5 Ways to Detox after Christmas and New Year

If the festive partying has left you feeling sluggish, zapped of energy and bloated, then follow these tips for getting back on track for the New Year.

1. Take up Yoga

What better way to pick up a new hobby than the start of a New Year! Commit to doing yoga every day for 30 days (starting today!) and I promise you will feel 100% better in yourself. I cannot tell you how much better I feel after even just 10 minutes of yoga in the mornings. Yoga has the amazing ability to create more awareness in your body, meaning you will make more conscious food choices. It will calm your mind, as you concentrate on only your breath for the entirety of your yoga practice. It stretches and strengthens muscles and creates flexibility to avoid injuries. A lot of the pain we suffer as we age is due to lack of mobility, the more we move and work our muscles throughout our life, the stronger we will be when we age.

2. Try a Juice Cleanse

This won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but a juice cleanse can work wonders for helping your body get back to its natural state. I would recommend a 3-day juice cleanse from 42 Juice. It’s pricey, but the ingredients are 100% organic (a MUST because you don’t want to be ingesting pesticides and herbicides) and everything is ready to go, no faff, no blending, just nutritionally dense, tasty juices throughout the day. Make sure you get back on track with your healthy lifestyle before undertaking the juice cleanse. Your body will need to adjust gradually so choose a suitable day to start that isn’t immediately after the festive season. There are numerous benefits to juicing including giving your gut and liver a rest, giving it time to repair and detoxify. It can also decrease your appetite, eliminating those desires for comfort food and over eating. It will increase your energy levels, rehydrate your body and help you sleep better. 

3. Simplify Your Surroundings 

Detoxing doesn’t necessarily have to only be based on your food and drink choices. Detoxing can also involve de-cluttering your home and life. The New Year is the perfect time to get organized and have a clear out of anything you no longer need or use. You could also take this opportunity to move things around in your home and see how your furniture could work in a different area of the room. Find a place for that old box filled with bits and bobs that’s been sitting in your living room for months. I try to follow the rule that if it hasn’t been used or worn in a year then it’s gone. This will help with your motivation for any subtle lifestyle changes you want to work on this year, as your living space will feel brand new and it will feel like more of a fresh start.

4. Purify the Air in Your Home

I know it’s difficult to understand something we can’t physically see, but the air in our homes is filled with chemicals from our furniture, decorating materials and household products. Household plants will remove these air pollutants and ensure we are only breathing in fresh clean air. There is enough pollution that we can’t avoid breathing in as soon as we leave our homes. So why not ensure you are breathing fresh air in the areas where we spend a lot of our time. Being surrounded by plants and nature is also proven to lift your mood, reduce stress and anxiety. It may take a little investment initially, but when it comes to your health and wellbeing, it’s definitely worth it.

5. Get Your Skincare Routine Back on Track

Most of us would have probably consumed more alcohol, sugar and refined carbohydrates than usual over the Christmas and New Year season. Your skin will suffer on this diet and will be craving some hydration and moisture. It may look a little dull, tired and take longer to recover as we won’t have been feeding our body with nutritionally dense food. To bring that glow back, make sure you are drinking plenty of water (goes without saying!) but also try a hydrating face mask such as The Babyface Mask from Supermood. This contains ingredients such as Organic Sunflower Seed Oil which is a great antioxidant, as well as Organic Rosehip Seed Oil to deeply moisturize and plump the skin. It also contains Vitamin C and Gingko Biloba which have brightening and purifying effects on the skin, ensuring it’s back to its natural glowing state in no time!

Christmas and New Year is all about the celebration and its all part of the fun when the alcohol is flowing and sweet treats are being passed around. It’s important to stay mindful and be aware of what we are consuming, but I don’t feel we should punish ourselves for having one extra chocolate, or one extra glass of bubbly. Don’t let yourself feel guilty for overdoing it slightly. Health is all about balance. As long as the choices you make on a regular day to day basis include eating fresh, wholesome food, drinking water and exercising regularly…then you should be proud of living a healthy balanced lifestyle.