This is a guest post by Kathleen Hubert.
The holidays are here again, and everyone knows that means tons of gluttonous merrymaking. After all, who can resist all of that delicious pie, candy, turkey and egg nog? Sadly, all of that wonderful food comes with a price. Such an excess of dense calories all but guarantees that you won’t be fitting into the nice outfit you bought for New Year’s.
Things don’t have to turn out that way, though. This holiday season, resolve to do things differently. You can get started by taking a look at these tips that will keep you from gaining a lot of weight and allow you to indulge without feeling guilty or deprived.
Alter Your Cookie Recipe
By adding, removing and substituting different ingredients in your holiday cookie recipe, you can greatly improve their nutritional value and reduce their impact on your waistline. Try adding lots of nuts to your cookie dough, as they contain abundant fiber, good fat and protein to fill you up and keep blood sugar stable. Next, use apple juice concentrate as a sweetener in place of white sugar. Unlike refined sugar, the juice still has some nutrients and won’t cause as dramatic a glucose spike.
Finally, use coconut oil in place of margarine. Margarine is made from soy, which promotes excessive estrogens and therefore, fat gain. Furthermore, it’s been found to be terrible for your heart. Coconut oil actually encourages fat loss and heart health.
Get Up and Move
After the grand feast, don’t just sit around surfing the internet for LED TV reviews. Get up and go for a stroll around the block and enjoy the beautiful decorations in your area. The exercise increases metabolism so you won’t store as much fat. It also not only helps to wake you from your food coma, but it will make you digest your food better. Improved digestion means less bloating and heartburn.
Holiday Roast
When choosing the main course for your meal, try to pick meat that doesn’t contain a huge amount of fat like pork loin, beef brisket or good old turkey. If you’re feeling really luxurious, you can even find giant lobsters for sale. Fat contains a whopping 120 calories in a meager tablespoonful and there may be several cups of it in the bottom of the pan after cooking. You can see how easy it is to go overboard on calories when eating Christmas dinner.
Weight Bearing Exercise
Nothing makes the extra pounds go away like lifting weights. It causes a huge surge in testosterone which can not only boost mood to help you feel the holiday cheer, but also sends metabolism soaring. Just a little bit goes a long way, too. If you’re too busy to hit the gym, stand in place and squat down, pushing yourself back up using only your legs. This is called a body weight squat. Do it repeatedly until you tire.
Set Limits
Nobody likes to feel deprived, especially when everyone else is enjoying themselves. Instead of choking down half of a pie, limit yourself to something that is still indulgent, yet more reasonable like 2 moderate slices.
Eat Your Vegetables First
Studies have shown that people who ate their vegetable before the rest of their meal tended to eat fewer calories and lose more weight. This is because vegetables are loaded with water and fiber, which work together to take up space in your stomach. They also burn more calories to digest than you get from them, so they help facilitate faster metabolism.
Use these tips to allow you to indulge without feeling guilty or deprived this holiday season.
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