Pre-Christmas Detox & taking up Yoga

Last year, I did a pre-Christmas detox over the month of November. This year, I plan to do the exact same but add a little yoga into the mix. Firstly, let me just add that this is not a diet. I hate that word! It’s a word that does anything but help so I refuse to use it. This is a simple detox, nothing more.

Lately, truth be told, I’ve gained a bit of weight. Ok, I’ve gained a lot of weight and it’s starting to get to me. The love handles are starting to droop {apologies for that visual} and the mid-riff tyres are duplicating by the month. 

I had this grand idea to be fit before I’m forty. At the rate, I’m going? I’ll just be fatter at forty nevermind fit! And honestly? I want to kick myself in the ass so badly about my eating habits and lack of exercise – but I’m too tubby, thus too lazy to kick myself. How stupid is that? So…I’m thrilled that November has come around for me to try and get myself on the right path to finally kick-start my fit before I’m forty plan. Which will be in another post entirely!

Holy crap…come the new year I’ll have six months left of being in my 30’s…yikes!

So…what is a pre-Christmas detox?

You know yourself, Christmas is the time of year when we eat and eat and then eat some more. The food supply is endless and the urge for several more roast potatoes are strong. Or perhaps that second slice of homemade pavlova is looking pretty fine, too. So, to help my body survive the Christmas food onslaught, I do a detox. 

What will I be doing throughout my pre-Christmas detox?

I will be starting every morning throughout November with a glass of warm water and lemon. The lemon water helps to stimulate your liver and the whole cleansing process. 

I will also be adding raw vegetables into my daily food intake – apparently {or so I’ve read} ingesting raw vegetables helps to cleanse the blood system and replaces important enzymes. I will be having cooked vegetables with my dinner with small amounts of protein. Which is pretty much what I have almost daily anyway!

As for the foods I plan to reduce my intake on – in all honesty, I refuse to fully deny myself anything because I’ve tried this in the past and it’s never helped me. In fact, it’s hindered me. So I plan to allow myself the occasional few biscuits or packet of crisps. But I will balance that out with more walking or a few miles on the exercise bike. 

I also plan to reduce my fizzy drink intake, reduce my bread {I love bread} and try to eat at better times because that is another huge hinderance of mine. However, I’m unsure how this will go because we have a large family and live in a crazy house that requires some crazy dinner eating times! But I can only try! Doing all of that as well as trying to up my daily water intake to the recommended is on my detox plan, too. 

Why add in the Yoga you’re maybe thinking!

Long story short? I need to do more exercise. Even more so, I need to ease myself into being more motivated to want to exercise and I thought yoga would be the perfect thing to do. I’ve bought myself a yoga mat and I’m quite looking forward to starting it. 

I’ve googled Yoga for beginners and found a few helpful articles. I also plan to follow the youtube channel Yoga with Adrienne as she shares a 20-minute video Yoga for beginners to do at home – which is perfect for me. If I cannot fit 20 minutes of Yoga into my day, then I have one serious problem on my hands. 

Yoga is known to improve your metabolism, weight loss, improve your mental health and develop muscle tone. All of which I need an abundance of. I’ve never been one to struggle with mental health, but life can be heavy sometimes and overwhelming and I’m hoping that by incorporating yoga into my life, that it will help me deal with it all better. 

So there you have it. My plans for November and I hope to smash my second year of doing my pre-Christmas detox because it really does help. The yoga is a new addition this year and I’m really looking forward to it, unsure how I will get on but I will be sure to keep you posted!

Doing this detox also makes you feel less guilty for eating like an absolute hog over the festive period. Let’s face it, we all do! The peanuts, the roast potatoes {my favourite} the homemade Yorkshires, the endless turkey servings, desserts, selection boxes – I could go on!

Do you do a pre-Christmas detox? If so, I’d love to know if you do anything I’ve not mentioned above! 

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