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One of the questions I hear over and over again is how to stay ALKALINE when you’re eating with friends and family. And at no time of year is that more relevant than the next couple of months.
The holidays may be the toughest time of year when it comes to treats, sweets, and plates full of comfort food. No wonder so many people get sick right after New Year’s!
So today, I want to share with you the 10 best ways to GET OFF YOUR ACID and stay healthy during the holiday season, so that once January 1 comes around, you can hit the New Year running full of energy and vitality!
I’m here to tell you IT IS POSSIBLE and you don’t need to feel deprived or guilty to get there either.
Deprivation never works for anything and definitely not when it comes to food.
Instead, I want you to feel satisfied, full of energy, and nourished. That’s exactly what these tips are going to do for you. So let’s get started.
1. Do Not Seek Perfection
One thing to keep in mind all the time, and especially between Thanksgiving and New Year’s here in the US, is that your goal is NOT perfection. Perfection is a set up for an inevitable failure. Instead, your goal is to improve your health and well-being over time.
This is where my 80/20 Principle comes in. Some of you know this already, but 80/20 is a simple way to think about your overall food choices. It means in a day’s time, you want to eat and drink 80% ALKALINE and no more than 20% ACIDIC.
This applies to what’s on each plate as well as a whole week’s worth of meals. So if you have 21 meals, it’s okay to have a few meals that are more acidic because you’re going to balance it out over the course of the week with really nourishing alkaline meals.
During any meals that are more acidic, find the alkaline foods and load up on them, like salad and greens.
2. Take Your Time
This is a great tip for the holidays because you’re supposed to enjoy yourself! But how many times have you sat down with that big Christmas dinner and eaten the entire portion in less than 5 minutes?
I know, I’ve been there!
And that’s after taking hours and hours to prepare it!
When you eat too fast, you do not give the fullness factors in your stomach and brain time to register. Eat slowly and chew your food. Enjoy it and enjoy the company around you.
Remember, it takes your brain 15 minutes to catch up to your digestive system. So if you eat too fast, it will be way too late before your brain lets you know that you are full.
Also be sure to have a FULL glass of water before you eat. Water and hunger go to the same part of the brain, and when you drink water, you will feel less hungry and won’t have the urge to eat as much.
Speaking of water, let’s move on to tip #3.
3. Drink extra alkaline water.
This is important for a few reasons. We covered the first one already – all of that water will tell your brain you’re full.
Secondly, the air is dryer as it gets colder and if you’re not sweating as much as you did during the summer, you may not be keeping hydrated well enough.
90% of Americans are chronically dehydrated, and that’s the case just as much during the winter as it is in the summer.
Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, water helps your body fight acid. Our bodies need an abundant amount of water for all systems to process out the toxins and acids.
Aim to drink 3-4 liters of good, pure alkaline water every day.
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High pH: You can test your water for a pH of between 8.0-9.5
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Filtered: Always filter your water because tap water contains traces of bacteria, heavy metals and other toxins. There are 327 known contaminants in tap water.
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Room temperature (ideally): Cold, chilled water is harder for your body to use, and it burns vital energy.
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Avoid bottled water: It’s almost always acidic and filled with BPAs, which are a known carcinogenic. Use a glass bottle or BPA-Free bottle when you can.
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Add lemon, lime, a pinch of Daily Minerals, or pH drops: These will alkalize your body and will neutralize acids in your system.
4. Add Juices and Smoothies
Going back to the 80/20 Principle, balancing out more acidic meals with smoothies and juices is a great way to keep your body’s pH level regulated.
So the morning of the office holiday party, start your day right with an alkaline smoothie using your favorite greens, a few berries for antioxidants, some healthy fats like chia seeds and coconut oil, and coconut or almond milk.
Before heading out for a family gathering, treat yourself to a green juice that’s full of spinach, cucumber, celery, parsley, ginger, and lime juice.
The next morning, try a new smoothie (many yummy smoothie selections in our Fall Get Off our Acid 7-Day Cleanse Recipes) or juice recipe to help your body reset.
5. Bring Alkaline-Rich Foods to Events
This is what Chelsea and I do anytime we’re invited to a dinner party or family meal. We’re bringing something anyway, so it might as well be a healthy option for everyone to enjoy.
Bring a big salad with lots of colorful ingredients or some sautéed kale and rainbow chard with some lemon juice and garlic.
Or for dessert, you can whip up a chia pudding in 10 minutes, and for sure, it will be the hit on the dessert table!
You can always load up on what you brought, even if there aren’t many other good options. And you never know… you might inspire others at the event to make a healthier choice!
6. Keep Alkaline Snacks With You
Have healthy snacks available at home, at the office, while you’re traveling, and even while you’re out shopping and running errands. That will keep you from reaching for high acid choices when hunger strikes.
Cookies, cheese trays, and pie are all too tempting when you’re hungry, so save yourself from feeling guilty later by keeping great snacks like these close at hand…
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Almond butter with celery and carrot sticks
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Avocado slices with lime to keep them fresh for a few hours
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Hummus with cucumber slices
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Cashews and almonds
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alkaline snack bars
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Smoky and Crispy Chickpeas (Warning: these are addictive!)
7. Exercise Daily
Getting exercise is a simple step that helps enhances all of the body’s functions. Even if you don’t get in a full workout every single day, get moving by going on a daily walk or doing some crunches, squats, or jumping jacks.
During the next couple of months, it’s especially important that you try to work out first thing in the morning. It’s the best investment of energy in exercise, so it will leave you feeling energized throughout the day. When you put off exercise until the end of the day, it’s dark outside and your body is feeling tired, so it is one of the first things to go.
8. De-stress
I’ve said it before but it bears repeating because it’s so important to your overall health… The acid that stress causes in your body outweighs a million times to one any effect that food or drinks can cause.
Negative and stressed-out thought patterns can literally poison the brain and the body. And let’s be honest – this time of year is full of stress.
So it’s vital you do everything you can to diminish your stress level.
Meditation is one sure-fire way to learn to manage stress and train your brain to be less worried about things all of the time. The art of meditation and clearing your mind is basically a glorified way to get your mind to shut the heck up!
Just like anything, without practice, our minds will wander all sorts of places without permission.
9. Breathe Deeply Daily
Did you know that 70% of the acids and toxins inside of your body are removed through your lungs?
When we are not breathing deeply, we are trapping in the most significant acid in our body, carbon dioxide gas, or CO2.
CO2 is 120 times more powerful as an acid than every other acid COMBINED in your body (that includes hydrochloric acid in your stomach, uric acid in you urine, and lactic acid in your muscles). When we are not consciously breathing, we are building up acid.
Breathing is so powerful it can lower blood pressure, slow the heartbeat, energize and remove your stress, and most importantly, change your pH within just one to three minutes.
Try the Power Breathing Technique I learned from Tony Robbins here.
10. Take Daily Greens and Daily Minerals
If you’re not getting enough exercise, feeling overly stressed, and not eating as well as you normally do, you’ve got a triple threat to your health and well-being. And that’s often the case during the holidays. So it’s extra important to supplement with really high quality minerals and greens that your body is lacking.
By taking AlkaMind Daily Greens every morning and AlkaMind Daily Minerals every night 30 minutes before sleep, you’re setting your body up for success so it doesn’t have to do all the hard work of maintaining a neutral pH on its own.
You’ll find even more to love in my GET OFF YOUR ACID 7-DAY FALL CLEANSE (includes 105 NEW delicious, alkaline recipes that taste so good you’ll feel like you’re cheating).
1 comment
This article was very helpful to me