During the past six months we have been too much about the dumplings and other forms of toasty, heavy comfort food. Sure, we all needed the warm hug that only carbs can provide, but now is the time to regain the moral high ground over your needy, animalistic instincts. This is my guide to detoxing deliciously!

BREAKING THE DARK SPELL

If you struggle with the idea of abstinence – after all, we’re talking about nothing less than rewiring ancient neural pathways that promise rewards from things that are fundamentally bad for you – try to focus on the “why” you are compelled to eat that chocolate cake or slice of pizza. It’s not like you don’t know how it tastes. Be curious about the emotions you’re feeling. You will be amazed at how often temptation evaporates when you stare it down.

POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT

Reward yourself with a frozen strawberry, a ripe feijoa, a square of dark chocolate, or a handful of smoked almonds. Learn to delude yourself that these are treats. You are taking back control of your life from your addicted posterior cingulate cortex. That’s the bit of the brain that makes you do these bad things again and again.

START WITH A GLASS OF WATER AND LEMON, OR A CAP OF CIDER

No, this won’t help “alkalise your system”. Research says the pH of your blood or cells cannot be altered by what you eat, no matter what some random, smiling, sparkly unqualified health blogger tells you. It won’t even “jump-start your metabolism”, but it does contain flavonoids that have been linked to improving blood circulation and insulin sensitivity, and that reduces oxidative stress and damage. But more importantly, a nice glass of acidulated water will remind you of your commitment to eating better for the rest of the day.

DRINK PLENTY OF WATER OVER THE COURSE OF THE DAY

That first glass of water will be one of many throughout the day. Drink more water and you will find your eyes get brighter, and – weird but true – you will yawn a lot less. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in the US recommends 3.7 litres a day of fluids for men and 2.7 litres of fluids per day for women. So fill up three one-litre bottles daily and put them in the fridge as a target.

FAST – OR DON’T

These two churches of diet lore still can’t agree on which approach is best, so it’s a matter of what works better for you here. It’s your call whether to fast or keep your metabolism going by eating little meals or snacks six times a day. What I’m not in favour of is an extended unsupervised VLCD (those very low-calorie diets that received bad publicity overseas because people died). But intermittent fasting, such as the 5:2 diet, where you restrict calories on only two days, seems to have a positive impact on reducing consumption across the entire seven-day cycle for many.

CUT THE JUNK

The important thing is everyone who promotes a diet seems to agree that you should cut out the white, processed foods and sugar to eat better. It also seems that just thinking about what we are putting in our body can make us change our bad behaviours. There is a big world of healthy and tasty out there, but you need to come to terms with the fact that mayonnaise-sodden chip butties, cartons of iced coffee and hot chocolate fudge sundaes will remain as only “sometimes” foods.

MAKE FRIENDS WITH SALAD

One of the major stumbling blocks to stepping away from the carbohydrate excesses of the past few months is to find recipes you want to cook or dishes you, your friends and family want to eat. You’ll find about 1792 healthy or healthy-ish recipes to tempt you at delicious.com.au. Might I suggest that you start there? Many of them can be made in under 30 minutes.

FORGIVE YOURSELF

When you lapse, and you will lapse, don’t beat yourself up. Just focus on eating right for the next five days to make up for it. You can always make up for it.

Also, if and when you feel tempted, just rationally ask yourself if you really want that object of your desire. The answer when we pause and make a more careful assessment is often “no”.

If you do succumb, savour it, enjoy it and stay present in that moment so that you can appreciate your treat and don’t end up overdoing it – where that one scoop of Chubby Hubby becomes six, or that slice of pizza becomes the whole box.

OH, AND DON’T FORGET TO GET OUT AND EXERCISE A BIT, TOO

We know “you can never out-train a bad diet”, so just make the effort to eat less and more sensibly. You will also feel better if you get out and about, if current restrictions allow, to elevate your heart rate safely.