Christmas holidays—wonderful time spent with family and friends while being surrounded by tons of various delicious foods you simply cannot refuse. Many claim that the holidays are a time of indulgence and we completely agree with that, but what about your body? Have you been stuffing yourself with food beyond any reasonable measure? How are you going to undo the damage and get back on track? Have no worries, we might be able to help you with our tips.
Meal schedule. Eating on schedule maximizes your metabolism, levels out your appetite and regulates your blood sugar and insulin levels. Therefore, you should eat breakfast within an hour of waking up and then eat again every three to five hours. Of course, eating on schedule means nothing if you only eat junk food. Do not cut back too much because starving yourself will backfire. If you cut back, your body will start to conserve energy and therefore burn fewer calories. To make things even worse, cutting back way too much will make you lose muscle mass and it will also slow down your metabolism.
Water intake. This may be common knowledge, but proper water intake helps regulate and optimize your metabolism. On top of that, various studies claim that drinking more water actually suppresses appetite and food cravings. Water rids you of excess sodium, making you de-bloat faster and it kick-starts your digestive system which directly relieves constipation. How much water do you need to drink on a daily basis? Go for 2 to 2.5 liters i.e. 8 to 10 cups.
Exercise routine comeback. It is normal that you feel out of shape after a period of indulgence and little to no exercise. But, you cannot get back to your standard exercising routine right away. You have to take things slowly. Start with shorter training sessions and low-intensity exercises. Then bump up the intensity and duration of the sessions over the course of time. And you should know that there are no magical supplements that will rid you of excess weight. Feel free to try the appetite-suppressing weight loss supplements, but you have to work out on a regular basis too. Without exercise, you won’t achieve anything. You definitely shouldn’t push too hard immediately because that significantly increases the risk of injury.
Active lifestyle. It doesn’t matter whether you are regular at the gym or not, daily activities are something you should do no matter what. You don’t have to push yourself if you don’t want to. Going for a walk is a daily activity. Health professionals worldwide recommend we take 10,000 steps each day! And let’s be honest, majority of us don’t even come close to that goal. But, this goal can be easily achieved through short walks. Once you start this habit of being active on a daily basis, things get easier and you stop seeing these walks and hikes as burdens. If you want to kick things up a notch, you can even find an outdoor gym and do something more challenging.
Fridge organization. Put those holiday cookies away, hide them in the back of the fridge and put those veggies and fruit up front. You’ll be less tempted to eat them if you can’t see them. On the other hand, that healthy food will be within the reach and you’ll have easy access to it. You should also stock up on healthy foods. When you get over with those holiday leftovers that are nothing but junk food switch to high-fiber veggies and foods rich in lean protein. We aren’t saying that you should dispose of all the good stuff, but you have to start getting rid of it as soon as possible.
Stop thinking about that delicious holiday food and start the comeback! Damage can be undone and with our tips, you’ll be back on track in no time.
Photo by Jacob Postuma
Luke Douglas
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