How to Do a Cleanse After the Holidays

During the first few weeks of January, many of us are nagged with feelings of regret. First, there was Thanksgiving and the days leading up to it. So much rich, decadent food! Then came the whole month of December, with brightly-covered pastries and peppermint mocha lattes everywhere we turned. As Americans, we like to indulge as much as possible during the winter holiday season. It’s practically a tradition. 

But in January, we like to start thinking about swimsuit days just a few months down the road. It’s a time to think about rebirth, renewal, and positive choices, even before spring rolls around. And if you’re looking for some ways to bounce back from all that over-indulgence, try a few of these.

Start With Your Head

One of the best things you can do to cleanse yourself from a few months of over-indulgence is to start with your mind. You know the old saying “mind over matter.” You’ll be in a better position to start making more healthful choices if you’re grounding yourself on a daily basis. Try one of several mindfulness apps (Ten Percent Happier, Headspace, Calm, or Insight Timer) or start taking a yoga class on Zoom. Yoga is basically meditation with stretching. This stretching might help you if you’ve been on the couch for a few months.

Continue With Exercise

When it’s cold and wet outside, and the sunsets are at 4:30 in the afternoon, one of the first things to go is usually your exercise routine. November and December tend to feel a little like hibernation. We often binge on shows, wear snuggly pajamas, and snack on the couch until we doze off. It still gets dark early in January, but the days are beginning their gradual lengthening. It’s time to incorporate a little more exercise into our routines. This could mean taking a walk after dinner, riding an exercise bike, easing into jogging with a couch-to-5K app, or whatever form of getting back into shape works best for you.

Upgrade the Fuel You Give Your Body

To really cleanse from holiday overindulgence, take a break from processed food. Try a 7-day or 21-day whole-food, plant-based diet challenge. There are a few popular ones on the market. The Engine 2 Seven-Day Rescue Challenge from Rip Esselstyn, a former triathlete and Austin firefighter, is free. You might want to try the meal planner add-on to make the challenge more convenient. The Forks Over Knives website will be starting a 21-day whole-food, plant-based challenge on January 1. You can also watch The Game Changers documentary on Netflix to get yourself pumped up for one of these cleanse challenges.

Enhance Your Positive Choices with Supplements

While we’re learning that certain supplements–folic acid, vitamin A, and beta carotene, for example–may not be as good for us as we once thought, we also know that other supplements can have a really positive impact on our health. Two such supplements are prebiotics and postbiotics. Prebiotics are dietary fiber that feeds your gut microbiomes, such as acacia powder, inulin, or glucomannan. There are many ways to take your probiotics, including specialized drinks, probiotic pills, and fermented foods like kimchi and sauerkraut. The important thing to remember is that health supplements aren’t a “magic pill” to allow you to abuse your body any way that you want. They do, however, seem to work well in tandem with healthier lifestyle choices. 

Keep the PMA

What does PMA stand for? It stands for Positive Mental Attitude. It means that you work to keep a grateful and optimistic outlook on life no matter what challenges come your way. Remind yourself every day to “keep the PMA” no matter what is going on in the world. It’ll go a long way to helping you cleanse from all that indulgence over the holidays.

Tips contributed by Anne Davis.