Lifestyle & Hobbies

The Chinese New Year festivities are well underway. By now, surely a significant majority of the Chinese in Singapore would have went through their fair share of visiting old family friends, exchanging well wishes and greetings, and if my Instagram feed is any reliable indicator, our Chinese friends have certainly been werking it in their newest shirts and dresses indeed!

Truly, Chinese New Year is one of the most anticipated annual celebrations for every Chinese, and amidst the excitement, the hype, and the joy, it is certainly little wonder why it’s the favourite time of the year for most of the Chinese.

That being said, it is undeniably easy to get caught up in the storm of the festival excitement, and many of us may have over-indulged in some of those delicious Ferrero Rochers or Love Letters, offered time and time again by a friendly relative or two.

Well, don’t fret too much about it! After all, Chinese New Year is a special occasion that happens only once each year, and if you think about it from another perspective, this is the only time that you’ll be able to get so much free food without guilt. Plus, everyone gains weight during Chinese New Year anyway – you’ll hardly be the exception.

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Indulge in junk food to your heart’s content for now, but perhaps not to the scary extent of eating yourself sick, that’s a definite no-no – we’ll worry about the weight gain and toxic build up after Chinese New Year. And perhaps, this article may come in handy then.

Through this article, you’ll learn 3 simple tricks to detox and cleanse your body of any harmful toxins without having to break your bank. Expensive juice cleanse regimes? The latest tea-tox trend that has been taking a toll on your wallet? With these affordable detox methods, you certainly won’t be needing any of those!

1. Drink more water!

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And by water, I mean water. For some who abhor plain water, or preferentially define your own terms of water, let me break it down for you. Boiled water, water fresh from the tap, mineral bottled water – yes, this is water. Your milk tea from Koi, apple juice from NTUC, or your can of Coke – darling, these are certainly not water! While it may be easy to assume that simply drinking liquid – no matter what form, sugared or not, is sufficient to fill your daily water uptake requirement, the truth is that they really aren’t! In fact, the additional sugar, syrup and other preservatives added into such flavoured drinks are more often than not, one of the causes that contribute to dehydration, particularly in sunny and humid Singapore. To get rid of those toxins from all the excessive Chinese New Year goodies that you’ve been popping into your mouth, you’ll have to up your plain water drinking game if you truly want to give yourself a good detox.

After all, water has a remarkable ability of flushing out the toxins from your body in a simple, yet affordable way. All you need is to habitually get yourself a mug of plain water from the tap every hour or so, or perhaps bring a large bottle to your workplace for frequent refills at the water dispenser, and you’ll be well on your way to a more hydrated system, and a body that will naturally rid itself of any toxins that have been building up. Frequent cups of plain water will certainly prove to be particularly useful when the toxins in your body begin to accumulate, and return to haunt you in the form of a scratchy throat, or an aching dry cough after you’ve had one too many slices of Bak Kwa.

Not to mention, drinking more water is certainly very easy on the wallet as well. As long as your taste buds do not have a haughty ache for only well-packaged mineral water, drinking more water from the tap comes only at a marginal addition to your bills!

2. Reward yourself with a home made juice blend

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To cleanse your body and simultaneously give your immune system a quick boost, opt for an affordable option of making your own home made juice blend! While laziness and procrastination may compel you to simply pop over to that snazzy new smoothie bar for your juice fix, a cup can set you back a surprising 6 to 8 bucks easily. Not to mention, more often than not, these juice shops tend to add in a spoon or two of sugar or syrup, to keep you coming back for more. Ever wondered why your home made juice blends never taste quite as good as the ones sold outside? Well, this is the reason – the added syrup sweetens up your drink, and while this makes your cup of blended juice much more palatable, you’re left wondering about how much sugar has actually been added, and the extent of detox help you’re truly gaining from that cup.

Save yourself from the uncertainties, and make your own juice blends at home instead! This way, you’ll be able to determine what fruits and vegetables you wish to add into your own custom blend, without having to fret over whether your desired blend is on the menu. Plus, you’ll get to save much more, as each blend can easily serve up to three or four cups, and you can simply refrigerate any extra cups for consumption at night. This is in stark comparison to the $6 that you’re shelling off for a paltry cup of blended juice found in malls.

To pack an extra detox punch to your own home made juice blend, make sure you pop in some of the following fruits and vegetables to your blender. Cucumbers, carrots, celeries, oranges, cranberries, blueberries, lemons, and pomegranates often contain high contents of anti-oxidants and vitamins, which can help in cleansing your body of any unnecessary toxins that have been building up. For the junk food gourmet, a custom juice blend containing some of such fruits and vegetables will certainly have an immensely beneficial impact on your health, as the power-packed juice will help to give your body a thorough detox.

If you have a sweet tooth, balance out the portions of fruits and vegetables in each blend, to keep your cup of home made juice sufficiently tasty for yourself.

3. Cleanse it out with a good sweat!

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Indeed, it can be quite a chore for those who are unaccustomed to working out frequently, but a good round of exercise can certainly do wonders in cleansing your body of those ill toxins that will eventually make you sick!

Go for a quick round of exercise once every two to three days to get your sweat glands working, and ensure that you perspire sufficiently to shed off toxins and fats. Each round of exercise does not have to take very long – just 30 minutes to 45 minutes of such regular sessions every alternate day would be good enough to give yourself a good, healthy detox. Not to mention, regular exercise is undeniably the tried and tested way to lose that extra tyre around your waist! What better way to lose off the weight gained from chomping on too much Chinese New Year goodies? Through sweating it out, you’ll be able to not only lose the additional pounds that you’ve gained of late, but also give your body an affordable detox to stay healthy and make sure that you stay on top of the game!

To cut costs, opt for a simple run around your neighbourhood, or perhaps around the CBD during your lunch break at work. After all, jogging is free, and it helps you to sweat out the bad stuff really effectively.

This is certainly a preferred option as compared to taking up expensive gym courses or signing on for exorbitant yoga sessions that can set you back $50 an hour easily. While these options may seem like the trendiest path to take these days, it is important to keep in mind that they’re not exactly the best financial decisions to make. After all, the end goal in mind is simply to detox your body – surely it doesn’t matter whether your chosen mode of exercise is Instagram-worthy or not, right?

Get your running shoes ready! Though Chinese New Year has yet to come to an end, it won’t be long before the festivities and excitement die down, and we’ll be brought down to the frenzy of desperately trying to lose the extra weight gained, and detoxifying our bodies of the scrumptious but oh-so-sinful Love Letters, Almond Cookies, and crackers alike that we’ve all unwittingly ingested amidst the Chinese New Year hype.

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