The festive season is the time to put your diet control plan on the shelf. It’s time to indulge in some food cheating. During the holiday season, people tend to overdo everything. More shopping, more enjoyment, more gifting, more decorating, and, most importantly, more eating. Festive season indicates happiness and joys and hence not maintaining the restrictions is quite okay.
However, by the time the festive season gets over, you will notice that you have gained couple of kilograms in your body weight. That skinny jeans which fitted you so well is getting difficult to get into. It is at these times you feel that wish you could have eaten less or not binged on fast foods, snacks and sweets.
But now that you have gained that excess weight, it is time that you take efforts and shed it off in the best way possible. For that, you do not have to exert yourself much. There are some simple ways in which you can lose excess weight after the festive season. Read on to know more:
1. Set realistic weight loss targets – Do not settle for unrealistic and absurd weight loss targets after the festive season. Take the target on week basis and observe the results in the same. Top and leading weight loss programs advocate stopping the weight loss process after some initial weight is lost. This weight should be maintained for few months and even if that seems more then further steps can be taken. Setting realistic weight loss targets is always very important so that you do the right things at the right time.
2. Do not skip meals to lose weight – It is true that your binge eating has led to stuffing of calories in the festive days. In order to compensate for that, many people think of skipping meals so that no more calories are added to the body. But skipping the meals will only increase your problem instead of decreasing it. Skipping meals will make you hungry and you will again eat more to satiate your hunger. Instead, try having a healthy eating regimen so that your appetite is satisfied all throughout the day and you have the right balance of nutrients as well.
3. Avoid eating flour – White stuff refers to refined flour in the diet. It is recommended to reduce or even better stop taking white bread, bagels and crackers from your diet. Refined white flour contains extra sugar and salt and thus it tends to hold a lot of water in the body. This water has considerable weight and once you get rid of the water, you will feel that the energy levels in the body have shot up significantly. This difference in the body weight can be felt in a very short span of time, say 48 hours or so.
4. Go for dark chocolate – Yes, you heard it absolutely correctly. You can eat dark chocolate for reducing weight. If you have a sweet tooth and crave for something sweet, try two squares of dark chocolate during such times. You have to repeat the process five days in the week. You will be able to lose 600 calories of energy in the week, which is quite a huge figure. Dark chocolate has many more other benefits for the body. Along with keeping the body healthy, dark chocolate helps in boosting the mood considerably.
5. Drink more water – Water is a wonderful treatment for many problems and comes with no side effects whatsoever. There are many times that people think that they are hungry, but actually they are thirsty. Thirst is mistaken for hunger. If you feel hungry, try drinking some water. Water helps in making one feel full. It is recommended to drink some water before sitting for a meal. This will help in consuming less calories. Moreover, water helps in flushing out the harmful substances and toxins from the system completely and keeps you fresh and healthy.
6. Be on your feet for some time in the day – When you are sitting and working may be, you burn 100 calories per hour. But if you do the same work standing, you burn almost 140 calories of energy. Therefore it is highly recommended to be on your feet for few hours in the day to burn more calories. By the end of the week, you would have burned up quite a significant amount of calories by just being on your feet. If you have a sedentary work, taking walking/standing breaks will minimize risks of heart ailments, some kinds of cancers and even anxiety and depression.
7.Say bye to soda by all means – This is a great time for giving up soda from your life. There are many reasons for the same. Sugar-sweetened beverages like soda lead to varieties of health problems like diabetes, tooth decay and poor bone health. Artificial sweeteners trigger insulin, which could be a great reason for weight gain. Glass of water is the best replacement for 12-ounce soda can and continue this for a week. You will be able to cut 980 calories.
8. Do some physical exercise – This is very important when you are looking to lose weight after the festive season. Running has proved to be one of the best exercises for getting rid of that excess weight from the body. A quick jog every day for an hour is great. If you don’t manage time for the running or do not like the same, try using the stairs for getting up and down in your home and even in office. Lots of calories are burnt in using the stairs.
9. Try snacking smartly – Smart snacking is very important for keeping weight under control. If you are looking for a healthy snacking option, try hummus with crunchy slices of red bell pepper. This vegetable is a filled with fiber and an excellent source of essential vitamins like vitamin A, C and K. You will cut almost 135 calories. Try this snack four times in a week and you will end up burning almost 550 calories.
10. Include lots of fresh fruits and vegetables in the diet – This is probably the most common suggestion, which is provided by every dietician for people who are looking to lose weight effectively. These food items not only make one feel fuller for a long time due to high fiber content, but also provide the essential nutrients for proper functioning of the body. You can cook the vegetables or even make tasty salads.