want someone or something to “fix” us. Most of us Health Coaches know that feeling all too well.  We search for that thing outside of us. The truth is…only you can heal your body. Only you can feel what’s right for you. It’s a Health Coaches job to help support you in finding those tools and ultimately connect you with trusting yourself and your body again. To trust that your body is working FOR you, not against you. Health Coaches take a “wholistic” approach to your program and journey.

Does any of this sound familiar?

  1. Perhaps you are at point where managing exercise and nutrition seem out of reach. A Health Coach should meet you where you are and guide you to feel better in your body and life in long term sustainable ways. You don’t have to face this alone or change everything at once to move forward.

  2. You get started on new wellness goals and get stuck on triggers and blocks that prevent you from moving forward. This is usually the time people stop and revert to their old habits. There are actually numerous psychological roadblocks to keeping us stuck. So it’s not really about willpower. A good Health Coach works with you on these and keeps you on track with your goals and accountable as well as adapts to any changes you may need to make.

  3. You struggle with chronic or sometimes overwhelming health conditions. Have you been trying to figure out your options here? Even told there are no solutions or options left or you just have to “live with it”? No matter what you struggle with: chronic disease, widespread inflammation, weight issues, digestive issues or anxiety and depression (just to name a few), Health Coaches strive to help navigate this confusing world and work to find the root of the issues, rather than just treating symptoms. You can start to feel better with even the simplest of changes and of course we work with any other practitioners you work with and their recommendations.

  4. You’re sick of wasting money on ineffective plans or treatments and find it difficult to stay motivated. Most of us have signed up for online diet plans (and how many are there?), started fitness programs or challenges, bought a multitude of expensive supplements, or tried ineffective medications. Only to hit a wall when life happens and we give up on the diet, put those DVDs back on the shelf, quit going to the gym, or search for the next best thing.

  5. Typically the biggest roadblock people face? Time. We all have the same 24 hours in a day as they say. But most of us lead busy, full lives. And sure you absolutely need to prioritize health as number one because in order to be there for others, we want to be our best selves. A Health Coach gives you back some of your time trying to figure out what works for you. We keep up on the latest in health and wellness and we work together to see what works and what doesn’t.

With more people than ever before suffering with burnout, digestive disorders, autoimmune, and just overall inflammation, etc., it’s imperative to have the support to move toward finding that power within. To feel your best self. To thrive, not just survive.

Find that someone who has your back. I’m here to support you.

You’ve got this!
Tara Rayburg
Holistic Nutrition and Wellness Coach