Dear Jaymie, 

I feel like crap. I’ve been working long hours so I haven’t had much time to workout anymore. To keep myself awake and energized during the day, I’ve been drinking tons of coffee and snacking all day. I feel exhausted physically and mentally. Any tips on how to get myself back on track again?

Arnel

 

Hi Arnel,

I’m glad you’re aware of the need to slow down and take care of your body to feel good about yourself again. Sounds like you could benefit from a good detox plan. A simple detox, implemented for 7 days, can reduce bloating, improve digestion, boost energy, clear your skin, and, last but not the least, positively affect your mood. Ready? Here are the basic guidelines for a simple 7-day detox plan: 

Eat clean. Feel free to eat lean meat, chicken, or fish. Eat a lot of veggies and fruits, preferably raw. You may also eat eggs, beans, nuts, and seeds. Avoid sugar and artificial sweeteners, grains, dairy, alcohol, and cigarettes. 

Hydrate. Try to drink at least 8 8-ounce glasses of water to cleanse your system. Included in this count would be a warm glass of lemon water upon waking to kickstart your metabolism. Drinking a glass of water 30 minutes before a meal can also help reduce your appetite. 

Exercise. Aim to sweat at least one hour everyday. Working out will not just help you lose unwanted pounds as you make healthier food choices, but it also improves circulation and metabolism, boosts confidence, and improves your mood. 

Avoid packaged food. Most, but not all, of the food that comes in a can or box have been processed. To be sure, learn to read labels to identify what foods are good for you. If the label takes long for you to read and enlists complex names of processed ingredients like high fructose corn syrup or maltodextrin, then it is most probably unhealthy. Generally, food that comes with more than 5 to 6 ingredients should be avoided. 

Think of it as a new lifestyle. The last thing you want is to feel deprived and depressed for an entire week. Instead of thinking of what you can’t eat, focus on the many new fresh foods you can try. Discover new healthy activities you can incorporate into your life such as drinking lemon water upon waking or meditating before you go to bed at night. When you end the 7-day detox plan, you can add other foods back into your diet, but you can also choose to keep the new habits that make you feel great.