How to eliminate post-holiday weight gain?

You've made a few splurges over the holidays and that's a good thing!
However, the scale shows a few extra pounds and you don't know how to lose this excess.
It is important to know that when you do several deviations and this, in a close way, it is not directly a question of a sudden fat gain. The body will retain water, will accumulate food recently ingested.

Let's take stock of this weight gain and see how to adopt new habits in order to lose weight efficiently and healthily! 

Habits to avoid! 

Weighing yourself several times a day or even every day! Apart from generating frustration and anxiety, this will not make you lose more weight! 

Do not skip meals! In an adult's day, you should eat 3 to 5 meals a day. Not all of them are substantial. You have 3 main meals to which you can add two snacks. Outside of these five times of the day, avoid snacking, which allows your stomach to take breaks and your body to draw on its reserves. Another tip is to keep a regular schedule for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Regularity allows your body to anticipate certain needs.

Make carbohydrates your enemy. Drastically reducing your caloric intake over the next few days or stopping carbs is definitely not a good idea! You can reduce your intake slightly but you should be careful about the sugar content of many processed products.

Beware of the detox fad! The miracle solutions of the detoxification methods are useless and even dangerous for your health.  The idea that your diet contains toxins that you must eliminate by fasting and/or by various drinks is completely erroneous! Fasting on drinks alone, or worse, on a single food, can seriously damage your health by causing intense fatigue, cramps, dehydration and drops in blood pressure. So why put yourself through all that, especially when it doesn't help? There's no need to stuff yourself with apples for three days. Your body is indeed a well-tuned machine, capable of eliminating toxic elements on its own. The skin, the kidneys and the liver work together to rid your body of anything that can harm it

Guilt. Guilt can lead to a loss of motivation and cause you to do more deviations... Too much cortisol has a catabolic effect! 

Don't go too fast! Returning to sport is often complicated after a period of celebration. The risk of injury is greater because we have not exercised for some time. Physical strength decreases considerably after a week of rest, so it is necessary to gradually resume your sports activity, no matter what kind. If you used to train 4 to 5 times a week, from now on, focus on 2 or 3 sessions maximum so that your body finds its rhythm. Increase the frequency and duration gradually once you are back in shape.

Habits to adopt:

Hydrate yourself! Drinking is essential, a good hydration will guarantee a good elimination of toxins and will support your transit.

Favour certain cooking methods: The list is long: grilled, braised, a la plancha, in the traditional oven, stewed, boiled, en papillote. It is up to you to choose how to cook your food. There is only one rule: no or little fat. Think also about the preservation of vitamins and other nutritional elements with steaming.

Moderate your salt intake. Salt promotes the storage of water in the tissues, mainly leading to swelling of the legs. This flavor enhancer used to season or preserve certain foods can also have a negative effect on your diet. Use salt in a preparation, but in reasonable doses to avoid water retention. Instead, use aromatic herbs, spices and condiments, which are also taste enhancers but at a lower cost to your body.

Eat more fruits and vegetables (rich in fiber). These foods provide the vitamins your body needs for the day. Whether in smoothies, compote, plain or mixed: you should eat them every day. The orange, for example, allows you to eliminate the toxins present in you. It helps digestion.

Think of the proteins that you can find in meat, fish or eggs. They are essential for maintaining your muscle mass and ensure that you feel full.

Think about healthy snacks. Maintain snacks containing protein, oilseeds, low glycemic index fruits (apple, red fruits...), fiber to reduce hunger until the next meal. Protein bars are also excellent for indulging yourself while respecting your caloric needs, and most have only 2g of sugar! 

Resume your physical activity without delay! The resumption will be difficult, so don't hesitate to resume in moderation in order to respect your health. Thirty minutes of walking a day to start with can be a good alternative, it will allow you to increase your energy expenditure and will allow you to maintain your muscle mass and many other benefits. And to go even further, do not hesitate to be accompanied by a sports coach, physical trainer.

Add some Hiit : In this winter period, and if you don't feel ready to go running outside, you can try specific circuits from home. By combining several simple but repeated exercises, you can make progress. Abs, push-ups, pull-ups, burpees... There are dozens of accessible circuits to build real muscle.