Health: How To Detox After The Holidays

If you're like me, you let your normal eating and workout habits relax a bit during the holidays. With the hectic schedule, good food and abundance of sweets around it's hard not to stray a bit. 

Worrying about what you ate and the workouts you didn't do doesn't help you at all -- in fact it can add a lot of unnecessary stress causing you to gain even more weight. The key is to indulge a bit and then get right back on track once the holidays are over. Here are a few tips on how to detox:

1. Don't make an unrealistic goal or New Years Resolution you know you can't and wont keep. Instead focus on small attainable goals such as doing some form of physical activity 3-4 times a week, adding more fruits and veggies into your diet, limiting sweets to a few treats a week, etc. This way you won't be beating yourself up at the end of February when you've already blew that crazy goal you set. 

2. Get back to basics. Remember how good you were eating before the holidays? How about the set workout dates you had on your calendar? Get back to that. Don't restrict yourself too much or a binge will likely follow. Instead, follow your healthy clean eating habits from before and slowly wean off of bigger portions, heavy foods and sweets. Slowly work up to your fitness routine by adding a little more weight each time you hit the gym or 10 more minutes of cardio. You'll be amazed at how good you'll feel once you're back on track. 

3. The little things really add up. Sitting on the couch? Grab a pair of hand weights and do mini exercises during commercial breaks. You'd be amazed what 5 minutes at a time can slowly do to your body. It's good to get the blood flowing and you'll likely be less motivated to snack on unhealthy eats while watching TV. 

4. Feel hungrier after your holiday binging? Drink a big glass of water and wait 5 minutes. Sometimes you're really just thirsty and need some H2O instead of food. If you still feel hungry, grab a healthy snack and eat slowly. This will help your stomach signal you when you're full so you don't overeat. 

5. Most importantly, don't beat yourself up. The holidays are meant to indulge a little and you'll be back on track in no time. 

What tips do you have to get back on track after the holidays? Do you let yourself indulge or stick to your normal eating and exercise routine?