Ok, perhaps it’s not what you think.
The #1 tip for preventing holiday weight gain is drinking beverages (and soups) to add the H2O and nutrients we require during the craziest of seasons.
I’ve collected my top five drinkables. If you include these in your daily regime it can have a dramatic impact on your overall well-being.
In the winter darkness and cold, our hormones are changing. It’s easy to become dehydrated at a time when emotional stress is high. And in the busy-ness of the season we are likely to miss some of our regular healthy eats.
Even a slight drop in our hydration level — as little as 2% — you may start to see some side effects, from overeating and weight gain (you may mistake thirst for hunger), bloating (dehydration increases fluid retention in your body), trouble with digestion (it may lead to constipation), low energy, a negative mood, a headache, and dry mouth with bad breath!
Here are five best ways to drink to your health this season.
Sassy Water – this is my signature water I take everywhere to parties and people find it to be a refreshing alternative to alcoholic beverages. Lemon is great for restoring our body’s alkalinity and ginger helps to support our digestion.
Directions:
1 pitcher of water
Squeeze the juice of one lemon
Slices of half a cucumber
1 Tablespoon of fresh grated ginger
Protein Shakes – starting the day off with a high-protein breakfast helps to stabilize the blood sugar and stave off possible binges later in the day. Shakes are quick and easy – and the other benefit is that you can flavor them up with the scrumptious spices of the season. Pumpkin Pie is my favorite! (but please don’t forget the pecans.)
Directions:
½ cup pumpkin puree
½ tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 scoop of Vanilla Protein Shake
1 tsp vanilla extra
2 Tablespoons of pecans
10 ice cubes
Add all ingredients to blender, fill with water, blend until smooth and enjoy!
Celery Juice – Any green smoothie would be a healthy way to add a smack-down of nutrients into your busy day, but Celery Juice is the king of the greens. Celery is one of the most alkaline foods you can find which means it has major high toxin removal rate (great for this time of year!) It’s also an anti-inflammatory, so your joints will love you and it supports your blood and immune system.
Other Potential Benefits: Purifies the bloodstream, improves digestion, prevents migraines, relaxes the nerves, clears up skin problems, detoxifies the body, and is a natural diuretic.
Just 16 ounces of fresh celery juice a day can transform your digestion and overall health in as little as one week. Make sure to choose organic celery when possible. Drink the juice in the morning on an empty stomach.
Directions:
1 large bunch organic celery
Wash & run through juicer. You may choose to add an apple or pear if you don’t care for the flavor plain. Enjoy immediately.
Vitality Broth – drinking a broth of green vegetables is a rich, satisfying snack that will also provide you with many healing nutrients. You can prepare it at the beginning of the week with any number of vegetables and enjoy 2—3 cups a day. A cup between meals will go a long way toward staving off your sugar cravings because it alkalizes the body as well as supports the liver and adrenal glands. Plus, you can experiment with all kinds of different vegetable combinations (including the ones that are going a bit soft in the fridge.)
Directions:
For every three quarts of water add:
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup of winter squash cut into large cutes (for sweetness)
1 cup of root vegetables (choose one: turnips, parsnips, and rutabagas)
2 cups of chopped greens (choose one: kale, parsley, beet greens, collard greens, chard, dandelion)
2 celery stalks
½ cup of cabbage
4-1/2 inch of sliced fresh ginger
2 cloves of whole garlic (not chopped or crushed)
Sea salt to taste
Put everything in a stock pot. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for about 30 minutes until vegetables are softened but not over cooked.
Spoon the mixture into a blender, add a handful of parsley, and liquefy. You might experiment with other fresh or dried herbs and spices such as bay leaf, oregano, lemongrass, fennel and ginger. To thicken the broth and enhance the healing properties of the broth, add a teaspoon of ghee to each blender batch.
Store in a tightly sealed glass container and keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 – 5 days.
Green tea with ginger – Green tea is considered by many to be the healthiest thing you can drink. I’ve decided to write an entire post dedicated to the health benefits of green tea because the health benefits are way too long to list, but suffice it to say that your blood, heart, brain and weight will thank you! Please keep it to fresh-brewed rather than bottled which often include sugar or artificial sweeteners, both to be avoided especially at this time of year.
Adding ginger to your green tea… let’s just say WOW!
Directions:
Bring 1 cup water to a boil.
Add 1/2 inch fresh ginger, sliced and boil for 30 seconds more.
Remove from the heat, and add 1 green tea bag or tea ball.
Steep for 2 to 3 minutes.
Optional: Stir in honey to flavor, if desired.
BONUS! The additional water intake you’ll get from enjoying any and all of these drinkables will help you score firmer, younger-looking skin so you’ll be looking your best for those holiday festivities.
May you live well and happy during this fun season!
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