Healthy Holiday Detox

Holidays are a time for food, family and fun! But all of that food, over - indulging, it's a holiday so I'll splurge attitude can leave you feeling anything but happy when they're over. But no fear, I have a solution. One that does not require extreme dieting, calorie restriction and/or a liquid diet. We are going to focus on temporarily reducing our calories slightly and centering around nutrient packed foods.

For women, I recommend aiming between 1200 - 1500 calories daily and for men, 1500 - 1750 calories. The key here though, NOT ALL CALORIES ARE CREATED EQUAL. So we are no focusing solely on numbers, but rather where those calories are coming from. We want nutritious foods, packed with vitamins and minerals...think fruits, veggies, whole grains. Avoid processed foods and added sugars...think chips, pretzels, crackers, muffins, white breads/rice, basically anything found in a package. Cutting out the junk foods will help restore the body.

Sample 1500 calorie day:

Breakfast:

Oatmeal made with 1/2 cup dry oats, 1 cup whole milk, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Add in any fruit you like chopped up or just eat it on the side (apple, banana, strawberries, etc) and sip an 8-oz cup of coffee with 1/4 cup whole milk.

Calorie Total: about 405 (may vary slightly depending on which fruit you choose, I went with a 70 calorie apple for calculations)

Lunch:

Turkey and swiss sandwich on 100% whole wheat bread with 1/2 avocado, tomato, lettuce and whole grain mustard.

Calorie Total: 545

Dinner:

Chicken breast with 1 cup quinoa and sautéed veggies of your choice.

Calorie Total: 500 calories

Grand Total: 1450

If you would like or need to have a snack between lunch and dinner, cut out the slice of cheese on the turkey sandwich and snack on a 1/4 almonds or celery/carrots dipped in 2 tablespoons of hummus. Also, if you are aiming for closer to 1200 calories, cut out the cheese, reduce avocado to 1/4 instead of half and leave the whole milk out of the morning coffee.