I don't know about you, but I've already heard any number of colleagues, friends, acquaintances, people on the bus, etc. state that they are doing a de-tox at the moment - what this actually means however is likely to be completely different on a person by person basis.'Tis the season I suppose - the ritual cleansing after the ritual face-stuffing makes a certain amount of sense - and the start of a new year is as good a time as any to reflect on changes that we might want to make in our lives. I won't admit to a detox programme - but we have banished the sweet treats from our house, lowered our meat intake, backed off on wine with dinner most nights and generally had a think about how to make ourselves feel a bit better during these dark, winter days. A few weeks of carb-craziness is certainly enough to prove that this is not really the best way to weather the weather we are being subjected to at the moment and I do find that it is easier to under-indulge after a period of over-indulging.
My personal plan is to do more yoga - sounds simple enough to start with and has the added bonus of making you more 'mindful'. Carving the time out of each day can seem challenging but even just 20-30 minutes gives a benefit. Paying a bit of attention to how I feel physically and spending time thinking about my body and what I put into it is something I should probably pay more attention to all year round.
So, readers, what is your January plan for health and well-being? Are you off the coffee, banishing the take-aways, living on hot water and lemon juice, on a fresh juice diet ...? I'd be very curious to hear about your de-toxing ideas. Of course, feel free to chime in if you've already fallen off the proverbial wagon as well!
For those of us who could use a little support in coming up with interesting, healthy menu ideas, Cooking Light Magazine comes to the rescue. This is an American magazine but has a lot of information and recipes on its website and manages to promote healthy eating without taking all the fun and pizzazz out of it. It CAN be healthy and still taste good!
