I am positive we all enjoyed the Diwali festivities to the hilt – this festival of lights actually lights a glow within, not to mention the advent of Lakshmi ji in all her magnitude and charm. The last weekend of this leg of Festivity is over and already Christmas / New Year Festivity is knocking at our door.
So it’s time to detox the festive sins away and prepare our bodies for the next bout of fun filled festivity.
Post-festival is a tough time!
With the overdose of sweets, food treats and late night drinking and partying, your body’s natural clock is all shaken up and going back to a normal routine seems like a Herculean Task.
We await festivals for the rituals, food and festivity and interestingly each ritual involves a sweet. Its very easy to get overwhelmed and go overboard with food and drinks. But don’t worry we meet family & friends, eat & drink to have fun not to feel guilty and stressed later……………. There is an antidote to every poison so enjoy your poison within boundaries and treat your body to detox for repair and rejuvenation.
Always treat your body like a temple to be revered and worshipped as a healthy body is a healthy mind and a source of constant positive energy.
To be fair and completely honest returning to reality after a festival of binge-ing can be depressing. As a part of your post-festival detox you have to try to keep your spirits high. A great way to do that is by eating mood-boosting foods, such as chocolate. Chocolate can help you beat the post-festival blues because it can increase your serotonin levels and leaves you feeling happy and content.
Traditionally Diwali is all about detox. You detox your house also by going in the cleaning mode, so post Diwali cleanse your body as well.
For most of us the little tightening of the perfectly fitting trousers or a hint of double chin send us in a frenzy to get back into shape or back on diet plan where we feel ‘safe.’
I am sharing a very simple game plan to get back into shape and regular routine in the most efficient way possible.
Here’s what we can follow to get back on track and in shape
- If all you’ve been eating is junk and refined sugar, your body will be in a pretty acidic state and beg for more sugar. Sugar feeds on sugar creating a take-over of bad bacteria which will continue unless you stop and overload it with basic pro-biotic foods. Choose natural sugar options to beat the cravings such as grapes, date and nut balls, raw chocolate and coconut chunks.
- Focus on re-hydrating the body with lots of water, herbal teas and coconut water.
- Eat lots of fresh fruit such as berries and lean protein with green leafy vegetables to get your antioxidant levels up so that they can mop away free radicals that would have been created by all the toxins you’ve consumed.
- Vitamin C rich foods such as green leafy vegetables bell peppers and tomatoes are fabulous.
- Add lemon and ginger to everything and you can also get a good quality food-state Vitamin C supplement
- You definitely want to avoid all refined sugar which is probably most of what you were eating and drinking at the festival
- Stay away from food that requires a lot of energy to break down like legumes and grains.
- Instead support your digestive health with veggie or bone broths – these aid in cellular repair and are easy on the digestive system.
- Choose re-hydrating fruits and vegetables such as blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, tomatoes and pomegranates.
QUICK TIPS TO ENHANCE YOUR DETOX DIET
- One of the most important things you can do to regenerate and restart your body is sleep. You need to make sure your rhythm is back on its proper cycle. Regenerating this cycle will tell your body it’s time to get back to normal.
- Start each morning with a cup of tea to gently wake up your system. Tea is an important part of liver detoxification.
- Take a brisk walk to jump-start your circulation.
- Try yoga. Regular yoga practice will help you to balance and detoxify your body deeper and faster.
- Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Be sure to take in lots of water regardless of how much you’re drinking over the weekend. Aim to have a bottle of water in between drinks. Your body will thank you for it later. Drink plenty of purified or spring water and replace your regular infusions with warm water with lemon.
- Eat four to five small meals a day to help boost your metabolism.
- If you want, chronicle your detox week by keeping a food diary, making special note of how you feel each day. As your week progresses, your body will send you little messages. Pay careful attention to these messages.
These steps are each important on their own but together guarantee a successful recovery from indulgence. Try them and let us know how quickly you felt back in control.
Battle the festival weight gain or lethargy early and prepare your body for the next month end full of Festive Fun.
For Customized Diet Plans and personal diet & wellness queries, you can connect with Aditi Srivastava, Diet Consultant & Director Diet Mantra- Chain of Diet & Wellness Clinics
by Aditi Srivastava
Diet Consultant Indoindians
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