Supporting your liver, coming back into health routines, and what it might mean for your mental health with Naturopath Monica Shepherd.
Now holidays, or as I like to say to clients, pit stops on the race that can become life are vital. Pit stops enable us to refuel our nervous systems, adrenals, and our mind.
Slowing down and breaking routine is important. It is helpful to have routines in assisting us to have boundaries around our health and health goals, but it is also completely necessary to break routines at times too.
Why have routines in the first place? Well apart from helping us be more productive and organised, there’s also research to suggest routines help us find meaning, support parenting competence (or at least our perceptions of it), and marital satisfaction, wow. There’s over 50 years of research on the topic of family routines and rituals (1) and it turns out our habits really can be the glue for our families. Naturopaths and nutritionists often find some routine helps clients with their overall diet and nutritional goals as well. Having some food prepared on late working days for example largely increases the likelihood of eating a healthy meal, waiting until we are tired and hungry to make good food choices is not easy for anyone.
At what point though do our routines become not just plain boring but deadening? In if we fail to pause, rethink, review our habits and attempt to alter them, they will stop us from FEELING.
If you have had a break from routine over the holidays, I want to let you know it is okay and it was even necessary. However, trigger routines are what help us reach our health goals.
Going forward see if any of the following trigger routines may be useful for you:
- Having supplements that don’t need to be refrigerated in a basket on the table
- Considering getting compounding done to help with consistency in taking all supplements as all you need is contained within one completely individualised powder.
- Spending an hour on a Sunday to pre-chop vegetables to save time during the week and encourage healthier eating.
- Having pit stops booked for the year ahead. These can include holidays but what about smaller pit stops: will you book a random pottery class in March? A hike catch-up with friends in April before the holidays? Can you pre-book a massage 8 weeks ahead right now?
Think about your own triggers that you can incorporate into your lifestyle. Will you turn the WIFI off every night at the same time? Even if you must set an alarm to do so?
Think about what you can incorporate into habits you already do. A text message
of gratitude to someone each time you brush your teeth? The sky is not even the limit, you are.
If you are wanting to come back into healthy eating patterns, simply pick up at your next meal. That’s right, no waiting is required. At your next meal eat a wholesome, nutritious meal.
Some simple steps to return to healthy & wholesome eating
- Start by getting back your servings of vegetables. Focusing on vegetables that have an affinity for liver detoxification like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, beetroot, lemon, and garlic, can be a great kickstart.
- Keep hydrated. If you have been skipping on water and drinking more alcohol, focus on some additional hydration for a period of time.
- Rest and when you are ready, gently exercise.
- Saunas can also be beneficial. They support detoxification systems within the body and overall wellness. 83.5 % of people surveyed report sleep benefits after sauna use (2).
And of course, remember to book with your practitioner to create attainable and individualised goals, but don’t forget to be gentle with yourself.
You can book here with holly or Monica to begin creating long lasting health changes for 2023 and beyond.
Kaptured Nutrition
References
1. Fiese, B. H., Tomcho, T. J., Douglas, M., Josephs, K., Poltrock, S., & Baker, T. (2002). A review of 50 years of research on naturally occurring family routines and rituals: Cause for celebration? Journal of Family Psychology, 16(4), 381–390. https://doi.org/10.1037/0893-3200.16.4.381
2. Hussain, J. N., Greaves, R. F., & Cohen, M. M. (2019). A hot topic for health: Results of the Global Sauna Survey. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 44, 223–234. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2019.03.012
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