Trust your body because it knows how to do incredible things.
Employee Wellness Health Coach and Dietitian Heather Wolfe, MPH, RDAfter weeks of eating, drinking and being merry, you might feel like your body needs a reset.
Post-holiday fatigue or malaise can come from a mix of stress, disrupted sleep and social overload.
But before you set unrealistic expectations or take part in social media detoxing trends, experts say there are healthier ways to start the new year.
“Your body is not broken. It doesn’t need to be fixed in January,” says Hannah K. Brilling, RD, a clinical dietitian at the Weight Center at Dartmouth Health’s Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC).
But you can start the new year on the right foot by using a gentler approach.
Reframe your thinking about a holiday detox
Experts say it’s common to feel guilty this time of year as our culture frames holiday eating, drinking and relaxation as “being bad.” It’s followed by an expectation to “fix” those behaviors in January.
That good-versus-bad mindset is reinforced on social media, which sends unhealthy messages about food and body size, and suggests that indulgence is a personal failure.
As you look ahead to the new year, forget about social media “detox trends” like drinking lemon water, intermittent fasting, juice fasts or getting a colon cleanse.
“A lot of these fads and cleanses risk us getting caught in this unhealthy psychological loop of, ‘If I just do this one thing, I’ll be better,’” says Dartmouth Health’s Employee Wellness Health Coach and Dietitian Heather Wolfe, MPH, RDN, LD, NBC-HWC.
Your body already has built-in systems, like the liver, kidneys, lungs and digestive system, that regulate and detoxify your body naturally. And experts say short periods of overeating during the holidays rarely cause harm.
“Trust your body because it knows how to do incredible things. We already have everything we need and are detoxing naturally every day, all the time,” Wolfe says.
As an example, fasting happens naturally every night when we sleep. Breakfast means “breaking the fast.”
But the message of detoxing naturally and other evidence-based health guidelines often get lost on social media.
In a 2024 survey by MyPal, a global nutrition and food-tracking app, 87% of millennial and Gen Z TikTok users said they get health advice from social media, even though only about 2% of it aligns with public health guidelines.
“Outside influences have made us question our own intuition about how our body works and its ability to cleanse itself,” says Dartmouth Health Psychologist Krystal E. Badillo Regan, PhD. “If you have kidneys and a liver, then you’re good. Your body is an amazing machine.”
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Think twice about resolutions
Starting and stopping diets can slow your metabolism and negatively affect your physical and mental health. So can setting unrealistic goals, like telling yourself you’re going to hit the gym every day to lose 10 pounds.
“So much about New Year’s resolutions has to do with weight, and that’s harmful,” Brilling says. “Instead, try to go to the gym to feel stronger, to benefit your mental health or because you want to live a healthier lifestyle.”
And rather than trying to overhaul everything on January 1, try choosing one manageable behavior at a time—such as drinking more water, walking once a week or simply showing up at the gym.
“Part of who we are as humans is to be goal-oriented,” says Sarah H. Finn, MD, section chief of Obesity Medicine at Dartmouth Health’s Walter and Carole Young Center for Digestive Health. “Making non-weight-based goals that focus on health behaviors is more sustainable.”
Try Dry January
If there’s one popular wellness trend worth exploring, experts say it’s “Dry January.”
Dry January is when you stop drinking alcohol for the first month of the year. Dry January began in 2012 as a public health initiative from Alcohol Change UK, a British charity.
“Cutting out alcohol even for a month can have noticeable health benefits,” Wolfe says.
A 2018 study found that regular drinkers who abstained from alcohol for a month saw improvements in insulin resistance, blood pressure, cholesterol levels, weight and cancer-related growth factors.
Taking a break from beer, wine and spirits can also shed light on your relationship with alcohol. It might reinforce how much better you feel when you don’t drink or reveal signs that you might need to seek substance abuse counseling.
“If it’s really challenging to not drink for 30 days, that might be something you want to examine more closely,” Regan says.
Take small steps and focus on values
Instead of a holiday detox, take small steps to build healthy habits that last.
“Ask yourself, ‘What lifestyle choices will support my body in the amazing work it does for me every day?’” Wolfe says.
Experts also suggest you consider January as an opportunity to shift away from external pressures to lose weight or set unrealistic goals. Instead, reconnect with your personal values.
“Values are these big overarching themes that guide your life and can guide your decisions,” Regan says. “You don’t achieve your values. They’re long term and in the distance.”
For example, don’t plan to walk every day just to burn calories or lose weight. Approach walking as a way to stay mobile as you age, so you can keep doing the things you love.
And if you join the gym in January, be patient with yourself, Regan says.
“By the end of next year, you will be a gym goer—and that will be part of who you are,” she says. “But you can’t get there on January 1. You’ve got to give yourself time.”
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