Ditch the Detox in 2019
New year, new you. Are you the type to make resolutions about changing your lifestyle? At this time of the year it's common to hear of ambitious aims to lose 10lbs or ‘get healthy’ — whatever that means. One word that that ends up floating around a lot is the dreaded ‘D’ word. That word is Detox. I recoil at Detox, especially when used liberally alongside its partner in crime, the other ‘D’ word: Diet.
Never mind the fact that detoxing your body with diet is a myth, I’m not alone in believing that detoxes and restrictive diets are unsustainable and ineffective for long term change.
Detoxing comes with a punitive notion that by abstaining from booze, carbs, calories, water, air and so on you can rid your body of toxins (which, let’s face it, is a synonym for fat, in this appearance-obsessed world) and emerge purified in body and soul, whip thin and squeaky clean.
The problem is that we can’t always be detoxing, otherwise we would die, and so the 10lbs that we worked so hard to lose inevitably comes back with greater gusto.
Might I suggest a more enjoyable way to clean up your diet, which is that while detoxing implies an element of subtraction, we also need to add something back. For me, it’s not so much about detox as simplification. You can have a simple diet that is nutritionally complete, satisfying and still helps you to lose weight and feel better — if that’s what you want.
Pictured is my recent way of subtracting from and adding to my meals this winter: I’ve taken to adding one simple element — a clear vegetable broth that goes alongside or on top of my wholegrain rice. It’s warming, hydrating and nourishing and leaves less room for mindless snacking.
So here are a few ideas for simplifying, not detoxing, this new year and hopefully for the longer term:
Replace rather than reduce. Make one simple switch every day: refined carbs for wholegrain carbs; fizzy drinks for a smoothie; a chocolate bar for a piece of fruit.
Eat one less meal per week that contains meat. Switch it out for plant–based protein such as tofu or legumes. Eventually this could turn into a few more meat–free meals, without you realising it.
Meal prep, or prep to fail! This week I’ve had little time to cook, so I boiled a basic vegetable broth, cooked a big pot of rice and bought a few packs of tofu that will see me through a few meals.
Eat until 70% full. Try the hardest thing of all — moderation.
It seems apt here to quote the most recent viral trend to hit our screens, wardrobes and kitchen drawers, which is the Marie Kondo approved method of decluttering. There’s a reason her method is resonating with our general psyche in 2019, and that is an underlying desire to simplify. One of the things she asks when deciding whether to keep or lose an item is: “Does this item spark joy?”
I do something similar with my meals; regardless of how simple it may be, I add one thing that sparks joy, whether a drizzle of chilli oil, scattering of fresh herbs or indeed a sprinkle of Celestial Peach flavour enhancer! Otherwise, mealtimes just become another tool with which to punish ourselves, and life’s too short for that.
