Holidays are those times when all of the things we love come together – good food and family & friends. But when you’ve decided to change your eating to elevate your health, holidays can be a little tricky.
For someone who has decided to detox however, this holiday poses a lot of challenges.
First of all, there’s just so much delicious food involved. Second, you may have friends and family that are skeptical or even flat out against your choice to change your diet and detox yourself with “just fruit and veggies”. There will also be those who don’t oppose it, but just won’t understand why you aren’t drinking a beer or eating a hot dog or hamburger like everyone else.
You could decline and stay at home (maybe the safer choice), bring your own food, or go and eat nothing at all. Either way you are more than likely going to be asked to explain your choices.
How you handle the family celebrations may depend on where you are on your journey:.
1) Just Getting Ready to Start.If you haven’t yet started your transition diet at all or if you want to go cold-turkey on a raw food, fruit or juice detox and haven’t begun yet, then I would say wait until after the holiday to start.
If it’s going to be crazy hard for you to resist all the food – then don’t. Yes, I’m suggesting you go right ahead and eat whatever you want (within moderation). This isn’t a pass to postpone your health indefinitely, but there’s no sense in feeling like you’ve deprived yourself of a gathering with friends and all the traditions of the holiday. Give yourself permission to enjoy the Holiday and then start your detox plan with solid commitment afterward without looking back.
PLEASE NOTE if you are dealing with a difficult health condition then a heavy, mucus-forming meal will probably worsen your condition. In your case delaying the detox may not be the best solution. You may still need to sit this gathering out even if you haven’t started your official detox plan.
2) Beginning to Detox. If you’ve already started your raw food, fruit fast, or juice fast detox– like in the first few days, I will suggest that you kindly decline any and all invitations that will expose you to comfort foods and things that will tempt you.
In the first few days of a detox are the hardest. Do yourself a favor and avoid the temptation. If you’ve already made it through the first day or two of a detox – keep the momentum going.
Unless you have the will of steel – the temptation may be too much. Only you know your state of mind. But I say give your mind a chance to get solidly in sync with your intentions before testing yourself.
If staying away completely isn’t an option then a good work around would be to eat your food at home, then join the gang later after most of the cooking at eating is over. Or take a fruit spread over to the location before the cooking begins, say hello to everyone and make your excuses before the aromas from the grill get started. If the festivities are at your home and there’s no escape, make sure you have plenty of fruit and veggie options on hand. It will be tough, but you CAN do it.
3) Detox Pro.If you are at least a week or two into your detoxification plan, feeling good and determined to see it through, then you are pretty much out of the danger zone. Congratulations! That means you can be amongst all the temptation and not only resist, but not feel like you are missing out on anything. Your fruit and veggies are all you want and need. That’s the detox “high” and it’s a beautiful place to be.
You now have a lot of options. Here are few suggestions:
- Bring Fruit to the gathering– it’s the dead of summer and it’s hot as hellfire. Since fruit is so light and refreshing, it’s easy to chill your favorite fruit, slice it up and serve it on a platter. Since fruit is often on the menu at outdoor barbeques, you’ll fit right in. No one will notice that you didn’t grab any ribs.
- Make a gallon or two of infused fruit water. (How amazing was the first spa that introduced us to cucumber water.) Explore all kinds of fruit combos here – grapes & apples, kiwi & strawberry, coconut & pineapple, lemon& blueberries, etc. Just slice the washed fruit in the water and refrigerate overnight. To add even more flavor and color, splash in a bit of fresh fruit juice. You’ll be the barbeque rock-star!
- Make your favorite raw salad and bring enough for everyone. Make sure to include the veggies that truly satisfy and fill you up. For me that’s avocado, raw nuts, sweet bell peppers, and cucumbers, but the possibilities are endless. This makes going to the barbeque stress-free and you’ll likely avoid the “why aren’t you eating meat” question. And undoubtedly, there will also be other guests that will thank you for the tastier, more filling alternative to the typical carrot and celery sticks. Again, the barbeque rock-star!
So whatever you do, do it guilt-free. It’s not selfish to decline or cancel a celebration when your health might suffer otherwise. It’s also not the end of the world to push your detox plan back a day or two, or to get off track a little on a Holiday. We’ve all been there and done both.
Just never lose sight of your ultimate health goal.
The main thing is being healthy enough to celebrate with friends and family now and making sure you can in the future!
Enjoy!
Tamera at Detoxyourway.com