The end of the year brings so much fun and celebration, but it also has us feeling at our most challenged. There’s the influx of irresistible food and drink. The focus on friends and family is delightful but somehow takes precedence over fitness. Plus the toll of a long year and the need for a break looms larger than ever, psychologically as well as physically. Here are our top 10 ways to hack the beginning of 2017. Add a few of these to your fresh, bright outlook for the new year and you’ll take the edge of that sluggish, tired, run down person you were at the end of 2016.
Go green… smoothie that is
Throw leaves into your blender, add a fruit, some herbs like ginger and lemon for its vitamin C. Liquid up with coconut water. And boom, a delicious, vitamin, mineral and antioxidant-filled green smoothie. The perfect way to start the day or great for a mid-afternoon pick-me-up.
Soup, soup, soup
Souping is being touted as the new juicing for 2017. And it’s the perfect way to create a healthy meal that’s crammed with veggies, herbs and spices. Go for what is in season. Or pick your favourite flavours, gently cook, blend and voila. Bon appetite.
Up your vitamin C
Especially at this time of year, adding lemon water to your morning routine for an early blast of vitamin c, as well as citrus fruit throughout the day, shore the body’s resilience up for when the cold weather hits.
Switch coffee out, green tea in
With a little caffeine but a lot of antioxidants that go immediately to work boosting the immune system and helping to protect the body against diseases.
Drink more
We’re talking water here. A great detoxifier, water washes toxins away and adds hydration, creating a double whammy of health.
Move as much as possible
Already motivated by the step counter on your fitness tracker? Well done! Moving as much as possible, through workouts or brisk walking from A to B, helps to boost your circulation – and warm up, which is a bonus when the weather’s cold. You’ll be activating the body’s systems, which means increased circulation, respiration, lymphatic cleansing and detoxification, for a cleaner healthier you (after a shower anyway!).
Sweat it out
Exercising to sweating point is always a great feeling. But you could also try infrared saunas to boost the metabolic process. Whichever you choose, you’ll find your body and especially your skin thanking you for it.
Brush your… skin
Often overlooked, but feels so good and helps brush toxins from the skin, one of the body’s main elimination organs. It also sweeps away dead skin cells, boosts the circulation, gets the lymphatic system going and smoothes the skin too.
Meditate
Don’t forget your mind. There are so many apps that help us target our five to 10 minutes a day of meditation and if you’re going to treat your body right through diet and exercise, then include your mind in the beneficial training regime. And have faith. It really truly does work.
Digital detox
We’re pretty much all in the same boat. It’s tough to turn off the devices and ignore our digital worlds. But persevere through the pain and eventually you’ll come to crave these moments of peace. And your body, mind and spirit will love them too.
Transform in 2017
Michelle Ricaille is Flex’s in-house detox guru and she will be guiding the annual Flex 6-day Detox for 2017, which runs from 16 – 21 January. She targets the digestive system and the liver as the two most important organs to cleanse so that the rest of the body can follow suit. She will also focus on a detoxification of the mind through pranayama and meditation and gives information on how food and chemicals affect us daily. You’ll be resilient against disease and full of energy at the start of the New Year.
Register by December 31st and you’ll get a 10% discount off the HK$3,300 cost. Check here for more details and to register.