Treat your body like a temple this holiday season
/Sweet potato pie. Green bean casserole. Ginger spice hot toddies. Chocolate raspberry truffle pie. Bottomless mimosas with blueberry pancakes. And don’t forget the fluffy scrambled eggs and crispy bacon.
For me, the holiday season is the time for guilty pleasures and decadent indulgences. Between the parties and family get-togethers, it is easy to do. But, I soon realized that feeling bloated and suffering from brain fog did not make for a great holiday season. Also, it really set me back on my New Years fitness goals. Instead of kicking off the year ready to elevate my fitness, I was playing catch up with my former fitness level. While I love all the cheesy, fatty, rich foods, I also try to balance it with clean eating and exercise so that I am also showing love to my body.
One of the practices I started a few years ago, was doing a gut cleanse during the first 21 days of December. The gut cleanse does two things: it flushes out toxins and it also reduces my cravings once Christmas and the New Year rolls around. While a gut cleanse may not be for everyone, I love the way it makes me feel. My body feels lighter and my skin is glowier.
Did you notice that #3 comes before #1? I wonder where #2 is…
For my gut cleanse, I cut out all dairy, alcohol and sugar. I also add in foods that are healing for the gut. These include fermented foods such as kimchi and sauerkraut, as well as root vegetables such as yams and sweet potatoes. I also enjoy drinking bone broth and licorice tea to heal the gut lining. For more tips on gut cleanses, check out Dr. Mona Vand’s 6 Amazing Super Foods For Gut Health.
Throughout the holiday season, I am make sure that I get in my workouts on a regular basis. Typically I work out six days a week, but during the holiday season I may reduce this down to three or four times a week. In order to remain disciplined about my fitness I plan my workouts the night before.
If I’m going to the gym, I will mentally rehearse the machines I will use and the workouts I will do. If I’m working out at home, I’ll find the Youtube videos the night before or create a HIIT workout of my own. If I’m taking a class, I’ll sign up for it the night before. If you are traveling, some of my favorite digital workouts are Brooke Burke’s body app. She also has a great 15-minute ab workout on Youtube. I also really enjoy Blogilates’ bikini blaster workouts. If I’m short on time, my all-time favorite workout is the 12 minute madness workout by BodyRockTV. If I did this everyday during the holidays, I would easily burn off every calorie I consumed!
Whether it’s a walk around the neighborhood, a dance class, or a HIIT workout, find time to move your body doing something you love. This is all about loving your body. It is not about punishing yourself for eating one too many slices of raspberry truffle cheesecake. In my experience, when I treat my body gently she will delightfully surprise me and push harder during the workout.
Treating your body like a temple is an act of self-love. In addition to working out, I also love to do at an at-home facial. An easy facial routine is to steam your face with a blend of epsom salt + lavendar, followed a egg yolk mask. My skin tends to get really dry during the winter, so I make sure I have my LUSH charity pot (which is hands down my fave lotion) stocked in the bathroom. I also lather my skin with coconut oil before getting into the shower to help seal in the moisture.
Here are five easy steps you can take to show your body love as we enter 2020:
Schedule your workouts the night before
Mindfully balance eating rich foods and sipping on cocktails, with foods that nourish your gut and drinking water or tea
Work up a sweat at least three times per week
Baby your skin with at home facials and rich, nourishing body creams
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About Money & Mimosas: Money & Mimosas was started as a passion project by Danetha. A former NFL cheerleader turned entrepreneur, she started blogging as a way to combine all of her passions into a career. Money & Mimosas is now enjoyed by tens of thousands of readers in over forty countries with the same dream of achieving financial freedom without living frugally.
