Hopefully you took the time this holiday season to enjoy time with your family and friends, eating lots of yummy, happy food without worrying too much about calories, carbs, or fat grams. Though stuffing yourself during the seasonal festivities isn’t too smart, enjoying good food with family and friends is something to be cherished. But now you might be wanting to kick back into a healthy routine and there are some simple ways you can do just that.

Forget counting or measuring anything – diets may work for some people, but a clean lifestyle will work for everyone. So we’d like to show you some simple ways to clean up your diet after the holidays so you can gear up for new year with energy, zest, and a happy body at the same time!

Attempt these five steps daily to feel fabulous in no time:

1. Hydrate Your Body

5 Simple Ways to Clean Up Your Diet After the Holidays

Pete Markham/Flickr

Did you know that most people believe they’re hungry or tired, when really, they’re just dehydrated and thirsty? Forget drinking eight glasses of water a day. Everyone needs different amounts depending on their body size, sodium intake, energy levels, and activity levels. So start your day with a huge glass of water and drink some every hour if you can, even if it’s not a full glass. Also aim to eat your vegetables, fruits, and water-rich foods like smoothies, soups, and even salads to keep your body hydrated when you’re not drinking water. See some other scary health effects that can happen aside from hunger and fatigue when you don’t get enough water.

Oh, and if you hate plain water, just add a squeeze of lemon or even lime to improve the taste and add extra Vitamin C and enzymes.

2. Go for a Plant-Based Breakfast

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If you’re a full plant-based eater, great! If not, start your new year out by just swapping your meat-based or egg-based meal out with a plant-based option. Breakfast is one of the easiest meals to eat plant-based because there are so many options available. By choosing plant-based at breakfast, you’ll be eating a diet that’s full of living foods, which gives you more energy. Why eat a former living creature as the way you start your day or even an animal derivative product? Choosing plant-based means putting in more vitamins, minerals, and nutrients into your body that your cells can process into energy more quickly and keep you feeling more energetic throughout the day.

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Great options include: oatmeal,chia pudding, quinoa cereal, homemade granola with some plant-based yogurt, a green smoothie, fruit and nuts with seeds, soaked overnight oatmeal with coconut yogurt, and even some delicious coffee, tea, or even a fresh veggie juice if you choose to have it.

3. Lower Your SOS

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Next, lower three things in your diet that all steal your energy, health, and even disrupt your weight management goals: sugar, oil, and salt. Now, don’t hear us wrong: natural sugars from plant-based foods such as fruit, beans, legumes, vegetables, grains, nuts, and seeds are not what we’re talking about here. Added sugars (healthy or not), along with refined sugars such as white and brown sugar, and corn syrup, dextrose or other scary names for sugars are what we’re referring to here. Sugar ages you, changes your food cravings, adds weight gain, and disrupts your blood sugar. Why waste you energy and appetite on added, incomplete whole food sources of sugar when you could just eat whole foods? Try a Raw Sugar-Free Vegan Chocolate Mousse instead of a sugary ice cream, you’ll be hooked in no time!

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Keep your fats to whole food sources, such as avocados, olives, coconut, and nuts and seeds instead of taking in oils that have been refined, processed, and overall lack the nutrition of the whole food oils came from. (They also usually pack on pounds quickly.)

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Sodium is also something you’ll want to avoid in excess to avoid high blood pressure, food cravings, and possibly water weight gain. Sodium naturally occurs in all foods for the most part and adding salt to your food isn’t necessary with herbs and natural flavoring options. Plus, many essential options such as almond milk, condiments like mustard and tamari, along with salsa and sauerkraut all have varying levels of sodium, so there’s really no need to add more from your salt shaker. Trust us, ditch the salt shaker, and you’ll feel lighter, cleaner, and overall more balanced in no time!

4. Clean Up The Kitchen

Ann Gordan/Flickr

Ann Gordan/Flickr

One of the worst things to deal with after the holidays is all the food that’s left lying around! It just sits there tempting you as you try harder and harder to eat well. If you can’t seem to throw it out, then donate it to a neighbor, family member or friend who might use it. Unopened packaged items can be given to a local food pantry. Set your kitchen up for success, which means not keeping all those chocolate-covered yummies and meat or cheese-laced dishes around to set you back. A clean kitchen leads to a clean lifestyle!

5. Go Shopping!

Sunrise POS/Flickr

Sunrise POS/Creative Commons

Now that your kitchen is clean and empty, it’s time to go shopping for some healthy, life-giving foods! Stock your kitchen up with fresh produce (organic if you can), frozen vegetables for easy, quick meals, whole grains like oats and quinoa, chickpeas, lentils, and other beans and legumes that are easy to prepare and taste great in soups and entrees, raw nuts like almonds and cashews, for quick snacks like trail mix, and a variety of plant-based, unsweetened milks or yogurts to round out your meals. Here’s a great list of things to stock your pantry with to also help get you started.

5 Ways to Clean Up Your Diet After the Holidays

 

For extra power, consider adding some plant-based protein to make smoothies with, along with low-sugar frozen fruits like berries, superfood powders, and healthy fats from flax, hemp, pumpkin, and chia seeds for easy omega 3 and fiber sources.

*Bonus Tips*

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If you can swing it this year, consider buying yourself a high-speed blender such as a BlendtecNutribullet, or Vitamix. These blenders can prepare smoothies, soups, salad dressings, breakfast porridges, stocks, raw vegan treats, vegan ice cream, and just about anything else you can think of. They also act as a double food processor and are easy to take during travel with you as a bonus. A high speed blender will change your life in the kitchen, which might excite you a bit more in your choice to clean up your lifestyle.

Also consider getting some fresh air and daily exercise (such as walking, yoga, or a light jog) which will help improve your mood, focus, and give you some time out in nature to clear your head. And of course, don’t forget to get a good night’s sleep. Your hormones, body clock, and overall wellness depends on it!

Lead Image Source: Kale and Grilled Tomato Salad


Source:

One Green Planet