If your waistline is feeling the effects of your holiday binge, welcome to the club. Statistics show that the average person gains nearly one pound each holiday season.
The good news is that it is likely only one pound, not the five pounds many think they gain during the holidays. The bad news is that the weight often stays on, so it’s a pound this year, a pound next year, and another the next year . . . until you’re 10 or 20 pounds heavier.
Take heart. Your reckless eating can be a fleeting indiscretion. It’s time to concentrate on a strategy that puts you on track with a weight loss regimen that is not only good for the post holiday bulge, but for the pounds you can lose the remainder of the new year.
Studies show that people who gain the most weight during the holidays are those who are already overweight and who report being much less active or much hungrier during the holiday season.
The reason is simple. The hectic pace set during party time can mean foregoing exercising, and forgetting the importance of a balanced meal. Despite what many think, making a meal out of party food leaves you feeling as empty as when you started. That’s because party food is no substitute for good nutrition. It is a quick fix akin to lighting a sparkler. The flash gives instant gratification, but there is no fuel to sustain the afterglow.
With proper attention to what you eat, you can avoid being another statistic — the one that shows that most of us end the year nearly a pound and a half heavier (1.4 pounds) than we were the year before. By eating smart and by making up for the exercise eliminated during the holidays, you can shed the pound you gained and attack the ones you failed to lose last year, and the years before that.
Whether it’s post party season or not, the same rules apply. If you know you will be enjoying a lavish meal at the end of the day, don’t deprive yourself all day to make a withdrawal from the calorie bank that night. Starving yourself slows your metabolism, causing you to store fat, not lose it.
Instead, replace a meal or two with an all-natural, high quality multi-protein drink. The protein enters your blood stream quickly, stopping that hungry feeling and giving you the energy you need to hit the party circuit or make it through a day of carpools, errands or back-to-back meetings at the office.
If you approach the new year with a multi-protein drink and heed the following tips, you can overcome your holiday indiscretion and maybe even lose a few of the pounds you’ve been carrying around from years past. And when the season rolls around next year, you will be ready, because you will maintain better weight control throughout the year through sensible eating and simple lifestyle changes.
Slimming Strategies for the Year Ahead
1. Exercise a few hours before eating a big meal. It will boost your metabolism and your determination.
2. Avoid alcohol or restrict your consumption by having a glass of water between drinks.
3. Build an extra work out day into each week’s exercise regime.
4. When snacking, choose the lowest calorie options. Snack on raw veggies, but watch out for creamy dips.
5. Eat slowly and chew your food thoroughly. You’ll feel satisfied sooner.
6. After big eating events take a few days to go on a nutritious, low-calorie diet. Substituting a high-quality protein drink for one or two meals a day will ensure you get the protein and amino acids needed to keep your metabolism running smoothly and burning fat efficiently.
7. While watching television, keep your hands busy by knitting, filing your nails, or playing a game of solitaire. This avoids the need to munch.
8. When feeding the kids, serve only what you think they will eat. You can always offer seconds. A plate of leftovers can tempt you to finish what they did not.
9. If a co-worker brings cookies to your next meeting, take one and set it aside to savor when you return to your desk. It is too easy to lose track of how much you eat when your mind is on the agenda.
– Courtesy of ARA Content
