You may feel bloated up until now and you’re tempted to skip a few meals just to compensate for the things you ate during the holidays. Whether if it was healthy food or not, we’re guilty of eating more than our usual portions during the holidays. But you shouldn’t beat yourself up for this weight gain because it’s definitely reversible and you can always do something about it.
No Leftovers
Keeping your holiday leftovers in the fridge will cause you to keep on eating the things that just made you gain weight. Plus the fact that you’re trying to consume the leftovers as soon as possible before it goes stale, it will cause you to eat more instead of less. Let everyone have their take-home! Distribute all those food to your family and friends in healthy portions. (You don’t want to let them be unhealthy while you’re on your way to a healthier journey, right?)
Get Moving
Whether you like it or not, exercising or a few minutes of walking around can burn all those calories that you ate. If you can’t fit a full-on exercise routine into your day, just make sure that you move around more. Whether it’s going up and down the stairs twice as much, a little stretching here and there while cooking, or dancing while you’re in the shower, just get yourself moving! Don’t settle for any kind of excuse to keep you going. The more excuses you make for yourself, the more you’ll be less motivated to go back to a healthy lifestyle.
Stay Hydrated
Water can help your body flush out the bad stuff you ate during the holidays, making it easier for you to transition back to a healthy lifestyle. According to scientific studies, thirst can sometimes be mistaken for hunger. So before you munch down on something, drink water first. Drinking can also make you feel full, so experts suggest that you drink a glass of water before you sit down for a meal. Plus, staying hydrated has a lot of benefits to your body. From clearer skin to a healthy digestion, you can never go wrong with chugging on water.
Small & Frequent
Don’t starve yourself. It will make you hungrier and you’ll end up eating more than what you set your goals on. The key is to eat small but frequent meals. This can help you curb your appetite, boost your mood and energy levels. It can even speed up your metabolism because the process of digestion burns calories!
Be Patient
As easy as it was to gain a few pounds for a few days of overeating, it may take weeks, months or years to lose the pounds depending on your body mass and motivation. Be patient and don’t give up on your goals. Add a little consistency too and sooner or later, you’ll be back to your old self.
Set Realistic Goals
Just like any other goal, you need to take it in stride. Don’t set yourself up for disappointment! Make a weekly checklist that you know you can manage and make sure that you can cross all of it out within the day or week. Always be positive and believe in yourself that you’ll get there.
Helpful tips. I know I needed this. I think I stuffed myself too much during the holidays and I’m still having problems digesting everything.
I’ll definitely be doing this from now on. I may have not eaten so much, but I’ll admit I might have drank a little too much.
I don’t have time to do heavy exercise so I guess the moving around a lot works well too. I can’t keep making excuses to myself since I’m the one who ate that much, hahaha!
Water really is a wonderful cure for almost anything. Which is why I always hydrate myself whenever I can even if I’m not thirsty. They say the moment you’re thirsty, your body is already parched. You should be drinking water even if you haven’t been feeling thirsty yet.
We have a habit of keeping leftovers. We eat them for almost a week, depending on how much was left. We sometimes repurpose it for another dish too. We always prepare healthy meals anyway so I don’t think that’s a bad thing to keep leftovers.
We also do that. I didn’t think it was that bad though.
Diet isn’t about starving. Most of us should know that by now. If you starve yourself you’ll just slow down your metabolism instead of speeding it up!
It could get really frustrating… Especially when it’s harder to lose weight than to gain it. After about a month of constant hard work (before), I wasn’t losing weight at all. I was starting to feel like I wasn’t making any progress, although my stamina sure has increased. It’s easier to get disheartened if you keep weighing yourself and not seeing any progress. Always remind yourself that it’s your health that you want to improve and that’s the priority. People vary and they can lose weight faster or slower than the others.
You can’t really expect an article to help you lose weight. But the thing is it can only help you as much as reminding you on how you can help yourself.
I totally agree. It’s just enough to motivate you to get started.
I find water as an effective way to really help you lose weight. Especially when you drink it before meals. Drink about a glass or two and you’ll find yourself less hungry.
These tips are somehow helpful. It’s motivating rather than “tips”. I love that as well and I think I just need to push myself towards a healthier lifestyle.
Another tip is that you shouldn’t put any number on the pounds you want to lose. Because your body starts to get in a plateu stage after a while and you can’t just aim for a number. You’ll end up getting disappointed.