Weekend Top 10 – Tips to lose that holiday weight

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Holiday-time binging often leads to undesirable results in the form of weight gain. Now that the festivities are over, you can get back to leading a healthy lifestyle and undo some of the damage of all those desserts and heavy food.

The holiday madness that started nearly a month ago is finally over.

Now that it’s back to life as usual, many find that their clothes fit a little snugger than usual – a common occurrence after festivals that are marked by so much heavy eating and drinking.

If you’re feeling a bit tired and bloated yourself, here are some tips you can follow to undo all that festival damage.

Top 10 tips to lose that holiday weight 

1. Take a break this weekend

Give your body and mind a break this weekend and just relax. Do something quiet and peaceful and actually sleep on time for a change. Too much partying can be exhausting and you’ll find this “me time” relaxing and rejuvenating.

2. Sneak in some exercise

Don’t wait until Monday or the first of next month to (re) start your exercise routine. Start this weekend itself and you’ll begin to feel better instantly. Weigh yourself and make a plan of how much you would like to lose over the next few months and start working on it right away.

You don’t have to hit the gym, read our article on how you can get active, without turning your life upside down.

3. Incorporate weight training

Many of us, especially women, have a habit of focussing only on cardiovascular exercises to lose weight. The fact is that you can derive far more benefits from your workout program if you incorporate some weight training into it. By improving muscle mass, you improve your overall metabolism which is great for burning calories. If you don’t have access to weights, try doing push-ups, lunges and crunches.

4. Drink a lot of water

A lot of festival food tends to be spicy and high in salt, which causes one to feel bloated. Drinking a lot of water will help get rid of all that salt and make you feel healthier and fresher.

5. Ditch the guilt and move forward

One of the biggest hurdles in the road to post-festival recovery can be the guilt we accumulate over having binged so much over the last few days. Well, what’s done is done. Sometimes, guilt can induce more heavy eating and that’s one thing you don’t want to do. Don’t mull over what happened and just move on to a healthier today and tomorrow.

6. Eat light

You enjoyed the Diwali goodies while the festival lasted. It’s time to completely cut out all those sweets, poories, drinks and other heavy stuff now. Rediscover fresh salads, fruits, lean meats and whole grains and allow your system to recover from the assault of the last two weeks. Try our recipe for a simple and tasty salad.

7. High protein, low GI food

Another great diet tip is to go in for high protein foods that have a low glycaemic index. Foods that have low GI include milk, nuts, oranges, pears, urad dal, channa dal and many more. For the complete list, click here.

High protein foods include eggs, fish, chicken, rajma, soy and nuts like peanuts and almonds.

8. If you’re not going to eat those sweets, give them away

You may have decided to start eating healthy but that can get really hard to do with cakes, chocolates and mithai lying in the fridge. Why not give those away to someone who will actually eat them"Apple-style-span" style="font-size:15px;font-weight:bold;">9. Don’t give in to your craving for 10 minutes

Here’s a tip that really works. Scientists have found that a craving for a certain food typically lasts for about 10 minutes. So if you suddenly find yourself dying to have a motichoor laddoo, just hang on for 10 minutes. Distract yourself by talking to a friend, or have some water. In 10 minutes, you’ll find that the craving has passed and you have managed to avoid consuming 150 calories. Perfect!

10. Ask friends/colleagues to join you

Embarking on a get-healthy program is always more fun with a buddy for company. Considering most people around you would be in a similar situation as you, it shouldn’t be too much trouble to get someone to join you. Two people help keep each other motivated, even on days when you just don’t want to get out of bed. Besides, you can be each other’s disciplinarian when temptation presents itself in the form of food.