Instead of detoxing, try these alternatives

We all know by now that New Years “detoxes” and “resets” don’t detox or reset anything. Depending on what you choose, they are non-sustainable diets or pure pseudoscience– often a combination of both. And yet they still appeal.

A ‘detox’ in 2021 can be a week of smoothies and juices, often accompanied by a guru who makes big promises about how great you feel after drinking for a week with what you bought from them. Or it can be challenging to eliminate certain foods from your diet – no sugar, for example. Whatever the mechanics, these are all restrictive diets branded as self-care.

So, let’s take a look at the reasons people keep coming back to diet rebooting and smoothie cleansing. Their marketing (even though it doesn’t look like marketing) certainly ticks a few boxes for things we want in our lives: a sense of control, for example, or an antidote to the holiday’s exhaustion. But there are ways to work on these goals without starving yourself.

If you want more energy

Increased “energy” is often touted as an effect of detox diets, and it is true that some people experience a feeling of increased focus after not eating for a while. (People who practice intermittent fasting like to talk about it.) But it is a temporary condition, if at all, and it goes hand in hand with less pleasant mental states. People who complete a detox or reset will often say they felt great, but in the next breath will say things like “it was really hard, but I got through it.”

For a more realistic way to get more energy, look at the cause of fatigue. Extreme fatigue should be monitored by a medical professional, but often “low energy” can be overcome with one of the following:

• Sleep more and sleep better. Give yourself an earlier bedtime, consistent wake-up time and practice good sleep hygiene, such as no screens or alcohol before bed.
• Make sure you eat enough. If you are on a constant diet, or if the foods you eat don’t form a well-balanced diet, only eating better (more protein, more vegetables) can help your perceived energy level.
• Check with your mental health. Depression, anxiety and other conditions can cause a feeling of lack of energy. Have you been under a lot of stress lately? You finally have to find a therapist?

If you feel dirty or guilty about what you’ve been eating lately

At all celebrations in December, we often go to January, ready to clean up our eating and eating habits. If you’ve been drinking a lot, cutting back may sound appealing; and if you’ve eaten a lot of holiday treats, a minimalist diet probably appeals in the same way.

But the truth is, a few meal indulgences are not a big deal in the long run. You don’t have to swing the pendulum in the other direction by cutting out whole food groups. Instead, try one of these:

• Just go back to normal. The Christmas cookies are gone (or you can feed them to your dog, freeze them for later, whatever you want). You don’t have to eat anything you don’t want.
• Find a sustainable way to eat better. What is a small change you could make to improve your diet? Maybe you make sure you get an extra serving of vegetables with every meal, or find some recipes you enjoy cooking.

If you want to be better hydrated

It is true that you will be quite hydrated if you drink smoothies, juices, tea and lemon water throughout the day. Your body works better when it is well hydrated than when it is dehydrated, that’s true. (Most of us probably already getting enough water, but a little more won’t hurt.)

The nice thing is, you can drink more water – or get more fluids in whatever form you want –without deprive yourself of food. Just add the liquids.

• Drink more water. That’s it, that’s the hack.
• Moisturize your skin. Do you know how people say your skin looks great when you are well hydrated? A moisturizer will do that too, and it’s even better for bringing moisture to the outer layers of the skin.

If you like the idea of ​​someone else making the decisions

Ready-to-eat detox kits are popular in part because you get one box of everything you need to eat that week. Letting someone else make your decisions and run your errands admittedly is a tremendous amount of mental labor being taken off your plate.

But you can also do this with real food.

• Learn to plan and prepare your meals. Yes, it is more work on a day of the week, but then you can get meals out of the fridge all week without even thinking about it. If you live with a partner or roommate, you can even swap the chore every week.
• Order from a meal delivery service. Home Chef, Trifecta, and Fresh, just to name a few, you receive a week’s worth of real food for less than the cost of many froufrou detoxes.

If you want to be desperately skinny

It is unfortunate that many people who say that a detox is only meant to ‘feel better’ will still take before and after pictures or record their weight on the scales. If you’re hoping to lose weight on a brief diet reset, you could. But it will backfire.

Rapid weight loss, driven by a large calorie deficit, isn’t just fat loss. Part is muscle loss, which affects your health. And a big part of it, especially on a low-carb diet, is often water weight. The amount of water we retain in our body fluctuates from day to day and is partly determined by the glycogen (stored carbohydrates) in our muscles and liver. If you eat low carbohydrates, you lose glycogen and therefore a few kilos of water weight; but once you have one or two carbohydrate-rich meals, it comes right back.

Even if it’s a bit exciting to lose weight in the short term, it is (for most people) more than offset by the quick recovery. So a detox doesn’t really help you here. Better to try one of these:

• Find a diet that provides slow, steady weight loss. There is not a “best” diet for this, but you can choose one of many eating patterns that will make it easy for you to eat slightly fewer calories than you burn. If you have any health concerns, talk to your doctor or registered dietitian about the best way to manage diet.
• Or just don’t. There is no law that says you should lose weight just because it’s January, or really for any reason.

If you just want a ritual to give you a sense of control

Often times, the most Instagram-worthy part of a detox is the shot of a glass of juice or smoothie or lemon water by a window on a quiet morning. Can’t you see that and want to be there at that moment, enjoying a little ritual of self-care?

Well, like hydration, this is something you can do without depriving yourself of food at the same time.

• Choose a morning routine that works for you. We have examples: here and here and here, for starters.
• Build a ritual that isn’t about eating. Maybe you can start journaling, meditate, or any other activity that makes sense to you.

When all your friends are doing it

Frankly, I think we sometimes do a self-improvement project, not because of an inner desire, but because our friends or favorite celebrities do it. I fully admit that I fell into this trap myself, and I am not even convinced it is a trap. I’ve done things under peer pressure that I might not have tried otherwise; sometimes i’m glad i did it, and other times i’ve learned the hard way that something isn’t for me.

Again, you can find intercourse without bothering with the specific act of restricting your diet. Try an exercise-based challenge, or find an online community that revolves around a hobby you already enjoy or want to learn.

The bottom line is that replacing food with smoothies isn’t the only way, or even the best way, to get more in touch with your body and your mental health. In fact, it can be a pretty awful way. So find out what you really and take smart steps to get the experience you really want.