Given that I posted about selling macarons over the weekend, and I’m going to be posting about all the yummy food we had in NYC in tomorrow’s post, this may seem like a contradiction. But, hear me out! I wanted to share these tips, because I know that during a holiday or a vacation, we tend to be gluttonous. We also tend to crash diet or cleanse after those times to lose weight or feel better. Well, I’m just not that kind of person. I am terrible at crash dieting and juice cleanses, and I honestly don’t always feel like something that extreme is the healthiest option.
Besides my love of tortilla chips, I eat very healthy in normal life. I just honestly love vegetables, and I rarely indulge in bad foods or drinks! But when we went to New York, I wanted to try new things, eat outside of my comfort zone, and truly enjoy the restaurants. That also involved eating foods with gluten a couple times. I am positive I have a gluten intolerance, so this, along with the extra fat, calories, and drinks, made me feel quite rough once we returned home.
I decided to try a few (easy!) methods to detox. These are simple methods to clean out the junk from your system, without heavily impacting your normal life. I focused on these for the first 3 days that we were home.
1. A LOT of Water! My goal was to drink a gallon each day, which is 4 of my water bottles that I take to the gym (it is like a Nalgene, 32 oz). Even if you can’t drink that much, at least try and drink 64 oz, half a gallon. Another tip: incorporate this into your daily life, not just during a detox.
2. Lemon Water. I’m sure you’ve all heard the benefits of drinking warm lemon water. Here is an article about a lemon water beauty detox plan. I am not as consistent with this as I’d like, but it does make me feel better when I drink it. I used my Young Living lemon essential oil instead of plain lemons. It is more concentrated and more effective.
3. Epsom Salt, Baking Soda, Essential Oil Bath. This is an easy, relaxing, and effective way to rid your body of toxins. Make the bath water as hot as you can stand it. Mix together 1 cup epsom salt (or more) with essential oils (optional), and add to the water. Then add 1/2 cup baking soda. Sit in the tub for as long as you can, then rinse off in a cool shower (don’t use soap). Epsom salt helps detox, and also has many other helpful properties, and baking soda helps aid in mineral absorption (and exfoliate). I add essential oils to mine, but this isn’t necessary. Lavender is a great one! I also have added citrus oils, like lemon or orange, and Stress Away. You can read more in this article about how to take a detox bath.
4. No Alcohol. I think this one is quite obvious. While you’re trying to rid your body of toxins, stay away from that happy hour glass of wine. It will reduce sugar intake, and help detoxify your liver. Plus, you’ll naturally drink more water!
5. Eat PLENTY of Fruits and Vegetables. I mean, a lot! I did eat a little meat, and a few snacks while I did this detox, but I mostly ate a plant-based diet. Spinach-berry smoothies for breakfast, and salads or heavy veggie lunches and dinners. I also ate organic apples for a snack or “dessert.” I encourage you to try eating a mostly plant-based diet for a few days. I promise you’ll feel better!
6. No Added Sugar. No desserts, no sugar in coffee, no alcohol, and definitely NO SUGARY DRINKS. We have so much sugar in our diet these days, WHY do we drink it all day, too? Sodas, sweet tea, juice – just say no! Clearly the sugary drinks thing is a whole other soap box for me. I didn’t go zero carb, but I only ate naturally occurring sugar. Try this for a few days – it will help your skin, energy levels, immunity, etc. I want to strive to really cut out most sugar from my daily diet. It is very harmful to our bodies. I realize I am a bit of a contradiction here, as I make and sell desserts. I just truly believe in heavy moderation, and not eating sugar and desserts regularly.
7. Cardio. Try to sweat. Run, walk, take a class at the gym, spin, whatever you prefer. During those few days of detox, I tried to focus on cardio exercise. Anything you can do to get your heart rate up, your metabolism going, and sweat out the toxins. And you’ll just feel better immediately after working out! Getting outside in the sun (vitamin D) while exercising will also help.
8. Chiropractic Adjustments. This may not be feasible for everyone, but I highly recommend looking into seeing a chiropractor regularly. We have for a few years, and it makes a huge difference. We get sick less, my headaches are gone (used to get migraines), and it has helped keep Davis healthy. Also, it helps in the short term with getting rid of a sickness or feeling rough.
I hope that one or a few of these tips was helpful to you! Even though I make a lot of sweets, I try to stay healthy overall, and simply detoxing every now and then is a great way to aid your health.
Thank you for reading! (Come back tomorrow to see what we ate in New York – the reason for the detox. :))
[…] P.S.: Here are my 8 Simple Ways to Detox […]