Healthy Eating Habits

Now that you’ve come back from vacation feeling heavy and bloated, you think it’s time for a detox. Before you start Googling juice cleanse, detox, or detox diet, or worse going and buying some detox supplement, STOP!

It doesn’t have to be this way, I promise.

I can imagine the reason you feel you need a detox has a lot to do with guilt and shame. You feel you overindulged and need something to get you back on track. Or you’re doing it to punish yourself for enjoying your life. Or worse, you think something is wrong with your body’s ability to detox itself, and you think you’ll feel amazing after 3 days of not really eating.

But you’re still expected to carry on life as normal during those 3 days. Work anywhere from 8-12 hours, being a good friend, and a loving family member or sig other. It’s kinda crazy when you’re tired, low in energy, and don’t feel well.

Before you decide to do that detox, let me drop some truth bombs on you. Then you can decide from there what your approach will be.

I ranted about it (with evidence) on Facebook Live a couple weeks ago. Here’s the video.

Your body does a really great job detoxifying itself. Your entire organ system, especially your liver and kidneys, can handle some stuff. The key is to consistently feed it what it needs and it will keep taking care of you. In particular, these organs need amino acids from protein to function properly and detox for you. If you’re on a juice or water cleanse, you aren’t getting protein so you aren’t helping the detox process.

The research doesn’t match up. I went onto PubMed to see what the objective research had to say about detox diets. AND, there was no evidence to say they’re beneficial, in fact they can be dangerous. Too much of a good thing has consequences (more toxicity in your body, the same thing you’re trying to get rid of).

Shame and guilt are worth addressing with yourself. Is there a reason you feel you need to detox after enjoying life? Often we’re told by the fitness industry if we’re enjoying something, it’s wrong. We should feel deprived, that’s how it works. Wrong! Quite the opposite actually. You’re more likely to keep up with something you enjoy because the emotions associated with it are positive. It takes time to work through, but you shouldn’t be having shame and guilt around eating and living a healthy lifestyle. If you want the donut, occasionally, have the damn donut!

What you do for 3 days doesn’t make up for what you don’t do for the other 362 days. I always talk about consistency over perfection. This is what I’m talking about. Consistently eat well and take care of yourself, and you’ll get results. Trying to do it perfectly, fail and then quit, won’t.

Check out this article from Precision Nutrition to learn more about disadvantages to detox diets (they did their research too).

Here’s what you can do to keep your body’s self-detox going strong.

Love it tenderly, but seriously. Love your body for what it does for you. This will encourage you to want to take care of it instead of saying mean things to yourself. This is true whether you have the body you want or you’re work toward it.

Eat your protein. We women tend to not get enough protein daily just for functioning. Our bodies don’t store amino acids, so we have to eat some sort of protein everyday. But if you want to lose weight or build a better body, you got to eat that protein. 1 palm per meal is great to start for women, and 2 palms for men.

Get those fruits and veggies. Lots of antioxidants and phytochemicals to help with your natural detox system. 1 fist of veggies for us ladies, and 2 for the gents. Go easy on the fruit, they still have sugar. Start with a ratio of 3 servings of veggies to 1 serving of fruit. If you don’t eat either fruit or veggies, then start with incorporating them into your diet. A piece of fruit at breakfast, a serving of veggies at dinner. Small steps, not all at once.

Stay hydrated. About 2 liters of water (64 oz) is the general recommendation. Start small and build you way up to 2 liters. Don’t go from zero to 2 liters in one day, unless you’re trying to get out of that afternoon meeting.

Move your body. As often as possible. Whether it’s standing every couple hours, walking about the office, or getting a workout it. It all adds up.

Know what you’re putting on your body and spraying around your house. Be aware of what’s in your products. Those chemicals can get you.

Spend that $100-200 on a 3 day juice cleanse to work on your nutrition and exercise for a whole month with a coach (shameless plug).

What other strategies can you use instead of going for that detox?

Ready to get started on your health or weight loss journey in a way that actually fits into your life and not the other way around? Get your hands on the 60 Day Fit and Healthy Guide where you’ll learn to apply 4 key eating habits into your life and get quick exercises to complete at home!