Diet Cleanses: How to Detox Your Body
Mondays are rough for many reasons — being a slave to your alarm clock after a weekend of sleeping in and getting back to the work grind among them. For many of us, bouncing back from a weekend of indulging is another hard transition to navigate. Especially this time of year when backyard barbecues and beach days have more sugary cocktails, burgers and ice cream on the menu.
While there is no such thing as a one-day miracle fix for overindulging, it can help to hit the reset button every once in a while — giving you a little push toward feeling better stat and making healthier long-term decisions.
Here are five tips to help you cleanse, de-bloat and set your diet and health back on the right track in just one day:
1. Start with lemon water.
Start your day by waking up with a glass of warm or cold lemon water. The pectin from the lemon aids in digestion, helping to make lemon a phenomenal detoxifying food. Water with lemon also helps curb your appetite and boosts satiety.
Energizing your digestive tract sounds like a great way to start the day, right? The bonus is the little wedge of lemon bobbing in your cup, which reminds your brain, “Hey, I’m making healthy choices today!”
2. De-bloat with breakfast.
After water, fuel yourself with food!
It will benefit your metabolism after a night of sleep. When doing a mini-cleanse, the advice I give to clients is to skip the bread, cereal or any version of them at breakfast as they will cause your body to retain more water, and instead focus your attention on protein, which will provide satiety. An egg-and-salmon scramble is a perfect combo of protein and metabolism-boosting omega-3s to start the day. Or if you’re on the go, opt instead for an easy gut-healthy smoothie.
Related: Expert tips and recipes to pack your morning meal with protein — and staying power.
3. Clean up your diet.
Make sure to eat breakfast, lunch, dinner and at least one snack (absolutely no skipping meals!) and ensure they consist of whole, real foods only. Eating consistently throughout the day will help you lay the foundation for ongoing healthy eating. I’m talking loads of veggies, lean protein such as grass-fed steak, chicken, fish, eggs and healthy fats from nuts, seeds or olives, avocado or coconut.
Ditch the packaged, processed foods today (even the “healthy” versions). This will ensure you are taking out excess sodium, artificial ingredients and sugar from your diet. Also, ditch the salt shaker and instead use only herbs and spices to flavor your food. You’ll find this can help make a big difference in how you look and feel. Even after one day!
Related: Doing a "cleanse" or "detox" doesn't work exactly the way a lot of people think.
4. Have an afternoon tea.
Drink a cup of dandelion root tea with your afternoon snack. Trust me, this one is important. Dandelion can help improve digestion, and being properly hydrated is linked to everything from a healthy metabolism to energy and good skin health. If dandelion isn’t your thing, go for green tea for an antioxidant and metabolic boost.
5. Get moving!
Increasing your heart rate will mean an increase in blood flow. This, in turn, will help your body to flush out toxins all on its own. You don’t even need to hit a gym to get your sweat sesh in, here’s a quickie workout I do just about anywhere. The takeaway here is to rev your heart rate, break a sweat and get in a better mindset to kick it up a notch again tomorrow.
