Three Simple Ways To Detox After Diwali

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Highlights:

• Most festivals in India are closely related to food and the celebration is incomplete without tasty treats.
• Detoxifying the body with a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, fresh juices and infused water can help eliminate toxins from the body.
• Restarting your exercise routine and practicing yoga can increase metabolic rate and normalize digestion.

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Diwali- The Festival Of Lights

Diwali, the much awaited and widely celebrated festival in India revolves around lights, firecrackers and food; especially sweets. Most festivals in India are closely related to food and the celebration is incomplete without tasty treats. Sweets are the main highlights of Diwali. Made with sugar, condensed milk, ghee and nuts, these sweets can easily add on the pounds. How do we deal with this? Striking a balance between what we eat during the festive and after the celebration is over can actually make a difference. In other words, following simple practices that can detox your body from all the sugar and fat that has settled in the body may help from keeping you away in climbing up the weighing scale.

• Detox with food
• Get back to the exercise regimen 
• Practice those yoga poses that can help beat the fat

These three steps are not something new, nor are they very hard to do. They hold good for almost any situation, however following them is not easy for some of us. Exercise, yoga and eating healthy have been the talk of the town for more than a decade now. However, we dont seem to follow them. One possible reason could be the intention with which we begin to start a diet or an exercise regimen. Let’s find out how we can get back on track after the festivals.

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Detox With Food

Detoxification means to eliminate toxins from the body. This is a natural way to remove the accumulated harmful substances that exert undesirable effects on individual’s health. Detoxification is done with the help of saunas, massages, colonic irrigation, bowel enemas, however, let us focus on diet.

The idea is to eat pure and natural foods that can make you feel fresh, energetic and help you get rid of all the sluggishness. A diet rich in fruits, vegetables, water and totally eliminating processed food in the form of snacks, soft drinks, ice cream, chocolates can help in weight loss.

Too much of sugar in the form of sweets and including fried snacks with added salt during Diwali can end up in an accumulation of toxins. Since the organs in the body digest and detoxify them, supporting the body with a healthy diet can help stay healthy.

How to Detoxify with Food?

• Start the day with half a lime squeezed in a glass of warm water or herb tea. This will help the body to kick start the metabolism.
• Drink at least 8 glasses of water every day; which would be 3 - 4 glasses every hour. Water is the best medium to flush out toxins from the body.
• Start the first meal with raw fruits or vegetables.
• Include fresh fruits or vegetables with every meal. 
• Alternate fried snacks, biscuits, chips with seeds, nuts like almonds, walnuts or grams like roasted Bengal gram, peanuts. They are packed with protein and minerals.
• Drink infused water.

Get Back To the Exercise Regimen

It is true that as the festive season begins, many of us tend to forego the usual workout time. We are either busy with shopping, planning for the festival, the usual routine at work or taking rest.

These reasons are totally unintentional, however, they do spoil our habit of working out every day. Now that the festival is done, let’s get back to what we used to do. Exercise can be most effective when it is done in the morning. The fresh air can make the body feel light and energetic throughout the day. Running, cycling, brisk walking are some few ways to pump up the heart rate and to get the fat burning.

For those who easily get bored of doing a workout, playing your favorite sport can help. Tennis, football, shuttle badminton and cricket are high calorie burning sports. You can choose to play them at least twice a week for better results.

Yoga Poses that can Help Beat the Fat

Yoga, though it was closely related to medication is now popular for its effect on health. Yoga helps the body to relax, become more flexible and also aids in weight loss. Though there are no special exercises, practicing yoga can help in cleansing the body. Yoga helps in digestion, especially after all those heavy meals and constant snacking.

Some of the yoga poses that can increase the metabolic rate and help in weight loss are:

The Triangle Pose: This exercise is done with the feet apart, arms extended at shoulder level. Inhale and raise your right arm by the side of your head. Bend your right arm, exhaling towards the left side by keeping your body weight equally on both the feet. 

Thunderbolt Pose: With knees, ankles and big toes touching the ground, take a kneeling position. Sit on the heels and place your hands on the knees with the spine in an erect position. Take a deep breath and draw the abdominal region inside and expand the chest.

Agnisar Kriya: This pose is done in a relaxed position focusing the abdomen muscles. The abdominal muscles are pulled in by taking a deep breath and while breathing out, the muscles are relaxed. This exercise helps mobilize the abdomen muscles and aids in digestion.

Kapalbhati Kriya: This is a breathing exercise that helps the body to relax. The exercise is done by sitting straight. Take a deep breath and exhale quickly making a puffing sound as you exhale.

Detox Helps The Body To Refresh:

Exposure to smoke from firecrackers, pollution due to the heavy traffic during the festival and snacking on fired snacks and sweets can build up toxins in the body.

Eliminating these toxins are crucial as they can cause bloating, sinus congestion, indigestion, fatigue, insomnia, irritability, dull skin, headache, joint pain, weight gain, constipation, lowered immunity, cellulite formation and a general lack of well-being.

These 3 simple steps of a detox diet, restarting your exercise regime and yoga can

• Remove toxins from the body
• Boost energy levels
• Help in weight loss
• Make you feel healthier
  
  

References:

1. Diwali : The Festival of Lights - (http://magazines.odisha.gov.in/Orissareview/2013/nov/engpdf/19-20.pdf)
2. Juliette’s 7-Day Detox Plan - (http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/diet/detox/plan.htm)

Source-Medindia