Bouncing Back After Eating All The Things

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Whether you over did it on alcohol or ate too many cheesy potatoes, chances are that most of us overloaded our bodies with something this past holiday. Instead of mentally punishing yourself for over imbibing, try following these 6 steps to help your body bounce back after an over indulgent holiday (or not!) weekend:
             

1. Water! Detox water, with lemon, mint, and cucumber will help you down it fast and flush your system, but if all else fails and you don't have these ingredients on hand, JUST DRINK WATER. You should aim for AT LEAST half your body weight in ounces.
   
   
   
2. Protein! Chances are, despite the Thanksgiving holiday being turkey-centered, your eating was focused on Carbs, Carbs, and more Carbs! Make sure you are incorporating protein so that, as you ramp your workouts up, your muscles are able to handle it and rebuild. Some good protein ideas are...
             -Chicken Breasts, cooked stovetop, baked, or grilled
             -Beef, via ground beef on the stovetop or grilled steaks
             -Turkey (yes, more of it), either ground up, or leftover from the bird carcas
   
   
   
3. Greens! Your body needs lots of nutrients and fiber to... er... move through the food you consumed, so make sure you are loading up on veggies and greens. Some great ideas for greens and fiber are...
             -Spinach
             -Arugula
             -Butter lettuce
             -Romain
             -Basil
             -Celery
             -Cucumber
   
   
4. Sweat! Even if you got some good exercise in over the break, chances are that you ate your way through those calories burned (trust me - it's easy to do). As a result, you're running off of a caloric surplus. A surplus of money is good. A surplus of calories... not so much. To combat the extra pumpkin pie and mashed potatoes with gravy, make sure you are getting some extra exercise in. Make sure you combine cardio and weights! Some good post-indulgency workout ideas are...
             -Cardio: Treadmill, Elliptical, Stairmaster, Biking, Spin classes, Aerobics classes, Swimming
             -Weights: Body By Science, Bodypump (LesMills), GroupPower (BTS)
             -Stretching: Pilates, Yoga
   
   
   
5. Avoid the alcohol. It is an excessive amount of calories, and drinking multiple glasses of any alcohol laden substance will risk slowing your metabolism. In short: Unless you've got something really mind blowingly amazing going on, just skip the alcohol for at least a few days.
   
   
   
6. Avoid the salt. Or, at very least, go easy on it. Salt has a tendency to cause us to bloat, which is not a great thing when you're also taking in massive amounts of water. It will deceive you into thinking you have gained more weight than you have. Make sure you don't add salt to your food. Instead, opt for flavorful but salt-free seasoning. Mrs. Dash and Cavender's both make a delicious salt-free seasoning.

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WHAT ABOUT YOU?

• What rules do you follow to bounce back?
• Do you follow any of these?

MY DIY Detox Diet

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I've had some pretty indulgent weekends lately due to life being in general awesome and my desire to just totally go with it. I have no regrets and I am sort of floating.

But, let's be real, wine and steak nights can't be every night (God, can you please work on this?). So, in the interest of my own nutrition, fitness, and SKIN, I've decided to implement a few temporary changes until Thanksgiving. I may love them and keep them up between Thanksgiving and Christmas, too (but let me be clear: I make all kinds of exceptions for family gatherings, so T-Day and Christmas will both be enjoyed to their fullest!).

I started this past Monday and have been going strong, for the most part, other than two glasses of prosecco and some delicious brie cheese at an impromptu college reunion with girlfriends last night. I am going to go ahead and give myself the stamp of approval on that one!

The Rules:

• No coffee. This one actually shouldn't be too difficult for me to commit to. I do love a good cup of morning joe, but I frequently forget about it and skip it altogether. Apparently I am not addicted, because when I do skip it, I don't find myself missing it.
• No Not much booze. This one will be a little harder. Living in Chicago in the winter tends to make this even more difficult, because there isn't much to do socially that is outside or active - it all seems to revolve around food and booze. I will have to make two exceptions to this rule, though: (1) a girl's weekend in Milwaukee, and (2) a special date night with my husband. Maybe I should change this rule to "no drinking during the week, and no drinking at home?"
• No dairy. I cut this out completely for a few weeks before my wedding, and I swear it did wonders for my skin. With nixing coffee, it may be pretty easy to omit dairy, other than my favorite thing ever: CHEESE. God, give me strength to avoid cheese. 
• No gluten. This is another one that I swear contributes to the condition of my skin. I have started developing skin reactions to gluten, so I am planning to avoid it for a while.
• No sugar bombs. Am I allowing myself to eat foods with sugar in them? Sure. But my idea here is to avoid what I call 'sugar bombs-' foods which are pretty much created to deliver sugar into your system. This includes candy, doughnuts, cookies, etc. I don't eat much of it now, but I did stock up on some macarons recently, so I obviously have a sweet tooth. Sidenote: Dark Chocolate should always be allowed...
• Drink water. Like, lots of it, and all the time.
• Take vitamins. I have historically been very bad about this. I get all excited and stock up on vitamins but then fail to take them. I will be forcing myself (seriously, the flavor is not enjoyable, ya know?) to down a multi-vitamin, rhodiola (controls cortisol and helps focus, can be a natural alternative to ADD medication), primrose oil (for my skin and hair). Any other suggestions I should add? Keep in mind that I am awful at swallowing horse sized pills...

The Plan:

• Morning drink still consist of Mio. I can't quite give that up, so for now, I'm going to let it fly. If I need a little more pep in my step once I get to work or when 2:30 rolls around, Green Tea with fresh lemon will be my BFF.
• Breakfasts are high protein, low carb. This is what I have learned keeps my body the fullest for the longest. I am planning for two over easy eggs and a side of one bacon slice, or a cookie dough quest bar for when I'm on the road (okay... probably cookie dough quest bar most days of the week...). 
• Lunch consist of a tasty salad with protein, or a salad with a side of protein heavy soup. In the event some crunch is needed, I've found some 100 calorie packs of SnapPea Crisps at CostCo and they seriously hit the spot.
• Snack time is synonymous with fiber time in my book, and will consist of either an apple or red peppers (if lunch included some good protein), or a shake with Perfect Fit Protein and Psyllium Husk Powder (if lunch was light on protein). 
• Dinner tends to vary, partly because of time and preferences, and partly because my husband works from home so he tends to want to eat out for dinner after being stuck inside all day. I shoot for one natural protein source (chicken, fish, beef, turkey, etc) and a healthy helping of either salad or vegetables. When time is short, soup or chili works, but I would rather have those homemade to avoid over doing it on sodium (makes me feel crispy... anyone else get that?).

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

• What's your go-to "bounce back" plan?
• Do you try to detox your body? How?
• Have you ever tried a juice cleanse?

Post-Holiday Comebacks

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Happy Monday! I'm having one of those post-weekend hangovers that has nothing to do with drinking and everything to do with a lack of sleep and overall candy consumption. Okay, maybe just a little bit of drinking. But... Ick.

We went to see Nero at the Congress Theater on Saturday night (fun fact: Justin's way of first telling me he "liked me" was by sending me a Nero song called "Me and You").

It was an interesting crowd (and light show!) to say the least... and the band didn't hit the stage until 12:15am. Meaning we weren't hitting the hay until 2 or 3. Meaning getting up at 8am to do a Body By Science workout was B-R-U-T-A-L.



Add to that the 24 mile interval bike ride we did and Easter candy consumption and you've got lack of sleep, killer weights workout, killer cardio workout, and candy overload. We were in need of what I like to call a comeback.

What's a comeback? It's when you need to recover from a weekend (or week or month or year) of bad decisions. You might need a comeback when you've coming down from a holiday weekend (or a weekend in Vegas?) or perhaps when you're returning from a week on the beach in Mexico. It means your body is pissed off and needs recovery assistance.

Anybody else making a comeback this week? Here are some guidelines:

BEVERAGES & HYDRATION:

• Drink lots of water! You need to flush your system, which can't happen without water.
• DO NOT drink soda (even diet coke)! This slams your liver with even more work to do (sugars, fake sugars, processed ingredients, lots of chemicals). 
• DRINK MORE WATER. Yes, it's worth mentioning twice.
• Trade coffee for tea. It sounds rough... but coffee can be rough on your system, whereas tea will give you the metabolism and energy boost without adding too many harsh or acidic elements to your body.

FOOD & ENERGY:

• Eat lots of vegetables and fruits (water and fiber-rich) Click here for recipe suggestions (but avoid the sweets!)!
• Watch the sugar. Seriously. Even sugar substitutes. In fact, it  might be best to avoid sweets as a whole (because you'll get enough natural sugar from fruit). Click here for recipe suggestions (but avoid the sweets!)!
• Get that fiber! Focus on salads and consider taking a fiber-rich supplement like Metamucil. Click here for recipe suggestions (but avoid the sweets!)!

EXERCISE & MOVEMENT:

• Within the next few days, plan a day of cardio... Cardio will get your metabolism going and help burn off the crap you consumed over the weekend. Best results would likely come from a full body cardio routine including HIIT or Tabata style intervals, which speed up your metabolism for 48 hours following the exercise. Click here for workout suggestions!
• a day of yoga... Yoga helps you detox by releasing toxins from your muscles via deep stretches. You're also likely to find a bit of peace of mind during Yoga practices, which is always a bonus, especially if you're the type that easily feels guilty for falling off the wagon! Click here for workout suggestions!
• and a day of weights... adding a day of weights is not essential --  but you'll definitely reap some benefits. A good weights workout will burn calories by stimulating muscle repair and will also help you feel more "solid" (which is a peace-of-mind boost for me - am I alone in that?!). Click here for workout suggestions!