Getting back to normal life after a fun vacation is much harder it seems to be. Who does not like to continue waking up late, eating junk and missing a workout!!!
However, this sort of lifestyle starts to bother us in form of bloating, indigestion, and unhealthy weight gain.
While we can go off the track when on vacation, many of us struggle to get back on track and deal with post vacation bloating and weight gain syndromes.
So, we spoke with a well known Nutritionist, Shreya Katyal to share with our reader a post-vacation detox tips that can help then get back to the regular track.
So, without further ado, let’s get started.
Eat Clean And Green: After vacation, you need to take a break from fried and sugary products. Time to add some clean and green options in your diet to gain maximum benefits.
Cut The Cocktail: You must have opened the cork of alcohol or sugary beverages while being on vacation, but now it’s time to put it back. Say no to it for the time being at least, so you can get rid of the bloat from your face and fat from your body.
Stay Hydrated: Even when you are on vacation, you should never skip the water. But, if you have skipped it while enjoying, it’s time to increase your water intake. Try to have warm water (if possible) with lemon in it to reduce bloating and detoxify your body.
Prioritize Protein: On vacation, we all forget the diet and load up ourselves with fatty and fried food, and it’s time to balance it off by adding protein to your diet. Be careful about the quantity to not shock your body and health.
Sleep: As soon as you are back from your vacation, get back to your regular sleep pattern. Sleeping can repair your body and brain and regulate blood sugar among many other benefits.
Vacationing is important to refresh your mind, ensure good health and be more productive and less stressed. But being on post-vacation detox is equally important so that you can get back to your routine and kick start your healthy lifestyle like before. Always take expert consultation to make the right dietary changes as per your body type.
Tight Hips are a very common syndrome among desk dwellers. They can lead to lower back pain and tightness in our leg. Free your tight hips by finding a wall and doing this life-changing stretch (no really, it’s thatgood!).
I am glad I met Gwen for a reflexology session at an event in The Dubai Mall, and she told me “girl you got to stretch your tight hips. God bless her for suggesting me this simple yet very effective stretch.
Watch the video below to learn how to do the streching pose correctly. Five to fifteen minutes a day in this pose can lead you reaping off some immense benefits other than flexing your hips!
Benefits of Legs Up The Wall Stretch
Improved Blood Circulation: Lifting legs pump blood faster to the heart
Improved Digestion: Raising legs help exercising muscles responsible for digestion. So you not only get a flatter belly but the digestion will be much more smoother.
Relaxed Nervous System: Elevated legs help you relax and take in more air.
Better Sleep: Stress is the biggest cause of insomnia. Relaxation it brings along makes sure that you sleep like a baby.
After practicing it for a while, it is guaranteed to feel like a whole new person!
I recently attended the event hosted by a Japanese Massage Footwear Brand Kenkoh in The Dubai Mall. It gave me a much needed exposure to the existence of massage footwear and their immense benefits.
We also interacted with reflexologist & natural health practitioner Gwenn Zen who gave us a five minute feet reflexology foot massage enhancing our knowledge about the science.
Zen told us how each and every organ of our body is connected to feet. As she massaged our feet, she literally told us about our health condition by feeling the state of all organs in our feet. Isn’t it amazing?
So here’s my bit on educating my blog readers about what are massage shoes, their benefits and how to wear them.
Most of us do not realise that the entire stress and weight of our body is carried by our feet and feet are the most ignored part of our body. We should take care of our feet and keep them strong with daily foot massages for a few minutes. This is where massage footwear comes into play. Because massaging your feet every day may not be feasible, you can give massage slippers a try.
Here are some of the health benefits of wearing massage slippers:
Better Sleep
These sleepers target the nerve endings, as a result you have better blood circulation & relaxed nerves. Walking in massage shoes induce better sleep
Stress Reliever
Massage sandals massage the feet and act as a pain reliever. The area in the center of the toe and the ball of the feet are linked to mental and emotional health. Targeting these areas by wearing acupressure sandals can relieve symptoms of depression.
Pain and Ache Reliever
The pain arising from ankle, neck, migraine headache, lower back and thighs can be fully relieved by walking in massage slippers for 30 minutes every day.
Eases menopause and PMS symptoms
Many women suffer from extreme mood swings and aches due to premenstrual syndrome. Symptoms of menopause such as depression, backache and foot ache can be reduced by using massage slippers. The area where the big toe meets the rest of the feet is an essential point to relieve stress caused by such symptoms.
How To Start Wearing Massage Shoes
Massage Shoes are not your comfy bedroom slippers. Your feet need time to adapt to the massage slippers.
Until you grow accustomed to your Kenkoh Massage Sandals, it is recommended that you wear them 5-30 minutes, two or three times a day. If you have sensitive feet, try wearing socks in the beginning. Generally, it takes three days to three weeks to adapt to Kenkoh sandals. Once accustomed, extend wear time at your own pace
Review by founder of community pop up Dubai Vegan Days, Ananda Shakespeare
If you’re looking to end the year and begin the new year on a healthy high, why not try the new vegan weight management meal plan from Root’D, by Freakin’ Healthy?
An extension of the successful local brand Freakin’ Healthy, Root’D’s menu is designed and certified by the Root’D nutritionist to help customers reach their goals.
You can start your Root’D plan with a video consultation or by filling out a survey, so the nutritionist understands your current situation, health and goals.
I grabbed the chance to eat healthily and well for a week, with a choice of dishes you choose from a menu – meaning it’s hard to receive food you don’t like. It’s also noticeably easily ordered online and delivered to your door/ office for a week, a fortnight or a month – depending on how healthy you want to get!
You pick a daily breakfast dish from a choice of four, with a few different options offered on different days. Then there’s a choice of two snacks each day, including the likes of fruit, protein balls, bites, snack bars and fruit and nut butters.
Breakfast
Acai Bowls from Root’D
Breakfast is always a good place to start, and the Root’D chefs serve up some real treats – standout starts to the day for me were the tofu scramble Caribbean wrap and the simple, yet tasty, peanut butter and blueberry orange jam on toast. Apple and cinnamon oats were a sweet treat, too. Yes, you could make these at home, but there are a number of fantastic reasons to let Root’D do the cooking. Firstly, it saves time. I, for one, don’t have time to prepare something like a tofu scramble in the morning, and preparing the night before isn’t an attractive option either. Secondly, all the food is not only nutritionally balanced, but calorie controlled, too. So that’s a double win, right? Also, it’s all too easy here in the UAE to always order takeaways, without really knowing how healthy they are. This plan feels like clawing back some control over your diet. Having said that – this isn’t a dry, boring diet full of unimaginative salads. These are creative, wholesome dishes, served with thought. Everything seems homemade and fresh, and while flavourful, none of the flavours are overpowering, and I didn’t ask for any alterations. Sometimes meal planners in the UAE can be overkeen with chili and other strong spices. If you like that sort of thing, I’m sure Root’D would be amenable to a few additions or menu changes.
Lunch & Dinner
Red Spinach Rice from Root’D
Lunches and dinners are chosen each day from a choice of five daily dishes – and while some seem a little uninspired – beans of toast and the burger – there’s a lot of tasty, filling curry style dishes, pasta, stews and a fun build-your-own falafel wrap. There’s certainly enough variety for a week – and, in fact, there are other meal plans available from the Root’D stable, with more than 45 meal options. The curried chickpea burrito was a weeknight meal winner for me, as so any other meal plans offer bland and uninspired meal options. I also indulged in a peanut curry, and thoroughly enjoyed the yucca coconut curry, something I would simply never dream of making myself. Black bean and sweet potato hash hit the spot, as did the sweet potato chili.
As you can now probably understand, these dishes offer the sort of tasty comfort food we all crave – and yet this plan is for weight management, remember. So a big thumbs up from me. And price wise – it comes in cheaper than other meal plan providers in town. I would order it again. As well as the Weight Management meal plan I opted for, Root’D offers a balanced lifestyle plan for those looking for a more wholesome and clean diet, and for those looking to explore a plant-based diet for the first time, there’s a Detox-Refuel plan.
A quick breakdown of the pricing: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and 2 x snacks – AED 120 / day Breakfast, Lunch and 1 x snack – AED 72.5 / day Lunch, Dinner and 1 x snack – AED 87.5 / day Duration – 1 week, 2 weeks or 4 weeks Days – Sunday to Thursday or Saturday to Thursday.
Dubai Vegan Days was launched and conceived by Ananda Shakespeare, as a way of helping people enjoy and learn more about veganism, ethical living and how to live with more compassion. Each event brings people together to enjoy good food, good company and good products, and hopefully encourage fun, learning and friendship. We encourage dialogue and information-sharing around veganism, but are not preaching hippies.
Keep up with our events by following us on social media.
You can find out more about Dubai Vegan Days on Facebook, here:
Full Body detox is a fancy word. For most of us it implies following a particular diet and using specific products to get rid of harmful toxins.
However, good news is that our body is capable enough to detox it self and one does not need expensive supplements to support the process. One can use natural methods to flush toxins out of the body.
Here’s a 10 Step Guide published by Radhi Devlukia on her Instagram feed
Tongue Scrapper: removes bacteria and toxins that build over night.
Drink Hot Water: Hot Water helps detox and cleanse the channels in body
Body Massage: Body massage helps move toxins out of the body and stimulates better circulation
Dry Brushing: helps throw out toxins through lymphatic system
Eat largest meal in afternoon and have regular meals times : Our body is in tune with nature – our digestion is strongest when the sun is at its highest and so it’s best to eat our largest meal in the afternoon and a light Easy to digest meal in the evening. Regular meal times means you teach out body to produce digestive juices before you start to eat your meals making digestion more efficient.
Add SPICES to your food: spices help your body digest food which means less undigested food to ferment and turn into toxins
NO SNACKING BETWEEN MEALS – it is important to leave atleast a 3 hour gap between meals to allow your body to digest each meal properly. Only when our food is digested does it allow our body to start using fat as fuel and fat is where the toxins hide and reside.
CCF TEA – Coriander Cumin and Fennel tea
SLEEP BY 10 : According to Ayurveda our digestive tract cleanses and rejuvenates during this time of night
Sherry Aggarwal Gupta 