29 Secrets

Almost everyone overdoes it during the holidays, and the price we pay for overindulgence can include weight gain, bloating, headaches, sluggishness, and more. But all of these symptoms don't have to last forever, and there are many things you can do to detox the holiday headaches and get back into feeling great. Below are just a few.

1) Clean house:
After the holidays, your apartment or house may be filled with leftover treats from parties. Chips and dips, rich desserts, candy, cookies, whatever. Throw it out, give it to co-workers, donate it to a food bank, just get rid of it! You’ll find it much easier to commit to an overindulgence detox program when you don’t have a bag of potato chips calling your name from the cupboard.

2) Walk it off:
Walking is a great way to detox your body after a holiday overindulgence – it gets your muscles moving and your lungs breathing in lots of fresh air. Try to walk for twenty minutes, outside if you can, the first few days of your detox. You don’t have to run any marathons, just get your body moving and feel the toxins seeping out of your body with every breath of crisp air you breath.

3) Start with some tea:
Ginger tea or lemon juice in hot water are best, but any caffeine free herbal tea is a great way to start off your morning when you are trying to detox. Sip a cup of tea first thing and then enjoy another cup or two during the day. This will keep you hydrated and help your body rid itself of toxins. Ginger tea will also help with an upset stomach, headache, and many of the other side effects of holiday overindulgence.

4) Stick with fresh foods:
Fresh fruits and vegetables are the best for detoxing. Load up on berries – blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, all the delicious fruits that are bursting with antioxidants. Antioxidants will help detox your body after holiday overindulgence and will also give you plenty of other health benefits.

5) Water:
Water, water and more water. Sixty-four ounces is the recommended minimum but if you can drink more, do it. Water will make you feel full and flush all the nasty toxins your holiday overindulgence loaded in your body. Drinking sixty-four ounces of water or more the first few days of your detox will quickly help your body get back to its pre-holiday state.

6) Yoga:
Yoga is another great way to detox. Relaxing and stretching will get your mind and body ready to get over that holiday overindulgence and welcome in healthy foods. Yoga will gently strengthen your body and help it to eliminate toxins.

7) Avoid sugar, caffeine, alcohol, salty foods, and processed foods:
These are all the foods that led to your overindulgence, anyway. These type of foods put stress on your body, and none of them really give you any benefits. Strive for fresh fruits and berries, lean, healthy proteins, and unrefined carbohydrates for a diet that will help you detox.  

8) And finally, sleep:
Try to go to bed an hour earlier than usual for a few days – it may sound simple but that extra hour helps your body to heal and recover from any stress you may have put on it with holiday overindulgence.  It will make your skin look better, too. Who knows – you may start a whole new healthy habit for the new year.