Overindulged? My 3 Favorite Detox Soups for Post-Holiday Repair

Over the years I have developed little tricks that have turned into healthy habits that have become second nature.  Which is the journey of becoming a Woman Who Eats Well.  

And over the last few weeks, we’ve been working on how to handle the holidays better. How to approach them like Women Who Eat Well and what it could and should look like.

How easy it is to navigate.

But what happens when you even the best laid plans get thwarted? What happens if we indulge a little too much?

What happens when we eat too much flour, sugar, seed oils or alcohol? Are we destined to feel sluggish, bloated, puffy and heavy forever?  Is there a easy way to get our metabolism back as soon as possible?

Can we refresh or repair the damage we’ve done?

Yes! Yes we can! Damage can always be repaired! No matter how big or small.

When it comes to cleansing or refreshing our metabolism after a brief indulgence in flour, sugar, seed oils, or alcohol, we don’t actually have to do much!

I have an easy and simple restoration ritual that I do after traveling or holidays that includes a few secret weapons.

I’m going to share my ritual and secret weapons with you!

We don’t need to buy a special 30-day themed cleansing kit.

We don’t need to buy expensive live detox supplements.

We don’t need to buy special green powders.

We just need to support our natural cleansing process that our body knows how to do already.

And the best way to do that is to cook clean recipes at home and sleep.

I mean it! 

It sounds to simple to work, but it’s not!

Let’s dive into my secret weapons and then I’ll share the whole ritual.

My first secret weapon is fiber.  And I like to use lentils for this.  Lentils are cheap and easy to add to any soup and add so much nutritional value and fiber per penny.  Lentils are an excellent source of B vitamins, iron, magnesium, potassium, and zinc and contain a broad range of beneficial plant compounds called phytochemicals. But the thing I love most about lentils is their fiber. Lentils are high in both soluble and insoluble fiber. They are also high in pre-biotic fiber, the food for our good bugs.  The healthy bacteria in our digestive tracts are called probiotics.  They eat fiber from our food they we call prebiotics.  Lentils help restore our natural good gut flora and sweep out damaged and sloughed intestinal cells and help us restore good bowel movements after traveling.

Cleaning out and restoring the health of our gastrointestinal tract is job #1!  All health stems from our GI tract’s ability to absorb good stuff and keep bad stuff out.

Next up is a little liver cleansing.  Now, to be absolutely clear: your liver can clease itself. It doesn’t need you to do anything except not throw trash and junk at it.  Your liver is the cleanser of itself.

But sometimes, compounds in natural whole foods can help support your liver in it’s efforts.  Foods like garlic and onions, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, tomatoes and peppers. [1, 2]

Also, you liver needs a little “me” time. Time when it is not processing food, especially sugars, seed oils, and alcohol.  Your body needs a little fasting after feasting.  And the reason is so that your liver can clean out any fatty deposits made, repair damage done by alcohol and clean out some of the glycogen it stored when we ate so flour and sugar. 

So my full return to health ritual looks a bit like this:

1. Two cups of plain, unflavored green tea.
2. Push breakfast back until 9 or 10am.
3. Cook big batches of my nourishing soups.
4. Very intent on no sugar, no flour, no alcohol for 7 days.
5. Sleep for 8-10 hours.

You can do this ritual too!

I’ve written several blog posts and videos on green tea that you can see HERE.  

And today I’m going to shar with you my three favorite detox soup recipes.

The first recipe is Red Lentil Masala Soup. This has it all! Cruciferoius vegetables, turmeric, lentils, coconut milk, olive oil, onions and garlic. The whole works!  The recipe calls for a spice mix called Garam Masala. Garam Masala can be bought at the grocery store premixed or you can make it yourself by mixing cumin, coriander, cardamom, pepper, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg in a bowl.  It’s absolutely delicious.

The next recipe is Turmeric & Ginger Butternut Squash Soup. This is my husbands favorite.  He loves ginger.  This soup is packed with vitamin A to help search and destroy all the damaging free radicals from eating processed foods and out at restaurants.

And last but not least, my kids’ facorite soup: Tomato, Roasted Red Pepper & Lentil Soup.  I triple this recipe so we have enough for leftovers.  I serve this with sharp cheddar cheese or brie at the table. 

So if you are feeling the need to refresh and renew your body after a few too many holiday indulgences, I highly recommend making big batches of soup, drinking lots of green tea and getting lots of sleep!

Alright, everyone, super fun one today.

If you want more recipes, I have over 200 amazing and healthy recipes in the Freese Method 12-Week Online Group Coaching Progam.  In the program you will receive six, full color 7-day meal plans plus access to my ever growing collection of bonus recipe booklets including 3 years of Holiday Recipe Booklets, Slow-Cooker Recipe Booklet, my Plant-Based Recipe Booklet, My Clean Sauces, Dips, and Dressings Booklet, and my full Recipe Index!  You will never run out of inspiration!

Remember, you absolutely have what it takes to lose weight, achieve glowing health, and never gain weight over the holidays, we just need to repair your metabolism first with the Freese Method.