After a long weekend of indulging, it’s helpful to bring in some healthy habits to get your week off to a healthy start. This article will explain how to recover from the weekend and start your week off right.
If you’re feeling a bit sluggish after the weekend, or your digestion isn’t on point, then a “Monday Reset” plan can be a great way to help you feel your best and get back on track.
If you’re someone who could use a reset, continue reading to learn some tips on how to get back on track with healthy habits.
What is a Monday Reset?
The Monday Reset is a day of giving your body adequate and proper nourishment to get your system and nutrition habits back on track. It’s a nutrition plan that is designed to give your digestive system a break and help your body get back in balance.
It’ll help you feel better, may reduce bloat, and set you up for a healthy week where you can feel your best.
It’s important to not confuse the Monday reset for a “cleanse” or a “quick-fix” diet plan that is rooted in restriction. Because there’s no such thing as a quick-fix when it comes to nutrition.
Rather, it’s important to be gentle with your body and provide adequate nourishment to support your physical and mental health.
After a long weekend of indulging and eating differently than you might during the week, it may be tempting to restrict your food intake and embark on an elimination diet of sorts.
However, jumping to extremes with your nutrition may only interfere with your body’s natural hunger and fullness cues and can often exacerbate the binge-restrict cycle.
For example, a weekend of overeating may lead you to feeling like you need to “eat light” and cut out major food groups. Doing so might feel good temporarily, however, your body will then register the deprivation, leading to increased cravings and indulgences.
That’s why the Monday reset is not about restriction, but instead focuses on what you should add to your diet to help you feel your best.
How Does the Monday Reset Work?
While there may be many ways to reset your system after a weekend of indulging, here are some of the best ways to nourish yourself, according to science.
Here are the guidelines for the Monday reset plan:
1. Hydrate First Thing in the Morning (and Consistently Throughout the Day)
Be sure to drink water first thing in the morning. Starting your day with adequate hydration, and continuing to hydrate throughout the day is necessary for every body function.
Specifically, adequate hydration may help reduce blood pressure, dilute blood waste materials, and help protect kidney function. Most people should aim to drink at least 64 ounces of water daily (1).
2. Nourish Your Body with Protein and Fiber Every 3 Hours
Protein and fiber play key roles in supporting both satiety and optimizing gut health. What’s more, the combination of both of these nutrients helps stabilize and regulate blood sugar, which in turn plays a role in reducing inflammation and providing consistent energy levels.
Be sure to eat this combination of nutrients every three hours or so to ensure consistent energy and regulated blood sugar levels.
Research suggests that a regular meal pattern may reduce inflammation, improve circadian rhythms, and positively impact the gut bacteria (2).
3. Incorporate Probiotic Rich Foods
After a weekend of inadequate nutrition, a lack of nutrient-dense foods, excess sugar, and perhaps alcohol intake, the bacterial balance in the digestive system may be altered.
To help you feel your best it’s important to nourish the flora in your digestive tract. After all, the bacteria in the gut play a role in many other aspects of health such as energy levels, blood sugar, hormones, and more.
That’s why it’s important to incorporate plenty of probiotic rich foods to get your gut bacteria back in balance. Foods such as yogurt or kefir, kombucha, kimchi, or probiotic supplements can be helpful additions.
4. Add in Anti-Inflammatory and Antioxidant Rich Foods
A weekend of indulging may mean you’re consuming less foods that are high in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory ingredients. To get back on track and help your body feel it’s best, choose plenty of colorful foods like fruits and vegetables to get a hefty dose of antioxidants.
During every meal or snack, pay attention to the colors on your plate. Aim to get a variety of colors as different plant pigments provide a variety of powerful antioxidants.
After a weekend of sugar and alcohol, the body may have increased inflammation. However, by adding colorful, nutrient-dense fruit and vegetable superfoods, inflammation levels can decrease (3).
5. Set Mindfulness Intentions For the Week
Getting back on track is just as much mental as it is physical. Putting yourself in a positive and motivated headspace is perhaps just as important, if not more important, than fueling your body properly with good nutrition.
One way to get yourself in a reset headspace is to take the time to write down intentions for the week. Put them in a place where you can see them too, so you can be reminded of your intentions, which increases the chances that you’ll continue to strive for these goals.
While everyone’s intentions to get back on track might be different, some examples might be to meditate for 10 minutes daily, avoid screens within 60 minutes of going to sleep, and ensuring daily mindful movement.
6. Get Plenty of Rest (At Least 7 Hours)
Our body does a pretty good job at detoxing and recovering, if we treat it right. Perhaps the most important thing we can do for our body to rest and recover is to ensure adequate sleep.
People who get at least 7 hours of sleep each night tend to have more stable blood sugar, better energy levels, improved mood, and even lower levels of inflammation (4).
Example Monday Reset Plan
Before Breakfast
- Hydrating start: Start the day with a glass of water with lemon and ginger.
- Journal and reflect: Set time aside to think about and set intentions for the day.
- Mindful movement: Move your body in a way that feels good whether that’s some gentle yoga, a workout class, or going for a run.
- Fire up your system: Awaken your system with an energy wellness shot for a clean boost from green coffee beans.
Breakfast
- Super greens protein smoothie: Combine Naked Greens Superfood Powder with ½ a cup of frozen fruit, protein powder, along with any type of milk or coconut water.
Mid-Morning Reset Snack
-
Gut health chocolate shake: Combine Naked Gut with Chocolate Naked Whey or Naked Chocolate Pea Protein, along with ½ a cup of raspberries, a handful of spinach, and milk for a tasty snack that will provide protein to heal an overworked gut, as well as healthy fibers to nourish the gut lining.
- Continued hydration: Hydrate with 24 ounces of electrolyte water between breakfast and lunch by adding Nakedade electrolytes powder to your water.
Lunch
- Rainbow cabbage quinoa salad: Mix together red cabbage, shredded carrots, bell peppers, spinach, cashews, cooked quinoa with a spicy peanut dressing. Top the salad with a lean protein of your choice: chicken, salmon, shrimp, or tofu.
Afternoon Reset Snack
- Antioxidant boost: Continue fueling your body with antioxidants by adding another serving of Naked Greens. If you’re feeling hungry you can blend it with a protein powder and fruit of your choice. Otherwise, simply mix with water.
- Continued hydration: Hydrate with 24 ounces of electrolyte water between breakfast and lunch by adding Nakedade to your water.
Dinner
- Veggie and protein stir fry: Saute garlic, onions, broccoli, and eggplant in a bit of sesame oil. Pair the veggies with a lean protein source, a serving of brown rice or quinoa, and miso soup.
After Dinner
- Hydrating end: End the day with a glass of water with lemon and ginger to help soothe the digestive system.
- Restore and unwind: Take time to slow down at the end of the day by reading a book or listening to music. Try to turn off screens within an hour of going to sleep to help support a calm mind and restful night.
How to Stay on Track
It can be challenging to stay on track with a healthy routine, especially when the weekends and weekdays feel drastically different in terms of health habits and lifestyle.
Sometimes, the key to staying on track is not necessarily about willpower and restriction, but rather approaching health from a place of gentleness and compassion.
If you’ve had a more indulgent weekend, don’t beat yourself up by restricting too hardcore at the start of the week. This might only perpetuate the binge-restrict cycle that many people find themselves in. Rather, it’s a much more realistic and healthy approach to think about what you can add into your routine for a fresh start.
The Monday reset recommends nourishing your body with plenty of fluids, electrolytes, and important nutrients like protein and fiber to properly fuel your body. The addition of superfood supplements throughout the day is a way to provide your body with vitamins and minerals that maybe you missed out on over the weekend.
However, as with any practice or plan, it’s key to be consistent with your nutrition to effectively build habits and feel your best.
