Post holiday migraine? Feeling a little sluggish? Right after Christmas is the perfect time to start planning for a post-holiday detox. I like the jump right in after Christmas, but waiting until New Year’s is great too. It’ll give you a bit more time to prepare, make grocery lists and find some fun pinterest recipes to try out.
The Whole 30 is a great month long detox program designed to break sugar addiction and heavy consumption of processed foods. If you’re like me, eating healthy 85% of the time or if you’re just not ready for a month long commitment I recommend doing a “Whole 15”. Basically, follow the Whole 30 guidelines for 15 days. Afterward slowly incorporate whole grains and if you can tolerate it, dairy and legumes. It’s a refreshing way to detox and reset at the beginning of the year, and keep the momentum going. If you can’t commit to 30 days, you can at least commit to 2 weeks, right?
Here are a few of my “whole 30” tips
- Read every label, every ingredient, every time.
- Keep it simple.
- Stay away from heavily packaged and processed meat, especially sausages. They almost always contain casein and added sugars with secret names like “dextrose”
- If you buy almond milk, make sure the only ingredients are almonds & water. I like Califia Farms, Pure Almond Milk. You can find it at most natural grocers and it’s $4.
- Crockpot recipes are fantastic, you can make several meals at once to eat throughout the week.
- Make sure you are getting protein, fats & complex carbs at every meal. It will help with the hunger you may experience the first week as you’re adjusting
- Always pack snacks
- There’s Whole 30 options at Chipotle! Get a salad bowl!
- Visit http://whole30.org for more details on the program & for recipes
