If you've over-indulged so far this Christmas, or your healthy habits have taken a back seat whilst you enjoy the festive season, don't panic!
Of course, we all need to give ourselves permission to relax, indulge and be merry during this special time of year with family and friends. But if you feel like you've over done it, there are some simple tips you can follow to help you get back to feeling your best in time for the new year celebrations.
Here, we share with you five common-sense tips to help you recover from a post-christmas hangover.
1. Hydrate Hydrate!
Help your body to flush out the toxins with plenty of fresh, clean water each day.
When you rise first thing in the morning, start by sipping down at least 500 ml of chilled water.
As an optional extra, add the juice of a whole fresh lemon or lime into your water and even a pinch of Himalayan or Celtic Sea Salt to help cleanse your digestive tract and to replenish the electrolytes within your cells.
You'll want to aim to drink at least 2 litres of water per day and even more as replenishment, if you're being particularly active over the holidays.
Remember that your body is 75% water and the weight of your brain consists of the equivalent of about 2 litres worth of water, so the name of the game is to keep replenishing every 24 hours!
Drinking enough water, not only helps to restore optimum function of your body's main systems, it's also the quickest way to relieve alcohol-induced hangovers and headaches.
Learn more in Water: Nature’s Best & Why It’s Critical To Life
2. De-stress & Release The Pressure
If the lead up to Christmas has come with a heavy load of planning, organising and social commitments, you may have reached the other side of Christmas feeling a little exhausted and needing some down time.
If this is the case for you, it's important to spend some time allowing your body and mind to rest and decompress.
Unrelieved stress is not only a trigger for anxiety but also fever and sickness as well, particularly if you've over indulged at the dinner table during Christmas.
De-stressing doesn't have to be elaborate.
It can be as simple as taking 10 minutes alone for yourself outside each morning in the clean, fresh air to practice a little deep breathing or some form of meditation, positive-intention or gratitude ritual. This time of year is a really important time to reflect, to tune in to what's most important and to release any unwanted baggage that you may have carried into the festive season.
Another wonderful soothing practice is to walk bare-footed on the beach or to take a spot of early morning sun gazing at sun rise. Choose whatever works for you or mix things up, but just be sure to spend a small amount of uninterrupted, quiet time with yourself each day to clear your mind.
This will not only help your mental state, but also to release any emotional baggage and to reshape your mindset as the new year approaches.
Also, just "zoning out" and not having a schedule or a to-do list that is running your life, is such an important self care process that can really help you unwind at this time of year.
Learn more in 7 Ways To Deal With Anxiety & Find Inner Peace
3. Catch Up On Sleep
Once the craziness of Christmas is out of the way, it's a good time to catch up on sleep if you've been deprived of quality sleep leading in to the festive season.
Quality sleep is critical for rejuvenating your body and mind and will help you to approach the new year feeling more energised rather than depleted.
The ancient wisdom of 8 hours sleep per night should definitely be applied between Christmas and New Year to ensure that you're giving yourself the chance to reboot and reset properly.
If you're having issues either getting to sleep, or staying asleep, remember to diffuse some pure essential oils next to your bed.
Learn more in our blog, How To Sleep Better With Essential Oils
4. Get Some Easy Exercise
Even though it's more than fair to take a short break from your normal exercise routine over the festive season, don't give up on exercise altogether during this period.
It's important to still make time to get some easy daily exercise in, even if it's simply a nice, moderate walk for 30-45 minutes in the morning or evening outdoors.
By keeping your body moving, you'll not only stay energised and alert, you will stay in the habit of exercising, keep your blood flowing and lymphatic system working, as well as balance your mood.
Of course, if you have the time and energy to push yourself a little harder, feel free to include some other forms of low-impact exercise such as yoga, pilates, cycling, swimming, body surfing or circuit training.
5. Consider A Mini Detox Cleanse
Customary with the festive season is an overload of inflammatory foods, so it's a good idea to return to a clean diet as soon as possible, to help reset your digestive system.
For breakfast, a great place to start is to incorporate some fresh seasonal fruits or raw juices to re-hydrate your body and to encourage healthy digestion.
If you're going to enjoy some heavier meals throughout the day or evening, the morning is the perfect time to give your digestive system a break which will also allow support your body through its normal elimination cycle.
By all means, if you have the time and space, why not choose a day between Christmas and new year to do an all-day juice fast reboot to help you and your body fully reset.
Remember, the idea at this time of year is to minimise the stress, so keep it simple by choosing easy access seasonal fruits that are readily available such as these:
- Apples
- Cos Lettuce
- Cucumber
- Ginger
- Lemon
- Lime
By allowing yourself a little detox time, you'll ensure that you minimise your chances of feeling sluggish, bloated, run down or even catching a fever, which is actually quite common post-christmas if our bodies stressed from trying to process too many macro nutrients, too quickly, that have been consumed.
The Main Takeaway
Christmas is a time for enjoyment and relaxation, but that doesn't mean that your health and wellness should take a complete back seat.
If you're feeling the effects of a post-christmas hangover, or you simply want to feel great heading into the new year, the tips we've hared with you here are a great place to start.
Remember, the festive season is not the time to take on anything that's too stressful, so just keep things simple and just be conscious of doing the little things right.
This really is the key to getting through the festive season with a smile on your face, avoiding being run down, and arriving at the start of new year feeling content, energised and the best version of you.
Tolman Self Care.
