So you are just about done picking the New Year’s confetti out of your hair, but there is one sign of the holidays that is still lingering. That is your 5 pound weight gain. While you treasure your holiday memories, this was one memory you didn’t want to keep. Now what?
5 Tips To Avoid the Extra 5 Pounds during the Holidays:
1. Don’t Panic!
Stress is horrible for your body and will only serve to make those pounds difficult to lose. We secrete hormones during stress that actually help encourage our bodies to store fat. You had fun while gaining that weight, so just embrace it. While it should be gone soon enough, love yourself for who you are today.
In the meantime, try meditation or yoga. That should get you centered from the holiday craziness, ease your stress which is so important for weight loss and get your mind in the right place to tackle a healthy 2015
2. Supplement, Supplement, Supplement.
You likely missed out on a lot of vitamins and minerals while drinking and snacking your way through December. This is a good time to get a high quality multi-vitamin. When you are lacking one nutrient, the whole body can be thrown out of balance. This might also be a good time to add a probiotic supplement as well.
Probiotics contain the good bacteria that the digestive system needs to work properly. These often are lacking after eating lots of bad foods. A bacterial imbalance can make weight loss impossible so you want to fix that right away. Start with a low dose, maybe 1 billion cfus, as taking too high a dose for your body can cause tummy problems.
3. Sip Detox Tea.
All that partying and lack of nutrition probably made your poor liver tired. While drinking detox tea won’t wave a magic wand and make the holiday indulgences disappear, these teas do contain herbs which will support the cleansing process. When you have a toxin build up, you end up with inflammation that disrupts weight loss efforts.
Additionally, our fat cells store toxins. These toxins are released with weight loss when the fat cells disappear. As this happens, we need to support the liver in clearing toxins from our body or we will end of with more inflammation and new weight gain.
4. Dance.
Ok, you don’t need to literally dance. Just be realistic with yourself about what type of exercise plan you are likely to stick with. The gyms are packed in January with the well intentioned, but what percentage of people are still going by March? What exercise routine will match your fitness level and fit with your schedule long term?
Can you take a 20 minute (weather permitting) walk during lunch? Will you put on music for a half hour everyday and encourage your whole family to dance? What about having a youtube week where you try a different 20 minute exercise routine every day until you find one you like? Or maybe you want to purchase an online deal like a Groupon for an exercise class you’ve always wanted to try. Don’t just blindly start an exercise routine. Really evaluate what you can do that you will enjoy, have time for and stick with so that you do it long enough to see results.
5. Eat Whole Foods.
Many people end a time of indulgence by embarking on a fad diet. Resist the urge! The New Year is an opportunity for a fresh start. Don’t replicate that old and tired pattern of gaining weigh, quickly losing weight only to “fall of the wagon” and rebound. Give your body a chance to reset and cleanse from everything it has just been through. Stay away from canned, packaged, ready-made foods and spend time getting to know the fresh produce and fresh meat sections of your market.
These are the foods that should be your main focus for the next month which will nourish and balance the body.
– Good quality protein (lean chicken, turkey, sustainably raised fish)
– Whole grains and beans (quinoa, lentils, barley)
– Lots and lots of vegetable. You can’t eat enough vegetables right now,
– Healthy fats like coconut oil, avocado and nuts (in moderation)
– Fruit for desert
See a doctor before embarking on any new diet or exercise routine. And give it time. Diet shouldn’t just be a few weeks of starvation. You can experiment with different ways of keeping your mind, body and diet healthy so that you can look and feel fabulous throughout 2015!
