The Post Two-Month-Vacation Diet

If you follow me on Instagram, or have been reading the scattered holiday posts, you will know that I'm at the end of a two month holiday. Having spent a month in London, skirting by on a the Pound and spending my money on vegan Ben & Jerrys or any Soy yoghurt I could find, and then a month between Vietnam and Bali- where if I wasn't eating a luxe brunch, it was pot noodles and fried rice. Overall, my nutrition has taken a slight dive since hopping on my flight two months ago- and after these two months of relaxing my diet and enjoying myself and my food (as I should on holiday), I need a kick in the butt and a restart button. And so I introduce to you, my post vacation 'cleanse'.

Originally I was going to do a juice cleanse for three days but I am actually entirely against those, on principle (you have actual internal organs that are solely dedicated to detoxing your body daily- kale juice isn't going to help). So instead I'm dong a system reboot. The cleanse can be done over a week but can really go on longer if you think it's necessary. I'm going to aim for 5-10 days, hoping to hit the one week marker and feel refreshed.

It's not drastic. I've just been between overly processed, oily and salty food, and over indulging on poached egg breakfasts. My appetite has stretched and my tastebuds need a refresher course on what broccoli even is anymore. And so I introduce; the rules.

1. I don't often agree with the intermittent fasting fad. But I will admit that I've been eating too late at night and waking up to head to massive brunch feasts. So I'm going to implement the in-between fasting. Instead of the 16/8 split, I'm doing to 14/10 split- 14 hours of fasting (8pm-10am) and a ten hour window to eat. That gives my body enough time to digest anything consumed during the day and start it off fresh each breakfast.

2. If you know me, you know I do not drink enough water. And being in a part of the world where 28 degrees is a cold day- my body has passed the era of dehydration and just accepted this as its natural state. I've been drinking water. But not enough for the amount of walking I've been doing, let alone the heat. So with the fasting, I'm going to up the water intake. I know one is essentially supposed to drink 2.5-3L a day, but like I said- I don't really drink a lot, so 2L is a huge amount for me and I'd like to just start with baby steps thank you.

3. Nasi Goreng, Mie Goreng, fried tofu, tempe satays- all super oily, salty, and covered in sauces and flavours. All so delicious and cheap enough for a budget holiday, but not ideal for someone who eats a largely wholefoods based diet. I've been pretty good at cutting down my salt intake, I will admit. But going home, I'm going to focus on no salt, no sauces, minimum oil, and no added sweeteners on/in anything. This way my tastebuds really do get a factory reset and I can stop adding a Dead Seas worth of salt to my pasta. Grains on the other hand- not a permanent adjustment, just a readjustment after having avo toast almost every morning and pasta/noodles most evenings. I'm telling you people- we've been eating out every day and I can officially say, I'm over it!

4. This ties in with the previous point- I need more fresh fruit and vegetables! I love a good stir fry- but give me some steamed broccoli and I will kiss your feet right here. Sounds so lame- but when you aren't able to just chuck a whole bunch of mixed veg into the oven and eat them all for the dinner- you really start to miss those suckers.

The breakdown;

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Like I said before, I don't believe in detoxes. But my body really needs a reboot and frankly- I'm missing fresh, natural food. Don't get me wrong, the food here is incredible and we have been eating at really healthy places. But sometimes you just want a bowl of roasted cauliflower and chickpeas, and that's the home comfort I'm missing. And I just need to get back into the routine of cooking myself actual food, because it's been a while.

If you're looking for a reset after a holiday, after exams, or even after a wild weekend of partying- I highly recommend this. You don't necessarily have to do it for a full week, even three days will be enough, and I can promise- you'll feel very refreshed.

Have a lovely day x