When it comes to spring cleaning, we often think of houses, gardens, work desks… but rarely do we think to spring clean your body. Giving your body a detox, reassessing what might be having a toxic influence on your insides and doing your best to feel healthy and well at this time of year is a great way of focusing your motivation to ensure you look and feel great by summertime.
Here are our top tips to help you spring clean your body.
Eat plenty of fresh vegetables and fruit
Filled with fibre and essential vitamins and minerals, making sure you eat your 5+ a day will help improve your general health – everything from hair and skin to your digestive system can benefit from eating plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables. Aim for 2 servings of fruit (to limit your intake of natural fructose sugar) and 3+ servings of veggies. Buy seasonal produce to help keep the grocery costs down and opt for organic whenever possible to avoid pesticide sprays.
Avoid takeaways, processed and packaged foods when you can
Additives can take their toll on your body, not to mention the often increased quantities of salt, sugar and/or fat you will often find in takeaways, processed and packaged foods. Making your own food at home from scratch means you will know exactly what is going into your meals, and therefore you will know exactly what is going into your body. If you’re not that great in the kitchen and dinners are a struggle, learn how to make a basic stirfry with plenty of vegetables and lean meat; it takes just minutes to prepare and not long to cook!
Opt for natural products
Cleaning and beauty products can contain nasty chemicals and surprising ingredients that can be absorbed into your skin, potentially affecting your health. This can include everything from dishwashing detergent, to moisturisers, lipsticks and even toothpaste. Opt for natural products whenever possible and read packaging labels carefully so you know what you’re dealing with.
Drink plenty of water
You should be drinking a minimum of 2 litres of water every day to help replenish your body’s stores, prevent you from getting dehydrated and to help maximise brain function. Have a bottle of water with you at all times and make sure you get through it several times thoughout the day! Don’t like drinking water? Opt for herbal tea or alternatively, lemon juice has long been used in Ayurvedic medicine to help eliminate toxins from the liver and promote general health. Add a squeeze of lemon juice to boost water flavour.
Exercise regularly
Even if you can’t make it to the gym or for a planned workout, you should be doing at least 30 minutes of some kind of exercise every day for general health and wellbeing. The endorphins, or ‘happy’ hormones’ your body releases during exercise will help lift your mood, ease tension and stress, improve heart health and help to keep your weight in check. If you struggle to find 30 consecutive minutes in your day, try breaking it up – for example, do a 15 minute brisk walk in the morning and 15 minutes on your lunch break. Learn some body weight exercises such as push ups, lunges and squats to introduce into your routine so you don’t require any equipment and can do them regardless of where you are.
Supplement what’s missing
If you know you’re not eating enough oily fish, fruits or vegetables, give your body a helping hand with a supplement such as fish oil or a general multivitamin. If you have specific conditions – such as allergies – that flare up at this time of year, consider a supplement specially formed to help alleviate it.
1. Red Seal Baking Soda Toothpaste, RRP $3.20
2. GO Healthy Allergy Support, RRP $27.90 (30 vegecaps); RRP $42.90 (60 vegecaps)
3. Red Seal Peppermint Tea Lemon 25’s, RRP $3.24
4. GO Healthy Detox Diva, RRP $34.90
Image / FreeDigitalPhotos.net – Andy Newson