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):
- 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.
- 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 🙁
- Get rid of the artificial sweeteners. There are lots of natural options these days.
- 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.
- Add a salad to one meal a day or an extra veggie
- Eat the rainbow! Lots of color in our veggies.
- 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.
- 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.
- Suspect food sensitivities? Pick that one thing you know is causing inflammation and cut it out. Just try it. Gluten? Dairy?
- Find movement you will actually do! Try yoga, walking, dancing, playing basketball, or a group fitness class.
- 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.
- 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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About 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.
