Are You Due A Detox Week?

Our mind and body takes a lot of abuse. Sometimes it can be valuable to take a break from it all by organising a detox. Such a detox could be overdue if you’ve been feeling tired, stressed, bloated and achy. A week is all you need to carry out a successful detox. This post delves into some of the things worth doing during that week.

Take a week off work

Work is a big source of stress for many of us, so if you want your body to truly rest, it’s worth taking a week off work. Not having to follow a work routine will also give you the time to prepare healthy meals and catch up on sleep (which, as this post delves into later, are all part of detoxing). Book a week off as soon as you can. You could even plan a detox vacation (this Health And Fitness Travel guide offers some inspiration).

Cut out the bad foods and drinks

When it comes to physically detoxing, it’s important to consider what you’re putting in your body. Junk food, alcohol and soda drinks may make you feel good while you’re consuming them, but quickly after they can make you feel awful. By switching to a diet of healthy foods and drinks, you’ll notice a difference in your energy levels and digestion. The likes of this 5-Day Reset could be a perfect meal plan to follow.

Get your beauty sleep

It’s while we’re asleep that we heal. The perfect healthy amount of sleep is between 7 and 9 hours per night. Aim to go to bed early enough and get up late enough in order to get in this minimum of 7 hours (this is much easier to do if you’ve taken the week off work). Suffer from insomnia? Adopting a bedtime routine that helps you relax could help. This could include taking a long bath, drinking herbal tea and engaging in relaxing screen-free activities like reading or listening to music.

Spend time among nature

Many of us spend too much time indoors. Spending more time outside among nature could have many health benefits. Plants, wildlife and natural scenes help us to relax, because humans are hardwired to find them familiar. Spending time outdoors will also help you to get fresh air and sunlight - allowing you to get your fix of vitamin D and circulating fresh oxygen around the body. You could even plan some outdoor exercise activities like hiking, cycling or swimming.

Consider a digital detox

A lot of us spend more time in the digital world than the real world. Too much screen time can have many negative effects from causing eye strain to stopping us from getting to sleep. The content we consume can also be harmful - a lot of social media content is designed to make us jealous or enraged. By limiting your screen time during the week, you could notice yourself feeling happier and more energized. This digital detox could include limiting hours spent in front of a screen and potentially even logging off of social media for a week.