12 Days Of Christmas
It’s that time of the year again! The brief festive season between Thanksgiving and the New Year, where you can really let loose! Well, you’re constantly surrounded by gooey festive treats and calorific comfort foods. Then there are endless excuses to party the night away. That’s not to mention the tempting holiday dinners. The best part is you can cover everything in a giant festive sweater, and you don’t have to worry about swimsuit season for at least six months. Well, actually the panic might start to kick in on New Year’s Day, when you wake up with a few extra rolls and a little extra holiday weight. So naturally, you’ll panic run to the gym for your annual New Year’s day health kick.
So, we’re here to save you from you festive slumber with our 12 Days of Christmas plan, with a healthy twist:
12 Days Of Christmas
1. Start each day clean: No matter what happened the night before, kick-start each day with a huge glass of warm water with some lemon squeezed in. It might not help you forget what happened, but it will help cleanse your liver, bodily tissues and decrease water retention. Lemon is also highly alkalizing and bursting with vitamin C & electrolytes.
2. Have a healthy breakfast: Whatever you ate the day before, start the next day right with a healthy breakfast that can sustain you for a few hours. You can take your pick from a smoothie, oatmeal, whole grains or even eggs. A nutritious brekkie will give you the right fuel to set up your day in the right direction. It might even make you too full to reach for the extra gooey treats next to your desk.
3. Swap Your Sugar Fix: When you’re feeling fuzzy, you’ll probably naturally want a sugar fix, and it’s easy to season your tea or coffee with some white sugar. Still, you might forget that white sugar is bad for your body, it robs you of calcium, damages organs like the pancreas, kidneys & liver, causes blood sugar imbalances, weight gain and decreases your immune system. Get the picture? Well it’s ok, as you can also get your natural sugar fix from natural sweeteners like Stevia, Coconut Nectar, Honey or Molasses.
4. Arm Yourself With Snacks: When you’re running from festive place to place, you should remember to arm yourself with a few essentials like water and healthy snacks, like fruit or raw nuts. Hopefully this will distract you from heading for the festive snacks or running to Starbucks to try out the new festive flavors every day.
5. Do A Mini Fast: Now this one might be a little controversial, but if you’ve overindulged the day before, then you can eat less the next day to give your digestion a break and balance it out. A good idea is to swap one meal for a healthy green vegetable shake or a fruit smoothie, which will still give you some nutrients and keep you fuller, longer.
6. Remember To Hydrate: It’s easy to forget throughout the day when there are so many other flavored drinks, juices, alcohol and hot drinks around, enticing you with their deliciousness. But always to add some water to the mix, or some herbal teal like Green tea. We promise it will keep you hydrated, fuller longer and help keep your skin smooth, supple and wrinkle-free.
7. Take “Me-Time”: Although it’s totally easy to get swept up in the festivities this season, remember to save some time for each day that’s about you. You can be totally selfish read a book, go to the gym, do some yoga, or for the ultimate luxury detox – take a bath with essential oils. Mmm…And relax!
8. Take Your Vitamins: After all the late nights and overindulgence, your immune system will take a big punch. So balance it all out with an immune-boosting multivitamin that includes vitamin C, vitamin D, fish oils and probiotics.
9. Plan Some Meals: If you can’t look at another festive meal or feel sick from last night’s take away, then we have a solution. If you buy some food at the beginning of the week and prepare some salads, soups or healthy meals then at least you can slip in some healthy additions to your diet. You can even take it to work so you can at least eat a healthy dinner or lunch…before you have to go to another festive party!
10. 80/20 Rule? Some people subscribe to the 80/20 rule, which means eating super healthy most of the time and relax 20% of the time, perhaps on weekend, parties or special occasions. Well, just try to keep eating healthy and enjoy the occasional treat, instead of the other way around!
11. Detox: You don’t have to wait until January to detox, you can start early by adding a few healthy twists to your day. You can remember to drink water and try to incorporate some exercises, like walking, the gym or a home work out. While it can help keep your immune system healthy, you can give yourself a healthy head-start on your January detox!
12. Be Kind To Yourself: Everyone’s allowed the occasional sugary treat, eggnog or festive cake. You just have to remember to not over do it, and if you do, then you can refer to step 1 and kick-start your healthy diet again from there!
Good luck!
