The Easy 3-Day Debloat Detox

What is The 3-Day Debloat Detox?

The 3-day Debloat Detox is taking three days to fuel our bodies with the cleanest foods – think proteins, fruits, veggies, and healthy fats, move every day, focus on sleep, and eliminating foods/drinks that cause inflammation. The goal? Less bloating and puffiness, more clarity on what leaves us feeling our best, a solid reboot and refocus on healthy habits. No pills or powders, just full self (health) care!

The “detox” is something I do as part of my regular healthy lifestyle every time I come back from a trip or vacation, post-holidays, or a weekend of eating/drinking out etc. I decided to call it this because on the morning of the 4th day – I literally feel completely back to myself and like that bloat, puffiness and water weight has flushed right out and out of my body.

One thing to note – I try to always practice mindful eating, do my best not to overeat, and maintain some of my healthy habits regardless of where I am. So the negative effects for me are minimal, but they DO still exist. Anytime we consume more white sugar, flours, processed foods, alcohol, etc. – foods/drinks that are technically toxins for our body, there are likely going to be unwanted side effects even if it’s an intentional choice. But sometimes, we want those things – which is totally OK! So the 3-Day Debloat Detox can help us bridge that gap between where we are and where we want to get back to 🙂

Related: How to stay on track with weight loss over the weekend  and Weight Loss and Leftovers (How to stay on Track!)

Why Do the 3-Day Debloat Detox

Reset Your Digestive System

Over time, our digestive systems can become sluggish, leading to discomfort and bloating. The debloat detox provides a strategic reset, allowing your digestive system to recalibrate, reduce abdominal pain, and alleviate the discomfort associated with bloated bellies and possibly excess gas.

Helps us stay on track with health and Weight loss goals

Shedding water weight and preventing further weight gain by interrupting unhealthy patterns is a positive outcome of the detox. It’s not just about numbers on a scale; it’s about cultivating a healthier relationship with food and your self.

Liver Health Support

The detox isn’t just a break for your digestive system; it’s a reset for your liver too. By facilitating natural liver detoxification processes, this cleanse supports the liver in efficiently processing toxins and promotes overall liver health.

Addressing Health Issues

Whether it’s fluid retention, imbalanced blood sugar levels, or excess sodium causing discomfort, this cleanse offers a holistic approach to address and mitigate these health concerns. If you continue to practice some of the eating habits after the “detox” is over, you can continue to drive down chronic inflammation, and potentally see a reduction in symptoms from chronic health conditions.

Break from Toxic Substances

Our bodies often accumulate toxins from various sources, impacting overall health. The debloat detox provides a valuable break, allowing your system to purge these toxic substances while refueling with those that are beneficial for our body and mind.

Restore Balance

The routine of daily life can sometimes lead to dietary habits that are less than ideal. This detox serves as a pause button, giving you an opportunity to step back, reevaluate your choices, and reintegrate healthier habits into your daily routine.

Enhance Digestive Health

By incorporating natural diuretics, healthy fats, and promoting a healthy liver, the debloat detox contributes to better digestive health. It’s a chance to give your digestive system the support it needs to function optimally.

The 3-Day Debloat Detox – How to do it

Getting Started – Things to Think About

Decide your intention and what you want to get out of this

• The idea of this “detox” is to help you bridge the gap between where you are and an ongoing, consistent healthy lifestyle.
• What would you like day 4 – forever to look like?

Starting Mindset

• Consider that this is the start of a long term healthy lifestyle, not a crash diet
• Do it from a place of self love/self like vs. dislike and destruction.
• Make sure your intention is positive – approach the detox from not something you have to do – but something you want to do.
• Be ready to be 100% honest with yourself
• Be ready for a challenge. Know it will be challenging and uncomfortable, but you are STRONG and you CAN DO THIS (If you want to) 
• Focus on mindfulness and intentionality. In addition to focusing on eating solely the most nutrient dense foods for 3 days during the reset, we also want to focus on mindfulness and intentionality and not overeating.
  • Knowing the purpose for everything we put in our mouth
  • Intentionally deciding how much of it we want to eat
• We will be working through urges and cravings as part of the detox – it’s normal and expected to have them. 
• Know your brain likes safety and comfort – but stepping out of that is where the change happens. Your brain will offer every single excuse under the sun to keep you from doing this. Commit, decide and plan so that doesn’t happen. And then honor that plan. We can’t control some of the life circumstances and situations that might come up, but we CAN control how we think, feel and react to them.

Detox Nutrition

Detox Foods – What you eat:

I suggest planning a minimum of one day in advance.

[Meal/snack template: Clean (one ingredient) protein  + fruits/veg + healthy fats]

• Start each morning with lemon water 
• Vegetables – 50% of your plate
  • Focus on leafy greens, cruciferous vegetables and non-starchy vegetables (try my kale chips!)
  • Grab my free food category breakdown here
• Fruits (optional) about 25% of your plate
  • Focus on low glycemic fruits: berries, oranges, cherries, kiwi to help with blood sugar balance
• Clean Whole Food Protein Sources – 25% of your plate
  • Chicken, Turkey, Fish, Eggs, Beef (Antibiotic free, organic, and free of all preservatives and additives since we are working on removing the toxins from our system)
  • *If you don’t eat meat – sub with clean one ingredient protein source of choice (ex. beans/lentils vs. Impossible meat)
• Pure Healthy Fats – use for cooking and feel free to add to meals (additional 2 T. per meal helps keep you full, contributes to brain health, hormone function, etc.)
  • Oils: Coconut Oil, Ghee, Avocado Oil, Olive Oil
  • Nuts (peanuts are legumes, not included)
  • Seeds (hemp, chia, flax, sunflower, sesame, etc.)
  • Nut butters (almond, cashew, etc.)
• Unprocessed dressings and sauces (no additives, preservatives, or sugars – minimal ingredients – make your own when possible)
• Unlimited spices and herbs
• Unlimited “clean” condiments: hot sauce, mustard, vinegars, or any you make by mixing above ingredients

*If you google “whole30 recipes” using any of the above, MOST will be using ingredients suggested during the reset*

Detox Drinks:

• Lemon water in morning
• Water – Lots of it. 
  • Minimum 64oz. of lemon water (organic lemon preferred – ideally closer to 120oz.)
    • Tips: carry around a jug or water bottle with straw if you have a hard time remembering 🙂 Plenty of water is crucial to this!
• Coffee or Tea (Optional – decaf preferred)
  • Black/plain -or-
  • With minimally processed, no sugar added/unsweetened non-dairy milk (coconut, cashew, almond, nutpods creamer)
  • Cinnamon and a pinch of sea salt are some of my favorite “clean” additions to my morning coffee!
  • Herbal teas / Matcha (check labels)

What we’re not eating/drinking:

• Alcohol 
• Added Sugar (anything other than pure fruit, with the exception of raw organic honey/maple syrup, up to 1 T. per day)
• Artificial sweeteners
• packaged/processed foods
• Additives, preservative
• Any “non-food” ingredient – chances are – if you have to google it, we’re not eating it
• Grains / Oats (including rice)
• Refined flours / Starches (breads, rice, white flour, etc.)
• Dairy 
• Gluten
• Soy
• Corn
• Inflammatory oils (peanut oil, sunflower oil, canola oil, safflower oil)

Daily Detox Focus

• The purpose of the mini detox/reset – to eat as close to 100% REAL FOOD as possible, made up of as many plants (fruits/vegetables) as possible
• Eat only when you are truly hungry (hunger pains/would eat chicken and broccoli) and stop when you are 80% full.
  • If you’re not sure what eating/overeating for you looks like – use an online calorie calculator to figure out your maintenance calories and track for the 3 days and work on staying under those. While I don’t think tracking is necessary for everyone or forever, it can serve as a helpful starting data point to gauge how much fuel your body needs.
• Snack only when you are truly hungry (hunger pains/would eat chicken and broccoli) and make snacks more of a mini meal combining two of the following (fat/protein and fruit or veggies)

Managing Cravings and Urges

• Know that these will come – it’s part of the process
• Once we learn how to process these and ALLOW them, we eventually learn how to handle them without reacting (eating)
• Acknowledge the craving/urge for what it is – a thought in your mind telling you if you eat/drink a certain thing you will feel a certain way. This is completely separate from the ACTION that we choose to take.
• Ask yourself – are you hungry? If so, eat! (following the guidelines)
• If not, acknowledge and accept the urge/craving and just let it BE there for a few minutes, doing nothing. This will be UNCOMFORTABLE but let it pass.
• Acknowledge that you do not NEED a food/drink to improve your life, or to take away an emotion, feeling or circumstance, or to create one. YOU have the power to do that with your brain, thoughts and body. It won’t be better once you have it.
• Remember the commitment you made to yourself, and honor that commitment
• Repeat this process, until it becomes a habit. 
  • Every time we give in to an urge or craving, we are training our brains to think and remember – when they ask for it – we will give it to them (like a screaming toddler for candy). Perpetuating the cycle and causing us to have MORE cravings and urges. We want to become people who “don’t give in to urges and cravings” more often than we do. Either way your creating a habit – which one do you want to create?

Daily Detox Movement

• Move Every Day for a minimum of 30 minutes 

Daily Detox Sleep

• 7-8 hours of QUALITY sleep
• No blue light at least 30 minutes before bed
• No light in room
• Sleep in a cool room
• See more quality sleep tips here

(My) Sample Day on the Detox

See sample meal plans and food group breakdowns

6am: Wake up – water w/lemon

6:30am: Workout

7:30am: Coffee with cashew milk

Water

3pm: Afternoon Matcha Latte (matcha, cashew milk, 1 t. Pure Maple syrup or honey)

6pm: Dinner  – one of:

• roasted veggies (like brussel sprouts, peppers, onions, sweet potatoes), clean protein (broiled salmon or seared chicken) over cauliflower rice. Side of avocado.

Before bed (optional)

• Water
• Tea (Make sure to check caffeine level to make sure it won’t interrupt with sleep!)

Additional Detox Add Ons

• Daily probiotic 
• Turmeric/Curcumin
• Fish Oil
• Bone Broth
  • https://tastythin.com/instant-pot-healing-chicken-soup-whole30/

Experiment with anti-inflammatory spices:

• Turmeric
• Ginger
• Cinnamon
• Cayenne Pepper
• Garlic
• Black pepper
• Clove
• Saffron
• Rosemary
• Oregano
• Basil
• Sage

Try out my 3-day Debloat Detox and let me know what you think! Make sure to bookmark this page so you can reference back to it any time you need a little health reset.

Need help with the 3 days, or want guidance, support and accountability to make your own long term, sustainable healthy lifestyle? Let’s talk! Book a call with me here.