Doing your best to stay in shape only to find yourself letting go during any holiday season can be quite frustrating. Once the festive period is done, it’s back to the gym and the cycle continues. Getting rid of unwanted weight can be very difficult, and the last thing you need is to put your body through that constant cycle. It is easier when you take the necessary precautionary measures; that includes trying to avoid excessive weight gain in the first place. Are you scared of facing your mirror again when the festive period is over? Here are some effective ways to put an end to the holiday weight gain issue.
Watch your portion sizes
The longer the holiday, the more likely you are to eat more. During such periods, the abundance (or overabundance) of hearty meals, snacks, and pastries means that you may have more on your plate than usual. The best thing to do in this case is to watch your portion sizes. Start by serving your meals with smaller plates and use your best judgment to decide how much is too much.
If controlling your eating habits or food portions is too challenging, you can adopt more drastic measures going forward. For example, if you’re struggling with obesity, you can opt for gastric bypass surgery to make your stomach smaller.
If weight loss feels like a never-ending problem, you may also want to consider liposuction surgery. But first, it is important to speak with your doctor or do some research to find out who is a candidate for liposuction.
Plan in advance
A spontaneous eating habit is an enemy of weight loss. If your first move is to reach for something yummy whenever you’re hungry, managing your food intake during the festive season can be very difficult. So, instead of binge eating and consuming anything on impulse, plan your meals. For example, you can add a healthy amount of veggies to your meals to help you consume less unhealthy foods.
Also, if you have a weakness for wine, look for alternative or healthy beverages instead and stock up on those. You should also ensure that you drink loads of water during the day, as this also helps take care of some of the unhealthy cravings.
Remain active
With the current state of affairs (the coronavirus and the subsequent quarantine measures), it is easy to turn into a couch potato during the holidays. A sedentary lifestyle is more than enough to attract some extra unintentional weight gain. When you add an unhealthy eating lifestyle to it, you may be making it very difficult for your body to look or feel healthy.
Therefore, it is essential to remain as active as possible throughout the season. Do your best to exercise from home as often as necessary if visiting the gym is not an option. You can also try going out for walks or even signing up for a community event where possible.
Combine an active lifestyle with proper meal plans, and you can curb the holiday weight gain issue.
Eat to savor, not to overindulge
Sometimes, adopting strict diet plans can take the fun out of the festive season. After all, what is a holiday season without some cakes, drinks, and other yummies? So, the idea here is not to stay away from everything tasty during the holidays, but rather to ensure that you do not overindulge. There’s no need to change what you eat, but instead how you eat.
We have already mentioned the importance of serving smaller portions and planning your meals in advance. Aside from those options, avoid eating at the wrong hours, especially late-night snacking. That is one of the best ways of making sure that you do not also end up gaining unhealthy weight during the holiday.
Control your stress levels
If you tend to eat a lot when you’re stressed or depressed, you should make sure that you control your stress levels. Unfortunately, keeping up with the demands of the holiday period can be pretty stressful - from cooking for large gatherings to dealing with annoying delays. High levels of stress may force you to eat more than you should because of the cortisol hormone released during stressful situations. This has been linked with greater food consumption, and therefore, weight gain.
Also, ensure that you give your body enough time to rest and stay away from situations that can drain you emotionally.
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