Holiday weight gain doesn’t happen overnight, it takes a month to realize how much damage has been done. The average person will put on 3 to 10lbs during the month of December and most will never lose it.
There is plenty of eating and drinking advice here: Christmas Weight Loss Tips to help you enjoy the festive season without putting weight on.
One big mistake that many people make over Christmas is ditching exercise. Christmas is a busy time and it’s easy to give up routines due to all the preparations that need to be made. However, it is extremely important to maintain your exercise commitments. Keep exercising at least 5-7 days a week for 45-60 minutes at a time.
Staying active will make you feel better and will keep you motivated to watch what you eat over the holidays.
5 Tips on how to keep active over Christmas
1. Do exercise first thing in the morning. It may mean that you’ll need to get up a little earlier but this way you ensure that you get your workout done before everything else gets in the way. Also, on the plus side, is that you kick start your metabolism for the rest of the day.
2. If the time is essential, break down your exercise into shorter 20 to 30 minutes high intensity workouts and try to fit several into one day. It has been proved recently that high intensity interval training burns more calories than exercise done at a steady rate. Circuit training, interval training or sessions with weights are all great ways to get the most out of a shorter workout.
3. Give your family members active presents like bikes, scooters, footballs or frisbees and try to get everyone involved or some fitness games like tennis on the Wii.
4. Exercise after food. Studies show that exercising after you have eaten reduces blood sugar spikes and reduces the likelihood of snacking. Gentle after-dinner activity also helps to support digestion.
5. Try something seasonal like ice skating or a winter walk. Try to fit in extras to compensate for all the food and drink – take your kids to the park or the beach, go for a regular walk or cycle ride.
If you’d like to receive some extra help over Christmas to make sure you are not overeating and gaining weight, please contact us on 0800 917 9334 FREE to speak with the Customer Service Advisor or fill in the contact form. We have various options available including medical weight loss programmes, natural herbal weight loss aid and meal replacement programmes.