Spruce Up Your Spring with a Spring-Clean Diet
Now that Spring is here and the sun is peeking out, we tend to notice things we need to throw out, swap-out, or keep. Clothes, books, furniture always seem to grab our attention for a “Spring cleaning.” Yet spring cleaning does not have to be just about rearranging your old clothes, they can apply to the contents of your refrigerator and your everyday food decisions. Thanks to Daylight Savings Time, you can leave work while the sun is still brightly shining and start your spring cleaning process. Spring is the season to thaw out of your old habits and grow new ones. So say goodbye to your winter slumber and try these Spring clean diet suggestions.
Just like cleaning out your closet, it’s time to think about throwing out unneeded foods from your diet. This includes the last remnants of your winter holiday treats such as all those pies, cakes, cookies, and canes. Time to give the extraneous calories the boot by eliminating all the holiday additives, sugars, and starchy carbohydrates found in your favorite winter dishes. Don’t forget variety of sugary drinks or hard liquors we may have enjoyed at the work parties and family gatherings. These are empty calories and carbohydrates that we don’t need. Alcohol does enough havoc on the liver, so embrace the Traditional Chinese Medicine belief that “spring is the time of the liver” and nourish yours by skipping the drink and watch the winter pounds melt away.
Now that you’ve cleaned out your diet, you can fill your fridge with seasonal vegetables. Muscle & Fitness recommends fresh spices (thyme, rosemary, and dill) along with “4-6 servings of non-starchy vegetables per day. These include all green, leafy veggies such as kale, varieties of lettuce, spinach, collard greens, etc.” Have fun and update your produce like you update your style with bright and beautiful shades of green, yellow, and red. Be one with spring and eat what grows naturally. For meat-lovers, be conscientious of how the animal products are sourced and opt for ones that are grass-fed, free range, and possibly fortified with Omega-3. Along with your meals, detoxify with plenty of water, possibly with a squirt of lemon and a dash of cayenne pepper to liven it up (lemon juice and cayenne pepper naturally cleanse the liver).
The last part of the Spring clean diet is to keep it up! A diet should be a lifestyle change, not a one-off experience. Spring cleansing of the palate is a phenomenal way to jumpstart the liver and form new habits of eating that will make you feel physically and mentally sound.
1. "Spring Clean Your Diet | Dr. Cynthia Thaik." Dr. Cynthia. April 05, 2017. Accessed March 01, 2018. http://drcynthia.com/spring-clean-diet/.
2. "The Spring Clean Diet." Muscle & Fitness. Accessed March 01, 2018. https://www.muscleandfitness.com/nutrition/gain-mass/spring-clean-diet.