The holidays are now a hat’s throw away – more and more things are getting ticked off the list, the festive decorations make your house a Winter Wonderland and coming home from work feels ever more cosy. But at this time of the year you’re basically working two jobs – your regular 9-5 and the family Holidays organizer. And I bet you either forgot or didn’t have time to plan active family days-out or to create new healthier recipes. Not to worry, your weight loss doesn’t have to be compromised. Below you have a list of 4 things you can do on the day and after the holidays to support your weight loss in Brooksville.

Don’t starve yourself and then overeat

You ate a lot of gingerbread cookies, festive delicacies and your favourite desserts – and it’s only lunch time. You’ve let yourself go and the only thing you think you can do to salvage your waistline is stop eating for the day. But saying no to all those foods you took days to prepare gets harder and harder, so you eventually crack and do the overeating thing again. We’ve all been there.

Instead of falling for that misleading tactic this year, try this:

• Eat smaller portions of everything that you want to eat.
• Drink a lot of liquids – this will fill your stomach and reduce cravings.
• Keep yourself busy to avoid eating out of boredom.
• When chatting try to sit in a place where the food is out of your view.
• Value food in terms of how much you will have to exercise or diet later to burn it off, not in terms of how much you want it now – you can have more of this food tomorrow.

To find out more ideas for tricking your body into avoiding overeating and ignoring cravings IN A HEALTHY WAY contact our Hernando Beach Dietitian in Brooksville.

Embrace your boosted metabolism

“Holidays” and “overeating” have almost become synonymous. And this does not have to hinder your weight  loss goals. Our  Hernando Beach Dietitian says that starvation diets slow down your metabolism, which in long term is not effective. Initially you will lose weight, but then your body will go into “starvation mode” meaning that it will start storing fat and burn less calories – getting your metabolism back up is difficult. Hence, embrace the fact that you have eaten a lot. Accept this cheat-day period, it will increase your metabolism, thus aid your weight loss in the future. WIN:WIN!

Alcoholic drinks destroy your weight loss goals

When having an alcoholic drink their calorific value barely ever crosses our minds. But the calories in alcoholic drinks are extra-fattening because they are made by fermenting and distilling natural starch and sugar, which are already almost as calorific as pure fat. They also contain no nutritional value (no vitamins or minerals) and disrupts our normal fat burning abilities as your body will focus on removing the alcohol rather than burning fat. Therefore, you should limit their consumption or at least opt for the less calorific options.

Here is a list of some popular alcoholic beverages and their calorific value (kcal) per 100ml:

Dry red wine: 65 kcal

Medium-dry white wine: 70 kcal

Champagne: 126 kcal

Martini: 175 kcal

Southern Comfort: 184 kcal

Brandy: 220 kcal

Source: https://www.disabled-world.com/calculators-charts/alcohol-calories-chart.php

Go back to your diet – don’t overcompensate

As we have mentioned earlier, embrace this festive cheat-day, or cheat-week even. Accept that it has happened and move on – don’t stress over it. Go back to your normal diet plan that you were carrying out before the holidays. If you try to lose all the weight you have gained in an extremely short period of time it will either not be successful because you will shortly go into “starvation mode” or it will not work at all because it is not the appropriate weight loss method for you. As a result, you will make yourself suffer  to see mediocre results that will cause you to feel miserable, upset and angry.

However, use it as motivation to stick to your personalised weight loss plan – and with your now boosted metabolism weight loss in Brooksville will come easier to you. Sticking to your personalised weight loss plan is crucial as it was designed specifically for YOUR body and mind in order to optimise your weight loss. To create an optimal weight loss plan for you get in touch with our Hernando Beach Dietitian.

Remember, to enjoy yourself this Holiday season. There is no reason to restrict yourself from all the festivities in order to achieve your weight loss goals –  follow this list and you will be just fine.

Happy Holidays!

The material contained on this site is for informational purposes only and DOES NOT CONSTITUTE THE PROVIDING OF MEDICAL ADVICE, and is not intended to be a substitute for independent professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment.  Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions or concerns you may have regarding your health.