Our low carb keto After Christmas Cleanse is a day filled with cleaning and clearing your body of yesterdays extra sugar and high carb indulgences. Whether or not you're on a keto diet, low-carb diet or just wanting a detox diet for the day after Christmas, this diet plan is the best way to get back on track after a holiday.
Even if you had a fabulous Christmas of healthy eating choices, the amount of food consumed was probably more than usual on any other given day. It's just bound to happen with the joy of being with family and friends sharing a holiday meal together.
Even if you made all sugar free, low carb keto treats for this day and enjoyed just a few, a cookie is still a cookie and those very healthy clean keto cookies may be staring at you today calling your name.
Are you going to indulge today as you did yesterday and continue every day until the New Year's Eve party? Or will you give your body a much needed rest and detox with some healthy clean, fresh whole foods today?
I don't know about you, but for me, all the food I ate yesterday, yes I ate only my keto recipes, didn't seem like too much at the time, but I have some bloated-ness from over consuming.
By the time I went to bed, I knew today needed to be a day of cleaning out the digestive system, and get back into a state of ketosis quicker after all the over-consuming.
Today is all about refreshing your body by eating a healthy, low carb and fresh balanced diet. It's not really about weight loss or weight gain, simply just to get blood sugar levels balanced again.
Contrary to what some might believe, you can gain weight on a ketogenic diet or low carb diet, just from eating large amounts of any foods even those that are fewer carbs.
You can do this easy clean eating plan just for today or continue until the festive season is over, if you like.
If you want to avoid the keto flu, be sure to get in plenty of water first thing in the morning and throughout the day between your low-carb meals, especially with electrolytes.
I use LMNT but you can just make sure to add in pink Himalayan salt, Celtic salt or Redmonds real salt to your water to avoid those first day of withdrawal symptoms.
You could make my 3 electrolyte homemade recipes if you prefer!
Make sure to get in about 30-60 minutes of sweating. It helps release that extra glucose from all the indulging yesterday.
Exercise is a great way to release the body of toxins and provides a wonderful energy boost, stress relief. Just 20 minutes of exercise boosts dopamine naturally and makes you in a better mood releasing those happy hormones called endorphins.
Finding 30 minutes today to relax is also important. Here's a great article by Mark Hyman, MD on why detoxing the body is important.
Intermittent fasting is a good idea and the easiest way to remove extra glucose from processed foods. Just try waiting a little bit longer or until you truly feel hunger before eating.
12 Tips for Getting Back on Track After Overeating
Today is all about eliminating all sugars, flours, gluten, grains and dairy.
Today is NOT about starving yourself!
Just eating a moderate amount, low-carbohydrate diet to help your body detox and process everything it indulged in yesterday and also helping it along so you avoid sugar and carb cravings.
You will notice there are no whole grains, high carb vegetables, like sweet potatoes or natural sweeteners, even maple syrup can cause more sugar and carb cravings, so these all need to be avoided today.
Choose non-starchy vegetables like broccoli, asparagus, green beans, and leafy greens like romaine lettuce, butter lettuce, arugula, etc.
Healthy fats are welcome and a good fit to help satiate, enjoy extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, butter, etc.
Here's the menu plan I will be following today and I hope you'll join me!
After Christmas Cleanse Day
Wake Up Beverage: 8 ounces water with lemon juice (½ of a fresh lemon) , stevia to taste if needed
You don't have to avoid coffee or tea, but I'd skip any artificial sweeteners to avoid that sweet tooth coming back.
Breakfast: Keto Low Carb Green Tea Detox Smoothie
Mid-Morning Beverage: 8 ounces water with juice of ½ lemon, stevia to taste if needed, add salt or LMNT
Lunch: Choose 1 of these soup options, add a side salad with olive oil and vinegar, if desired
Afternoon Snack: 2-3 hard boiled eggs
Fresh fruits like low carb blueberries, or raspberries aren't off limits, but if you are trying to subdue that sweet tooth, this may cause some cravings in some of you, once you taste any bit of sweetness, natural or not.
Before Dinner Beverage: 8 ounces water with juice of ½ lemon
Dinner: Choose any of these options or enjoy 6 ounces cooked protein or lean protein of choice and 1-2 cups cooked green low carb veggies, with a side salad if desired.
After Dinner Snack: This is up to you. If you feel real hunger and you don't think it's just habit hunger, choose some protein, if not, just skip. Something very nice and light would be my Sugar Free Jello with Electrolytes.
Before Bedtime: Decaffeinated tea with ginger, lemon and if desired, stevia to taste
Substitution Suggestions:
If the idea of making soup for lunch is a turn off, just sub a salad instead.
If you feel you need some protein at lunch, have 2-3 ounces more.
If you need a snack between breakfast and lunch, choose some hard boiled eggs or egg whites, raw veggies or nuts.
Throughout the day you can drink as much water as you want, just be sure to include the lemon at least 3 times as mentioned above.
If you find yourself hungry at all today include a high protein smoothie into your day, (but make sugar it's also a low-sugar smoothie), or increase your servings of soup or dinner or snacks mentioned above. Do not starve yourself!
Please leave your comments on if you'll be joining me today. If you are diabetic or have other medical issues be sure to check with your doctor before starting any cleanse type program. I'm not a medical doctor and can not offer any medical advice here.
This is simply the cleanse I will be following today and I'm sharing it with all of you. Come back tonight and let me know how you are doing by commenting below and if you'll continue again tomorrow.
Medical Review by Dr. Ken Berry, MD.
This post was first published in December 2013.
Brenda Bennett is a certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, certified Sugar Detox Coach, certified Keto Coach and certified Life Coach. She has written 2 cookbooks, Sugar-Free Mom, and Naturally Keto and her 3rd book The 30-Day Sugar Elimination Diet, is a four part program to help you detox from sugar, eliminate cravings, balance blood sugar and lose weight all while eating a delicious, nutrient dense whole foods. Meal plan offers two tracks to follow, low carb or keto. She is the founder of the Sugar Free Fresh Start course and Sugar Free Tribe weight loss membership.
This article is meant for informational purposes only and should not be taken as medical advice. Please seek the advice of your doctor or healthcare provider before making any changes to your diet.
Andrea Haupt
The smoothie recipe says it makes 24 oz. so are you drinking 48oz on this day or splitting one smoothie up?
Brenda
It's two servings because the rest of it is later on in the day.
patience ntiamoah
I love all the recipes. I will love to have update on all foods