Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Maintaining Your Weight Over The Festive Period - (Blogmas)

As I've said in previous blog posts, I am currently trying to lose the weight I gained whilst at University. I have joined 'Slimming World' and have a membership at a nearby Gym. Even though the weight is coming off slowly, it's coming off and I want it to stay that way - especially over the next couple of weeks.

Image taken from: exhilarateme.com

Christmas and New Years are great as they bring lots of social events and parties, but such fun can do some serious damage to your waistline. There is a lot of conflicting advise, so for today's blogmas post I will highlight a few of the best tips I have read on the internet.

1. Eat before attending a party - you'll be less likely to nibble at all the calorific snacks.

Image taken from: prevention.com

2. Keep a food diary & be honest in it. It's easy to forget what we've eaten during the day so a little notebook in your handbag can be a great way of controlling your diet.

Image taken from: alternative-doctor.com

3. If you know you are going to an event at the weekend & that you will definitely want to eat the snacks or have a drink, make sure you eat healthily in the week running up to the occasion. It's alright to treat yourself every now and again - as long as you haven't binged on McDonalds for the past 5 days!

Image taken from: milestoneops.com

4. Don't leave going to the Gym until January! Gyms are always PACKED in January with people trying to maintain their New Year's Resolutions. By going to the gym during December you can gage the busy and quiet periods so that come January, you'll know the best time to go. Also, you won't feel so bad if you treat yourself if you know you've worked for it.

Image taken from: indulgy.com
DO go to the Gym in January though!

5. Don't keep treats in the house. Late nights usually bring about the munchies and if you have cupboards filled with goodies you will most likely succumb to temptation. After Boxing Day, make sure all calorific festive foods are no longer in the house. Give them away to friends, neighbours or even a homeless shelter.

Image taken from: www.gpcarguy.com

6. Drink a glass of water before each meal to make sure you don't over-eat.

Image taken from: www.naturalgrocers.com

7. Mix it up with your mixers! Juices, although they can appear to be the healthier mixer, usually are laden with high sugar and calorie content. When choosing a mixer for your alcoholic beverage, soda / tonic water and other diet soft drinks are usually a better choice.

Image taken from: prevention.com

8. Make sure you get enough sleep. Sleep is very important for maintaining weight and for weight loss, so make sure you have a good time but that you catch up with your ZzzZzz's.

Image taken from: www2.warwick.ac.uk

9. Just because you paid for a meal, it doesn't mean you need to finish it. Wasting food is never good, but if you are full try not to eat more just because you feel guilty. Ask to take the food home in a 'doggy bag' or offer your leftovers to people around the table (this trick usually works around men, as most of the men I know say yes every time!).

Image taken from: www.lovefood.com

10. Have FUN! Don't beat yourself up over a piece of cake. There's no point being miserable so if you want to eat something, eat it! Just make a conscious effort to not over-do it.

Image taken from: www.staffordshireliving.co.uk

I hope you found some of those tips useful. I hate it when people preach about the "best" way to lose weight etc, but if you're like me and you like chocolate but you don't want to gain a stone over Christmas, some of these ideas might help!

Do you have any health or fitness tips that could be helpful over the Christmas and New Year period?

Love & Kisses,

Vicki xoxo



No comments:

Post a Comment