Detox Your Autoimmune Body Before the Holidays

During the holidays, you will likely have opportunities and situations that involve nomming on some extra treats like cookies and baked goods.

Or maybe, if you’re like me, you tend to overeat a little more than usual at a festive dinner. I mean, who does not love an extra helping or two of candied yams on Thanksgiving?

It can be a great idea to get ahead and detox your body before the holidays begin so as not to peeve off your autoimmune disease or chronic illness too much. When the liver is functioning well and detox pathways are humming along, recovery time from those extra indulgences can be more on the bouncy side of bouncing back!

Detoxing your body can prepare you for a healthy holiday season, leaving your autoimmunity with more wiggle room when it comes to the impact of enjoying foods and drinks that are on the rich side or even non-AIP / Paleo.

Here are my helpful tips to Detox Your Autoimmune Body Before the Holidays:

Start working out regularly – but with your autoimmunity in mind

If you are not exercising already on a regular basis, now is a good time to start. When you exercise and sweat, you start sweating off all those extra toxins in your body.

This doesn’t mean you have to torment yourself with long aerobics routines, sign up for a 5K, or engage in extreme regimens like Crossfit…but rather along the lines of starting a self-loving routine that feels good to YOU.

Some gentle and autoimmune-friendly workouts include those that don’t get the adrenals burnt out or cause too much stress on the body, like:

1) Stretching

2) Restorative Yoga (this awesome yoga app has many free workouts)

3) Pilates

4) Stability Ball Balancing (one of my personal faves…just make sure you have a pump, too!)

5) Weight Training

6) Happy Dancing (when you turn on your flavor of music and just jam to the funky beats – freestyle, baby!)

Getting used to a regular workout routine now also helps you get accustomed to it during the holidays.

Throughout the holidays, you should continue exercising as it keeps you free of toxins, but also helps you to strengthen your body while maybe burning off all those extra cookies you plan to nosh on!

With exercises that fit your autoimmunity in its corner, you won’t have to worry quite as much about eating some extra Paleo candy during Halloween, a second helping of leftover turkey sandwiches (on this yummy AIP Flatbread and with this egg-free mayo) after Thanksgiving, puddings during Christmas or Hanukkah, or drinks during the new year (here’s a mocktail for you sober gals like me!).

Because food should be enjoyable and NOT about guilt! Just find balance by loving on your body a little extra – never, ever punishing it.

Drink more water daily

Make sure you are getting an adequate amount of water each day. This is one of the most important aspects to detoxing your body before, during, and after the holiday season.

A good habit to start is by adding some lemon juice to your water in the morning. You can either squeeze a fresh, full lemon into a tall glass of spring water (or use this organic bottled one that is super convenient) or make an herb or cucumber-infused water.

The lemon is an excellent way to detox your body. Try to drink some fruit-infused water throughout the day (apple, pears, and strawberries are all delicious!) when detoxing before the holidays.

Dual detox during shower time

It is also possible to detox from the outside in by using your shower. I want to share with you two great ways to help activate your lymphatic system and make your liver super happy!

Dry brushing

Before your morning shower get out a dry skin brush, then brush your skin in a circular motion, starting from your feet and working upward.

Always brush toward your heart with your strokes, preferably early in the day to avoid “waking yourself up” right before bed.

This is going to help remove waste by working on your lymphatic system and stimulating liver function (both organs are your detox buddies, but often can get congested due to environmental toxins).

Contrast showering

Alternating between hot (but not burning) and cold (but not freezing) water in the shower supports lymphatic drainage and is beneficial for detox and circulation – and your autoimmunity will love you for it!

The hot water brings blood flow to the skin surface while the cold water brings blood flow inward to the organs.

I recommend three minutes of hot water, one minute of cold, three minutes of hot, etc. You can repeat this for 15 minutes, always finishing with cold water.

Contrast showering can be done daily if you are up for it, or simply after your workouts, or when you are starting to feel a bit more toxic.

Detox your products

An additional beneficial practice for detox is to make the swap to cleaning products, makeup, soaps, shampoos, and cleansers that contain all-natural ingredients and / or rate a maximum of 3 on over at EWG.org.

Check their website out, you will likely be surprised by what may be lurking in your personal care products that are affecting your endocrine system – and in turn aggravating autoimmunity!

Start by swapping out one product per month or by purchasing a “clean” product when you are done using up your conventional one. This helps avoid overwhelm and going over your budget…. which is helpful because stress is also a toxin, and the last thing you need right now, especially before the holidays, is more stress!

Do the best you can with what you have and show yourself some mega love, honey.

I hope these simple tips to Detox Your Autoimmune Body Before the Holidays helps you!

If you loved this post, check out my free Paleo Detox Plan for the Instant Pot!

A happy and healthy pre-holiday to you, my friend!