How to Survive The Holidays Without Putting Weight On
We all know that the holiday period can be a real nightmare when trying to lose excess weight and perhaps during this time almost impossible. Instead of trying to lose pounds during this season and feeling disheartened after eating too much at that family dinner, aim to focus simply on not gaining any extra weight. This can be achieved by making just a couple of changes to your holiday eating habits. What follows are some simple but effective weight loss tips that will help ensure you do not put on extra weight over the holidays.
Freeze your temptation
Food and treats cannot be avoided during the holiday season, however hard you try! Eating everything on offer can be detrimental to any weight loss you have achieved and make you feel guilty; but throwing out these treats is wasteful. The ideal resolution to this is freezing! Home made candy and treats are perfect for freezing in controlled portions that can be thawed out during the year when you fancy a little indulgence, thus avoiding gorging yourself on treats all at once.
Be food savvy at parties
The holiday season is filled with social events which can often lead to over eating of party food. Next time you arrive at a party check out the food to see what’s on offer. This will allow you to assess what fattening foods are present and to see if your favorite foods are available to eat.
If your host doesn’t mind, bring along your own home made fare to share with guests. Not only will you be able to keep on track with your diet but also introduce others to healthier alternatives to party food.
Keep food out of the equation
At social gatherings, aim to keep your mind engaged on other things instead of food. Take time to play with the kids, look over old photographs with friends or get a sport game going with the whole family such as football or rounders. The additional activity will not only take your mind off eating but burn calories. Therefore keeping those extra holiday pounds at bay!
Swap smart
There is so much different food offered during the holiday period that swapping high calorie foods for a healthier alternative can be easily done and really beneficial when maintaining weight loss. Below are some exchange ideas for you to attempt;
- Swap chocolate for sweets
- Swap dark fatty meat for lean light meat like chicken
- Swap creamy dips for vegetable based salsa
- Swap regular eggnog for a lighter version
- Swap rich fruit cake for a lighter sponge cake
- Swap chocolate chip cookies for ginger thins
- Swap beer and wine for a white wine spritzer
Also, if you’re a tea drinker, you may want to consider replacing your regular tea with some kind of weight loss tea. It’s been said that some varieties of tea such as green tea and pu-erh tea can aid weight loss by boosting your metabolism.
Practice portion control
When filling your plate at parties and gatherings try to follow these guidelines to control the portions you are eating;
- Fill one quarter of the plate with a lean protein
- Fill one quarter of the plate with wholegrain
- Fill the last half of the plate with fresh fruit an vegetables
Filling your plate like so will certify you do not over-eat. If you feel comfortable enough to share your diet plans, let your friends and family know you are watching what you eat for further support and encouragement.
How to Survive The Holidays Without Putting Weight On by Steven Nightock
Good tip about the portion control, this alone has helped me lose over 8 pounds in the last 2 months which I realise isn’t masses of weight but I’m taking the slow and steady approach while still enjoying some treats now and again.
It is really important to eat in limit while traveling or when you are on the holidays.I really like your some suggestions for eating.You have given good points and I would like to follow your advices.