Healthy eating in January

     

The Christmas and New Year celebrations are occasions to eat and drink to excess. We enjoy big family dinners with lots of alcohol and huge (enormes) bowls of pudding for dessert. A few weeks of eating like this, however, (sin embargo) can make us feel unhealthy (poco saludable). Fortunately, January is the time for New Year’s Resolutions, (propositos para el nuevo año) and they usually include improving (mejorar) our diet. In this post we look at some things you can do to recover from the Christmas excess, detox (desintoxicar) your body and feel better.

         

The first step (paso) to take to improve your diet is to eat lots of meals a day. None of them, however, should be very substantial. It is not a good idea to have only a coffee for breakfast, a very big lunch and a sandwich at eleven o’clock at night. Ideally, you should eat five times a day and ensure you start the day with a proper (apropiado) breakfast. This should include fresh fruit, for example a glass of freshly squeezed (recién exprimido) orange juice. You should also avoid eating late at night and going to bed on a full stomach. To cleanse your body after the holiday excess, one option is to have a “detox week”. For this you need to eat lots of certain foods and avoid others. Firstly, drink lots of water, ideally a litre and a half every day. Avoid coffee and alcohol. The best hot drink is green tea, which is low in caffeine. Avoid meat, especially red meat, and dairy products,(lácteos) and eat plenty of fruit. Berries (frutos rojos) are especially good for cleansing your system. After a few days of radical detoxing, it is time to establish a balanced diet (dieta equilibrada) for the rest of the year.

         

Going Organic

One thing you can do to improve the quality of the food you eat is going organic. You can start by buying organic fruit and vegetables, and you will definitely taste (notaras) the difference. Next, try organic eggs, which have a truly (verdaderamente) delicious flavour (sabor) Finally, order (encarga) some organic meat, such as (como) chicken or beef, and you will probably not want to eat non-organic meat again!

Good Intentions

Everybody starts the year with good intentions, but they are usually a distant memory (recuerdo lejano) when it is time for more family celebrations, complete with big dinners and large portions of pudding. But this does not mean you should not detox and try to eat better after New Year. On the contrary, you can start the process several times a year – resolutions do not necessarily have to be for January!