The Healthy Way to Detox Before Your Wedding

When it comes to your wedding, you want to look and feel your best so we sought the expert in bridal nutrition, Kara Stout, to give you the low-down on how to detox before the big day. There’s a lot of regimens out there for detoxing, but Kara promises this one won’t result in “hangry” moments. Instead, it feeds your body the things it needs and restricts what it doesn’t. She’s guiding us through the before + after and even sharing her go to recipes with a sample 3 day menu!

 

Often, when you think of cleanses or detoxes, you think misery and starvation. Well, not this simple and gentle detox, my healthy bride-to-be. This plan is all about clean, whole foods that will give you energy, decrease toxins, provide lots of nutrients, promote clear, pretty skin, and give you the perfect jumpstart to a healthier lifestyle overall.

Prepping for your detox:

Begin to decrease your caffeine, sugar, alcohol, dairy, and gluten a week or two prior so it’s not such a shock to the body. Also, begin to include more green leafy veggies, vegetables and water. You also want to mentally prepare to help you stay motivated, encouraged and feeling positive.

Before you begin, I recommend writing down why you are doing this detox and your top 3 detox goals. It’s also important to enlist an accountability partner or, better yet, a partner to do this detox with you…ahem… your fiancé (I mean you’re in it together for all things right?) or your MOH could also be a great partner.

What to add in:

Warm water with lemon + cayenne pepper
Green leafy veggies
Abundance + variety of veggies
Clean protein
Healthy fats
Gluten-free whole grains
Fruit
Water, water, water (drink ½ your body weight in oz/day)
Apple cider vinegar
Dandelion Tea

What to cut out:

Alcohol
Added refined sugar
Artificial Sweeteners
Caffeine/Coffee
Dairy
Fried Foods
Gluten
Refined Carbs

Try not to focus on what you can’t eat or drink, but rather all the variety of foods you can eat. You want to focus on fresh whole foods that are clean. The word clean eating gets thrown around a lot especially in marketing, but what it means is free of artificial colors, artificial sweeteners, refined sugar, trans fat, pesticides, antibiotics, hormones, GMOs, etc. It means eating real, whole foods that are unprocessed or minimally processed and that are as close to how they come in nature as possible.

Some detoxes don’t allow meat, however this one does. If you enjoy meat, then you can consume on this detox, just make sure it’s clean protein (organic, pasture-raised, grass-fed, fresh-caught). You want to eat a small portion, no bigger than the size of your palm, and enjoy veggies in abundance with any animal protein you consume.

I know fruit has gotten a bit of a bad name lately, but I’m all for fruit! It’s a whole food that’s an excellent source of vitamins and antioxidants and has many benefits. During this detox, you want to choose mostly low-glycemic fruit like strawberries, blueberries, grapefruit, watermelon, oranges, and plums to name a few. Or halve the fruit that is a little higher in sugar such as bananas or apples.

Snacking: Ideally, try not to snack in between meals during this detox. However, if you find yourself really hungry, you can snack on options such as sliced cucumbers + ½ avocado, fresh vegetable juice, gluten-free toast with almond butter and strawberries, or homemade hummus + veggies.

Here are some example days + recipes to get you started:

Day 1:

Rise + Shine

Start your day with a cup of warm water with lemon. Squeeze fresh juice from ½ lemon in one cup warm water. Also, sprinkle a dash of cayenne pepper for an extra metabolism boost.

Breakfast

Vanilla Chia Seed Pudding (see recipe below)

Pre-Lunch

Drink 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar with full glass of water

Lunch

Avocado toast on gluten-free bread (I prefer the Food for Life brand) with baby arugula, lemon, sea salt, hemp seeds, and tomatoes

Mid-Afternoon

Drink Dandelion Tea plain, do not sweeten

Pre-Dinner

Drink 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar with full glass of water

Dinner

Shiitake Mushroom Lettuce Wraps

Day 2:

Rise + Shine

Drink warm water with lemon + dash of cayenne pepper

Breakfast

Scrambled eggs with lots of fresh veggies, ½ avocado + The Honeymooner juice on the side (see

juice recipe below)

 

Pre-Lunch

Drink 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar with full glass of water

Lunch

Summer Shrimp Salad (minus the honey in the dressing & only ½ mango)

Mid-Afternoon

Drink Dandelion Tea

Pre-Dinner

Drink 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar with full glass of water

Dinner

Quinoa and vegetable stir-fry (using coconut oil)

 

Day 3:

Rise + Shine

Drink warm water with lemon + dash of cayenne pepper

Breakfast

Something Blue smoothie (see recipe below)

Pre-Lunch

Drink 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar with full glass of water

Lunch

Zucchini noodle salad with grape tomatoes, avocado, fresh basil, sunflower seeds, olive oil, lemon, sea salt and pepper

Mid-Afternoon

Drink Dandelion Tea

Pre-Dinner

Drink 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar with full glass of water

Dinner

Jalapeno stuffed grass-fed burgers with baked sweet potato fries + side kale salad with olive oil and lemon dressing

 

Vanilla Chia Seed Pudding

Ingredients:

1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/4 cup chia seeds
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
½ tablespoon pure maple syrup grade B
1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients into a mixing bowl and stir well.

2. Cover the bowl with Saran Wrap.

3. Place in the refrigerator overnight.

4. In the morning, take out your chia pudding, top with fruit, berries, nuts, seeds or unsweetened coconut flakes & enjoy!

 

The Honeymooner Juice

Ingredients:

½ cup pineapple
1 cucumber
1 lemon
1 small apple (or ½ large apple)
2 large handfuls baby spinach
1 handful broccoli
5-6 sprigs cilantro

Directions:

1. Juice the pineapple, cucumber, lemon and apple first.

2. Next, juice the spinach, broccoli and cilantro.

3. Stir and serve.

 

Something Blue Smoothie

Ingredients:

1 cup unsweetened almond, coconut or cashew milk
½ banana
2 handfuls baby spinach
1 cup frozen blueberries
2 tbsp hemp seeds
1 tbsp flaxseed
1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Blend all ingredients together in a blender. Cheers!

 

Make sure and check out Kara’s blog and pinterest for more recipes!

Additional detox practices to add in:

Sweat it out: Exercise for 30-60 minutes at least 4-6 days out of the 10 days

Go for walks: Get some sunshine and fresh air

Take a Dead Sea Salt or Epsom Salt bath: You can also add in some lavender essential oil

Sleep: Aim to get 8-9 hours of sleep

Results: Your results will depend on how healthy and clean your diet was prior to beginning this detox and how much caffeine, sugar and alcohol you consume on a regular basis.

Side effects: With this being a gentle detox full of whole foods, you shouldn’t experience too many negative side effects. However, you may experience headaches due to caffeine or sugar withdrawal. If you do get a headache, drink lots of water, drink peppermint tea, dab peppermint oil on your temples or you can drink white or green tea to give you a little caffeine to help.

If you “mess up”: If you deviate from the detox for one meal or even one day, don’t beat yourself up, stay positive and just get right back on track. Don’t feel like you’ve ruined the whole thing, because you haven’t.

After you’ve completed the detox: Don’t indulge in everything you haven’t eaten all at once. Trust me, you do not want to do this. You will.not.feel.great! Slowly begin to add back in some of the things you enjoy, and if you find that you loved how you felt without, let’s say, gluten or added sugar, then continue leaving that out or eating a lot less.

If you have any medical conditions or are taking certain medications, make sure to check with your doctor before starting this detox.

 

Vendors

Detox + Recipes: Kara Stout
Photography: Charla Storey Photography
Florals + Styling: Wedfully Yours
Stationery: Pink Champagne Paper