Roasts, lasagna and meat loaves… gaining weight during the holidays is practically a national sport. Wouldn't it be great if these blessed binges didn't ruin your figure (at least for once)? Enjoying the holidays doesn't necessarily mean getting fat! Plan everything well, learn to reframe your attitude towards food, and you'll be well on your way to enjoying a party rather than bitterly regretting every bite.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Planning
Step 1. Go easy on calories the week before
The great thing about the holidays is that you know exactly when they will fall. I'm not like that pizza a friend brought you that you accidentally devoured along with a nice liter of wine. So do yourself a favor and shut your stomach a week earlier. You will make the party day even more beautiful!
I'm not recommending you go on a diet. What you should do is skip the dessert, avoid spending the afternoon baking, let your maxi ice cream voucher expire. When you go out to eat, save half of the food before you even start. Take routes that you usually wouldn't do. You don't have to lose weight, you just don't have to take any
Step 2. Stay away from delicacies
When the kitchen, dining room, living room, and, let's be honest, bedroom are full of tasty treats, only a robot or a person with no taste buds could resist the temptation to bite into them. When you have sweets, cookies and candies on hand, no one can accuse you of having gone to the dark side. Since it is ridiculous to ask you to throw them away, the best thing you can do is to put them in a NON-transparent container and hide them in a door. Out of sight out of mind. It really works!
If we see a table full of delicacies, all hopes fly away. But if they are there and we don't see them, we can also forget that they exist (almost always) and therefore we can avoid taking and devouring them. Do yourself a favor and pack everything up before you don't realize you've made it to the fifth snack in a row
Step 3. Plan your workouts
When we are super busy (usually the norm, close to the holidays), physical exercise is the first to skip. The gym changes hours, we travel a lot, family obligations multiply exponentially … Whatever the cause, we succumb under the weight of our commitments and are forced to wait, eat and sit more than we would like. Master your schedule, rather than letting it crush you.
Call the gym and have them tell you the new hours. Wake up thirty minutes early to be able to do twenty minutes of exercise a day. Only go shopping for the holidays after exercising on the treadmill. When you make it a priority, it's easier to stick with it
Step 4. Reduce Stress
During these times of the year we wriggle like hens whose heads have been removed. The increase in stress that it causes increases cortisol levels, which makes you fat. And you who thought you overdid the cannoli!
Take some time to do some warm-up and stretching exercises or try to take yoga classes if possible. Take ten minutes a day just for yourself when sitting in the office. Whatever you need to be relaxed, do it. Your line may not know it has to thank you, but the numbers on the scale will make a difference
Step 5. Plan an exercise plan for the holidays
Beeeh, maybe doing this kind of planning is a bit like dealing with the math without the host. To plan exercises you must first know some exercises. What could you do? Something is always better than nothing!
- What kind of exercises can you do while traveling? You can try exercises to strengthen the core (jumps with legs apart, push-ups, pushups, etc.), they are simple to perform anywhere, in the hotel room, at your partner's uncle's house, etc.
- All in family! You can involve them on a walk in the early afternoon, weather permitting. Running around the house can also have an effect.
- Sign up for a holiday march. Check if there is anyone in your area who organizes charity marches during the holidays. You will be fine and you will do good! What a great way to start a party day!
Step 6. Keep warm
When the body gets cold, all we want to do is get under the covers until the cold passes. Maybe bringing a drop with us to warm us up. Avoid this physical stagnation, keep warm! Turn on the heaters, wear a thick sweater but above all keep moving! And do you know what happens when you move? Burn calories!
When our muscles are warm and relaxed, we are more prone to exercise. So start running around the house from time to time. It no longer seems that afternoon training is not very feasible
Part 2 of 3: Plan Dinner
Step 1. Offer to host for dinner or lunch
In this way you will have the responsibility of the menu, and you can plan from the beginning which foods will end up on your table. Make sure you ask everyone for any feeding problems or allergies! You can also organize a meal where everyone brings something that has first been decided and approved by you.
Don't forget to decorate the table! If you don't know how, read one of the hundreds of WikiHow articles about it
Step 2. Enhance your favorite dishes
Choose only natural and unprocessed food, prepare it in a simple but tasty way with spices, herbs and fruit, such as lemon and orange. Throw away the canned lentils and frozen cotechino, choose fresh stuff! Lasagna stuffed with bechamel? Why not make it with spinach and ricotta? French fries? Why not baked, with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper?
There are hundreds of sites where you can find healthy recipes. Holidays are in fashion, but so is health. You have a wealth of information at your fingertips
Step 3. Cook with substitutes
When a recipe asks you to add eggs, butter, oil, and sugar (to start), you have little range. Aside from the obvious things (like using sweetener instead of sugar, etc.), you can substitute oil or eggs with yogurt, banana, and apple juice to make the sauces more full-bodied.
Step 4. Vegetables galore
Vegetables contain far fewer calories than meat or carbohydrates. If you want to fill the plate, this is the right direction (as long as they are prepared correctly!). Put a disproportionate amount of vegetables on the table, in this way there will be less room for dessert!
- When making the puree, add 25% cauliflower. Don't tell anyone and see if they notice!
- Use healthful oils, such as olive, hemp, or nut oils. If you season vegetables, try to avoid salt, it causes swelling.
Step 5. Make some healthy snacks
We know how big the courses can be during the holidays, and yet this doesn't stop us from nibbling all day waiting for the first course. Instead of filling yourself with sweets and cookies, opt for a light vegetable, fruit and cheese snack. Since the delicacies are in the counter (aren't they?), You won't be tempted to brush them!
If you can stay away from appetizers it's better. But, come on, it's a day of celebration! Willpower and self-control go on strike
Step 6. Choose a healthy dessert
Well, we know that every country has its own traditional dessert, and this must be respected. But it doesn't have to be the only option. There are hundreds of fruit-based desserts that are just as tasty and lower in calories. Use this day as an excuse to brush up on your pastry skills.
Step 7. Plan lunch for 1pm or 2pm
Try to be ahead of the times if you can, that way you won't even need the appetizers. In fact, the sooner you start eating, the sooner you start digesting (so you can feel better the next day) and you will be doing more activities throughout the day. If you are more active after lunch, you will be able to manage your physique and feel much better.
Grandma was right, having a nice meal at the table at one or two o'clock. It works best for cooks, eaters, and cleaners. In the end you will not be too exhausted and will enjoy the day! And you will definitely need some time before dessert. That you can savor well, without straining
Part 3 of 3: Strategies for the Big Day
Step 1. Eat a decent breakfast
You have two options: 1) You have a nice high protein breakfast and then a nice lunch prepared especially for the holiday day, or 2) You skip breakfast, you start starving and you end up eating so much for lunch that you will eventually have to roll over to the sofa and you'll have to ask your mom to bring you another piece of cake because you can't move. Which do you think is the healthiest option?
I hope you are thinking about option number 1. It does not take an ark of science, preparing to eat a nice party lunch or dinner with a half full stomach avoids even eating the table. Sure, you consume calories by eating "normal" food, but at least you keep yourself from gorging yourself on 3,500 calories all at once. And no, it does not increase the intake of calories. If you eat breakfast, you will eat less
Step 2. Be an active guest
If you're lucky enough to have secured guest commitments, then good for you! You can walk around the house and entertain people, fill their glasses, make sure everything is okay and decorate the dishes. It sounds a bit like a job, it's true, but at least it keeps you active. Those who always move are thinner, take a cue from them.
Don't think of this as something that tends to ruin your party day. No, no, no. In fact, you will actually be even more involved. At the end of the day you will feel like you are a part of it, rather than being a passive participant. And your family and friends will be grateful to you throughout the year! Imagine a little
Step 3. Put on a tight dress
There is almost no need to repeat it. If your pants are so tight that your tummy seems to burst, you will be likely to eat less. Ultimately you will be aware of what is happening to your body and will be less forgiving in inflicting a coma for overeating!
Step 4. Check the portions
Take spoon-sized portions from the various dishes of your choice. Leave anything that doesn't seem desirable to you. Take bites first of what you like best. When you have cleaned this little dish, you will know exactly what you want. It's all a matter of planning!
You can eat whatever you want, if you eat little. Don't think that some foods are out of the question. Otherwise, you'll just crave them even more and you'll end up eating a wagon. Eat a bit of everything to satisfy hunger
Step 5. Eat main courses healthily
The main courses are good roasted or baked, certainly not good fried. If you can opt for either of these two options, go for it. Try to eat white meat, if available, with no added fat (such as chicken skin or pork lard).
Step 6. Watch out for the coffee killer
The alcohol you drink, from wine to beer to eggnog (prohibited!), Is full of empty calories. You can drink and drink and drink and your body doesn't realize how many calories it is accumulating because it is not full yet. Instead, opt for water, seltzer with lime juice, or a cup of peppermint tea! You will feel much better, be more alert and survive the dressing day with less weight on your butt!
If you decide to dig in, try to alternate each alcoholic drink with a "hydration cycle" of some kind, drink lemon water, Sprite zero, mineral water, etc. Or take that glass of wine and turn it into a spritz, with 0 calorie sparkling water. This is a day to remember, after all, isn't it?
Step 7. Raaaaaaaaaalleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeentaaaaaaaa
Enjoy every bite and enjoy the flavor and substance. The slower you eat, the less food gets into your stomach before your stomach calls your brain and says “Hey! Stop, I'm full !!! " It usually takes twenty minutes for your stomach to start sending CCK signals to the brain, the "overfilled" hormones. Take it easy, instead of bingeing before you realize you don't want any more. You have all afternoon, after all!
An easy way to do this is to place the fork on the plate between bites. Chewing your food a little more than you normally would (you don't need to count it and you ruin your holiday with math) and letting go of the fork are two great ways to slow down the ingestion rate
Step 8. Don't fall prey to the now or never thought
You can always re-prepare those delicacies whenever you want during the year, after all! Ditch the "this is the day" theory, it would only make you binge unnecessarily. This mental state decreases the amount of food during holiday meals.
Food is not the ultimate purpose of the holiday (otherwise they would be called eating), and rest assured that the food won't run out! There are always leftovers for later or the next day. Sit down and start talking, be the first to say "today it's nice to be here because …". Stay focused, eat what you like and then stop
Step 9. Avoid throwing yourself on the sofa immediately after eating
Look for an activity to do. Put on a record of 70s hits and dance as you help clean up the dishes and the kitchen. Take a walk with family and friends to enjoy the city and its colors. Play tag with the kids outside the home. You choose! Just get a move on.
You definitely won't. In any case you are an evolved being, and you can say "NO!" to your tryptophan receptors and do it anyway. Anyone want to go play frisbie in the park?
Step 10. Remember that the feast day is only a day”
If you go wrong, you can always get back in the saddle and leave. It is taking it easy from Christmas to New Year or Carnival to Easter that risks making us gain weight. When we have the right mindset, New Year's resolutions can really help!
Try not to fall into temptation by telling yourself "What the hell, Christmas / Easter / New Year comes once a year!". Feast-day foods can be prepared every day. Don't be impressed by how special they are. Be selective and enjoy everything you decide to eat
Advice
- Be calm and enjoy the holidays.
- If you are already overweight, be very diligent when you finish eating and are full, choose to eat healthy and exercise and exercise every day during the holidays. Those who are already overweight are more likely to gain weight during the holidays than those who are thin!
