Over the past week you will have seen numerous articles in the media about "detoxing your body" and how to "cleanse" your system to repair the damage of the Christmas madness.
"Detox" and "juice diets" seem to becoming more and more common with the list of suggested benefits almost limitless. Sadly, however, the health benefits of "doing a detox" are exaggerated and not supported by science.
When setting new targets this January aim to do something that is sustainable for you. We have all heard the statistics about how people fall off their "diet" and are back to bad habits by the end of January, and that is exactly what you want to avoid.
Hence why we've set up our JAN-PACT challenge to kick-start your 2022 goals in the best way possible! Read more about our JAN PACT challenge here.
JAN PACT is about healthy lifestyle choices rather than a diet, so let's look at a sensible and sustainable approach to your health goals this new year.
WHERE TO START - YOUR MINDSET!
Good nutrition can only be accomplished by consistently applying the right dietary habits.
The most important aspects in approaching your dietary "reset" is to be doing it for the right reasons and being consistent.
Doing something as a token gesture as a short-term attempt of being healthy will offer little benefit to you in the long-term. Make or Follow a plan to make the process of eating healthy easier and set some realistic targets.
Simple targets like drinking green tea twice per day, eating three portions of green vegetables per day, not eating late in the evening and so forth can work well. The Jan Pact Challenge has a plan laid out for you to follow for 4 weeks!
RESETTING YOUR DIETARY HABITS
What should you do to "fix" or "reset" your diet anytime you feel like you have gone off track? Below are some basic principles you can use to get back on:
- Eat predominantly unprocessed and whole foods
- Increase the amount of PROTEIN in your diet!
- Start your days with Protein rich breakfasts: Protein Oats, Protein Pancakes, Protein Smoothies
- Decrease the amount of added sugar in your diet
- Eat more vegetables and less carbohydrate-rich foods (sugary or starchy)
- Incorporate more fresh herbs and spices into meals
- Avoid sugary drinks; water, protein shakes, teas, coffee as your only fluid sources
CUTTING BACK ON YOUR CARBS
Over the past few weeks, you are likely to have consumed huge amounts of carbohydrate foods, both good and bad.
In the absence of regular exercise, this will mean that your carbohydrate stores (glycogen) will be saturated, which is partly responsible for a state of insulin resistance that predisposes you to then store energy as fat.
In order to restore insulin sensitivity by reducing these energy stores, you can deplete them by a combination of moderate-to-high intensity exercise and a reduction in your intake of carbohydrates.
Aim to consume more foods with lower carbohydrate content such as fresh berries, leafy green vegetables, nuts and seeds.
To help reduce your carb intake, you should INCREASE your Protein intake! This is easy to do with things like Protein Oats, Protein Shakes and Protein Pasta!
Once you are happy with your progress and feel you are achieving your body composition and fitness goals, you can re-introduce some slow-digesting carbohydrate foods on intense training days.
SUMMARY
Your approach and mindset to your post-Christmas nutrition is as important as the foods you decide to eat.
Set realistic goals that you can stick to in the long-term rather than trying to do extreme short-term fads that offer limited healthy benefits.
Check out Instagram for some healthy food ideas to get you back on track!
