After a five days of fun and overindulgence with my family, I am ready for a return to my regular eating patterns. At the Refinery yesterday, one of the other members asked me how to recover after all the holiday fun. We both sort of laughed but I know I need to refocus on the habits that make me feel best. I know if I focus on the following areas, I feel energetic and ready to tackle my daily activities.
- Eliminate or greatly reduce alcohol consumption: For women, low risk drinking is considered no more than 3 drinks per day and for men it is less than 4 drinks per day. Drinking taxes the liver, disrupts sleep, increase the incidence of heart disease and depression.
- Eliminate sugar: While many feel refined sugar tastes good with no protein, no healthy fats and no nutrients, it offers little nutritional benefit. It is not a required part of any diet. However, naturally occurring sugar in fruits, dairy products and complex carbohydrates is packed with vitamins and minerals and provides quick energy sources for the body and brain.
- Focus on whole foods: Ditch food that comes in a box or package and focus on foods that are as close to their natural form as possible. Organic fruits, vegetables and organic, pasture raised meats should be the bulk of your diet.
- Get a good nights sleep: The recommended amount of sleep for adults is 7-9 uninterrupted hours of sleep a night. Get less than that and you run the risk of high blood pressure, increase wrinkles, appetite disturbance, diabetes, heart attack, depression and lower sex drive.
- Work up a sweat: Get yourself to the Refinery to work up a good sweat. Sweating helps release all those toxins you ingested over the holiday, increases circulation, kill viruses and bacteria that cannot survive above 98.6 degrees and helps your pores open up, allowing impurities to escape. Also, when you are sweating, you are burning the extra calories you consumed at the Thanksgiving table.
Photo from Flickr.
