The holiday season often means overindulgence. Too much chocolate, alcohol and too many calories. You may even have gained a few pounds. Here are a few tips to help your body reset and get back to your healthy weight, so you can start the year strong!
It is not only during the holidays that your body accumulates excess calories or potentially harmful residues from medications, alcohol and additives. Supporting your body’s natural elimination processes at least once a year can be beneficial. The main organs involved in eliminating metabolic waste are the intestines, liver and kidneys.
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Which detox plan should you follow after the holidays?
Keep it simple: eat plenty of fruit and vegetables, whether cooked or raw. They provide potassium, fibre and antioxidants. Green tea, thyme, turmeric, cinnamon and black radish are all great foods to include in a detox-focused diet.
In the morning, before breakfast, you can drink a glass of warm water with half a lemon, provided you do not suffer from acid reflux. At lunchtime, try raw vegetables with carrot or beetroot juice. In the evening, soups are highly recommended!
Avoid alcohol. Why not take on the Dry January challenge and go alcohol-free for the whole month?
How does a detox affect my training?
A detox plan may leave you feeling a little tired. Listen to your body and how you feel. This is a great time to focus on runs at an easy aerobic pace, the ideal pace for weight loss.
If you have gained weight, slow your pace down even more to keep your heart rate below 70% of your maximum heart rate. You can also include short interval sessions to give yourself a boost.
In any case, keep training. It will further support your weight-loss efforts, if that is your goal.
What healthy habits should you follow year-round?
Outside of a detox period, aim to eat enough fibre every day, along with omega-3, omega-6 and omega-9 fats from sources such as olive oil, rapeseed oil and walnuts. Drink at least 1.5 litres of water a day.
Also avoid eating too much sugar, so you do not overload your liver or encourage excess sugar to be stored as fat.
Come on, it is the start of a new year, the perfect time to get back into healthy habits! The days are getting longer too, which makes early-morning and evening runs much more enjoyable. Now is the time to try our running weight-loss training plans…