Today is the 4th of July, which this year, falls on a Friday, making it a long weekend which translates into many more celebratory parties and BBQs to attend.
This past week I’ve noticed that Facebook has been flooded with posts from people promoting the need to detox from the holiday weekend. In my opinion this is kind of the wrong approach: binge and over eat all the not-so -healthy food that you usually wouldn’t indulge in…. consume more alcohol than you normally would simply because it’s readily available and that’s what everyone else is doing. …. because on Monday, you will do the detox!
I’ve certainly done my share of over indulging in food and wine. I still do on occasion. And I use to be one of those people who would go on a 3 day detox afterwards. In fact, I used to promote doing a 3 day detox!
Just knowing that there was a detox diet to follow on Monday, gave me permission to overindulge. I ate everything that I saw.. I gave in to every temptation because “I usually don’t eat these, so I’m going to enjoy them all “. I’m sure that I’m not alone in this.
But recently, I’ve been singing a different tune. I’ve realized that yes, my body will need to detox from all the garbage that I fed it, but the body is already equipped to handle the detoxing process. In fact the detox that I used to do wasn’t so much about “detoxing” as it was about calorie restriction. A big calorie restriction- like no more than 500 calories a day!!!
500 calories a day was something very do-able for the short term because my willpower was strong but as soon as the 3-5 days were over, I’d start losing my willpower and instead of going back to my usual healthy way of eating, I’d make poor food choices. It kind of defeated the purpose of the detox. Not to mention that I was messing up my metabolism and putting my body into unnecessary stress.
These days, I eat pretty healthy and clean but I don’t deprive myself of simple food pleasures. The difference is that I don’t over indulge. Little treats every day is enough to control any cravings. It’s what my mentor/coach Jill Coleman calls “pre-emptive cheats”. For me this means that every day, I have a small handful of chips…. and sometimes a cookie. These are just enough to help me keep my clean eating. But I digress…..
Back to the topic of detoxing…. Since the body is already equipped to detox, I no longer go on a calorie deprivation diet after a weekend (or holiday) of indulgences. Instead, I simply go back to the way that I normally eat. I can’t tell you how freeing it is to do this. I don’t have the guilt associated with the indulgences- how awesome is that! I’ve come to realize that I’m only 1 meal/snack away from going back to my usual healthy choices and you can be too! This has definitely been a huge mindset shift but a good one. For me it definitely re-enforces the concept of eating healthy 80-90% of the time is all that is needed.
I talk with people all the time who are so concerned about eating perfectly and are so afraid to not follow the “rules” of their eating program. It doesn’t need to be that way. So forget about being perfect. Make the good healthy choices 80-90% of the time so that when an occasion occurs where there are food and drinks that are not-so healthy, you can go ahead and enjoy them without the guilt… and without needing a detox program on Monday.