Christmas is a time for family and festivities and that usually means eating and drinking more than usual.
No matter how dedicated we are to losing weight, Christmas time usually derails your plans.
Wouldn’t it be great to enjoy Christmas without putting on that extra festive weight?
Choose the right strategies to avoid weight gain at Christmas and avoid the wrong ones
Did you know that most of the strategies we employ to avoid weight gain are actually doing the opposite?
They call this the season of good will – but good will to who and to what? At this point, you should be looking at yourself being the who and the what are our stomachs. Over the next month or so we’re tempted to eat cakes, sweets, chocolates and other calorie-laden goodies at work, parties and those family and friends get-togethers.
As much as we try to keep from gaining weight, good old will power is seldom enough to stick to our plans. However, help is at hand! Below are some strategies which will help to keep the pounds off for Christmas.
Avoid missing breakfast and lunch so you can eat more at the party later on
This is not a good idea and this approach can backfire. By skipping breakfast, you eat more food than usual at the next meal, or nibble on high-calorie snacks to keep hunger at bay, not good.
What would make better sense would be to eat less food throughout the day of the party but don’t miss meals or starve yourself. If you try to starve yourself, you’ll go overboard with the eating once you get to the party.
While at the party try avoid eating empty calorie, such as sweets, crisps, chocolate fingers, processed foods, etc. Be mindful of what you are eating select healthy nutritious food choices, but there is no need to deprive yourself.
Fill your plate with salad or green leafy vegetables and add your protein, this could be chicken, fish, game meat, soya foods or tofu. If you fancy eating some nuts go for the walnut, brazil nuts and pecans, just leave the cashew and salted peanuts alone. This party eating plan will keep you fuller for longer the right way and help to keep you on track.
Keep up the gym and exercise sessions
Stop giving yourself the excuse that you’re too busy to exercise. With the Christmas season nearly upon us, the best way to avoid weight gain is to maintain some kind of exercise routine. Some form of exercise is better than nothing, even if a regular schedule cannot be met.
Most people want to feel better, have more energy and perhaps even live longer? Look no further than exercise.
When you exercise, you’re using calories at a much higher rate than if you’re just sitting down doing nothing. It’s hard to ignore the health benefits of regular exercise and physical activity. Taking the stairs instead of the lift or just go for a walk outside, to get more active throughout the day, can make a difference.
Regular exercise may help to curve your appetite so you actually eat less, sounds good. So find a physical activity you enjoy, and just do it!
Resist temptation – make your stand
You need to put your mind in the right place and think of the most important word: moderation.
There’s no point believing that you’ll be able to keep your fingers crossed and say that nothing bad will touch your lips through the holiday period. When you do indulge, don’t beat yourself up, try and take it easy or else you could be setting yourself up for failure and misery.
Avoid buying loads of unhealthy foods to have in the house, you’ll find the temptation hard to resist and are more likely to end up eating them yourself. For some people gaining weight over the festive period can really stress them out and that’s the last thing we want.
Therefore, to stop feeling left out, we might be tempted to throw caution to the wind, eat everything in sight and blame it all on Christmas. By taking a few reasonable precautions to reduce the effects of festive indulgence, you will feel a lot better about yourself.
Remember Christmas is about celebration and good will to man! You should enjoy yourself.
Alcohol – have drink and join in the party
We’ve all heard the phase – “one for the road”, and especially around the party season it can be hard to say ‘no’.
With friends and family get togethers, alcohol can be flowing steadily and freely without any control. Alcohol use in this environment is bad news for many reasons. Your ability to think clearly will diminish with every drink; this has a knock on effect by simply making you feel hungrier.
Each small glass of wine has at least 120 calories while a pint of beer will set you back 180 calories, and this kind of calorie intake can add up very quickly and sabotage our weight loss plan. Air on the side of caution; try to have a glass of water between each alcoholic drink. Think moderation, you can do it!
Alternatively, go for lower calorie options. A shot of vodka, whiskey, gin, tequila or other spirit mixed with a diet soft drink – such as Coke Zero or Pepsi Max – will only add between 60 and 75 calories.
Get plenty of sleep – don’t sacrifice it to stay up all night partying
This year, try not to be the life and soul of the party. Surprising facts indicate that not getting enough sleep has a link to weight gain and could stop weight loss.
For the party animals that stay up longer, there’s tendency to eat more. Not only does sleep loss appear to stimulate appetite, it also stimulates cravings for high-fat, high-carbohydrate foods. The combination of lack of sleep and craving for high carb foods at the festive time of year can wreak havoc to your strategy.
Know when to call it a night and get enough sleep. You’ll boost your energy levels, stop craving for high carb foods and improve your overall health.
Focus on the positives and accept it when things go wrong
The main point to get over is: do not stress yourself out, as this could lead to disappointment.
Christmas is only one part of the year. Each day may not go to plan, so try to focus on how much you’ve achieved. Dwelling on negativity is counterproductive; remember that this is a special time of year so enjoy it!
Quickly get back in shape in the new year
Getting back on the diet and exercise train following your Christmas and New Year’s excesses is the best way to get going again. And you can speed up the process with our fat loss treatments so you’ll be back to your best in no time!
