Are you ready for this years holiday social season? If the only thing between you and a ‘yes’ answer is that you’d like to lose a few pounds and inches so you can really rock your favourite outfit, we’ve put together a few tips to help you get there.
1. You Are Sweet Enough – You don’t need more sugar
But it’s everywhere; in your fruit juice, spaghetti sauce and canned soup. It all adds up and, on average, Canadians consume 250% more sugar per day than the recommended intake. The bad news is all those extra calories, which are usually converted into food energy faster than your body can burn it off, are stored as fat. The good news is, if you make a conscious effort to eliminate as much sugar as you can, while still eating a balanced diet, you can see visible results in a couple weeks.Here’s a great way to start: try to skip or at least reduce your desserts.
2. Slow Down – Your eating habits that is
If you are usually one of the first at the table to finish eating, it could be contributing to your weight gain. It takes 20 minutes for your body to tell your brain that it’s full. If you wolf down dinner, you’ll still feel hungry when you’re finished the food on your plate and you’ll be tempted to overeat.Try to develop habits that will slow down your eating:
- Put down your knife and fork between bites
- Be conscious of chewing every bite
- Take smaller bites
- Have a full glass of water and sip it between mouthfuls
3. Speed Up – Your activities that is
And we’re not talking about getting a gym membership or changing your lifestyle here. But just in your daily activities there are lots of opportunities to burn more calories. It can all add up to a couple extra pounds of weight loss before the holidays.- If you work in an office building or live in a condo or apartment building, get off the floor before yours and walk up the stairs (better yet, don’t wait for the elevator, just take the stairs all the way if you can)
- Park further away from the entrance to the mall or the stores you visit to do your holiday shopping (you’ll save time by not driving around looking for the absolutely closest parking spot)
- If you sit for extended periods each day, try to get some activity every hour or so. If you can’t stop work long enough to get up and walk around, try to have ‘walk n’ talk’ meetings and if someone stops by to chat, stand up to do so. At home, stand up and stretch during television commercials or at the end of each show.