Recovering From Your Holidays

by Jari Love

It happens to all of us. You go on holiday, or Thanksgiving comes and goes, and you’ve made less than optimal healthy living choices. Holidays can be tough on our resolutions to keep up with our exercise and diet plans, and you can be left feeling sluggish, bloated, achy, out of sorts and maybe your clothes feel tighter than they should. The good news is you can get back to feeling like yourself quickly and back on track with your healthy lifestyle with these 5 steps: 

Step One: Shake it Off- Don’t beat yourself up for poor choices. The holidays happened, maybe you ate things from your “never eat list” or maybe you didn’t exercise when you should—you can’t change it, shake it off and get refocused. 

Make a commitment to yourself. Write it down. Tell other people. Put it in your calendar. The poor choices stop now. Instead of saying “oh well my healthy eating plan is ruined, I may as well have this brownie”, say “today is a new day. Today I am starting on the path to a new, fitter and healthier me.” 

Step Two: Drink Up- The quickest way to get back your energy is to clean out your system by flushing out the toxins and other garbage from your system which you may have accumulated. Drink lots of water this will help you restore balance, combat dehydration as well as combating any water retention. 

Start your day by drinking a tall glass of water with a little lemon, and carry a water bottle with you throughout your day. Make sure you drink even more than you normally would and get at least 10 cups of water throughout the day—more if you are exercising. 

Don’t add artificial sweeteners or stimulants to your water – these will work against your hydration efforts. To add flavor, slice fresh fruit, herbs or vegetables to place in your water. 

Step Three: Whole Foods- To oppose the effects of poor eating choices you need to go clean right away. Set a goal for yourself that for the next four days you need to be extra careful about what you are eating. Eat only whole, real foods. Fruit, vegetables and some lean meat. For these four days try and avoid carbohydrates and focus on filling up with green veggies and lean meat. 

Avoid processed and packaged foods. This is a pretty good general rule for clean eating, but be particularly mindful about avoiding foods like processed meats, cheese, snack foods like granola bars, baked goods and alcohol for the next four days. 

Step Four: Juice it Up- Remember: Go Green to Get Clean. Juicing, or doing a mini cleanse can reduce the negative effects of your holiday binge. Making your own juices or smoothies with hydrating and cleansing ingredients will stop those sugar and fat cravings and re-set your body’s metabolic and digestive processes. Avoid ingredients like carrots, oranges, and tropical fruits due to their high sugar content. 

Here is a detoxifying blend to kick-start your morning—serves 2: 

• 1 cucumber
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 4 basil leaves
• 1 leaves of curly Kale
• 1/2 cup blueberries
• 1 cup water or ice cubes

 Step Five: I like to Move it Move it- The best way to get yourself on track and detoxify your body is to sweat it out. Head to the gym and power out a solid 30 minutes of exercise that gets your heart rate up and your body sweating. 

Follow these five steps and not only will you recover from your holiday indulgences, but you will find yourself motivated to keep pushing your limits and boost your healthy lifestyle plan.

Jari Love – original creator of Get RIPPED! DVD series and group exercise classes. The hot-selling and critically acclaimed Get RIPPED! series enables individuals of any fitness level to burn up to three times more calories than the traditional weight-training program, and has received rave reviews from fitness critics throughout North America since the first title debuted in late 2005.