Nowadays people should stop getting freaked out regarding where their diet rules are going and how long it is going to continue. Well, each year you can see individuals recommending you withdraw from the consumption of your favourite dishes, or how many hours and hours of exercise you need to do for burning off the three servings of the roasted turkey and potatoes salad.
Well, the time has come for these people to back off. Frankly, the holiday season is not some kind of prep for a bodybuilding competition. Always think of it as a day for your family, to relax and express thankfulness, and to give back to those less and unfortunate ones. So, if you want to eat some more calories, there is no harm in doing so. But keep in mind to have some limits.
Most people say that you should not use food as a reward. That really makes sense. However, that is not what this is about. At times food is a part of tradition and culture. Hence, it is not a bad thing.
Want to know what is the wrong thing?
Well, it is trying to convenience people that overeating a lot of calories for a single day would make a huge difference, but it will not.
What Happens When You End Up Overeating?
Various stats and studies show that Americans (i.e., most of them) would gain a huge amount of weight during the holiday season. This would be somewhere between 6 to 12 pounds. This would march till the end of the year. They do end up planning on going for a diet plan but that too would hit the drain.
Here you do have to realize that the weight gain will not be occurring in a day or two. The truth is that if you are overeating somewhere around 1000 to 2000 calories in a single meal, you will not gain any fat. Also, if this was extended to around 3,000 calories, you are not adding any kind of real fat to your body.
Of course, you might feel bloated. Chances are there that you would be holding water. However, that can be regulated. Studies show that a single bad meal will not lead to fat gain. Here this will not occur in the 24-hour cycle.
This would be the same flawed mentality that can drive various diet books to the pinpoint and to a single factor leading to the weight gain or the sparks the weight loss. This means that you can go ahead and eat to your heart’s content during Christmas and Thanksgiving.
Sometimes you would be stressed and turning your concerns into math problems for stress relief will not be a great idea. For gaining weight, you must roughly consume around 3,500 more calories compared to the typically consumed ones. At times, this would be more than that. Of course, 3,500 calories equal to a pound will not be accurate, but this example proves a clear point.
Let us say that you normally consume 2,000 calories each day. For making any damage to the scale, you would need to consume around 6,000 calories each day.
Well, this might seem to be a ton of calories. Even most surveys suggest that Americans hit 4,500 calories during Thanksgiving. Here various factors cause weight gain. A bad day of eating and that too on the holiday will not be the cause for that.
Well, if you need more proof, check out the logic of a single gluttonous day of consuming good food and take it along with exercising. Just imagine if you spend a whole day exercising, burning calories, and being the human version of the Energizer Bunny (where you keep going and going and going). The rest of the month you do nothing. Would you be exactly healthy, fit, and incredibly active? No and never.
Well of course not. A single day of massive calorie burn will not provide the offset of energy that is often created due to the rest of the time. With the weight gain and loss, you get to see the bigger picture and have a good understanding that nothing happens in the vacuum.
Keep in mind that you will not gain muscles in a single set of curls. Here it is the accumulation of the volume and stress over time. The best part is that you will not be adding fat from the infrequent binge and no matter how ridiculous the meal can be.
You might feel that this is a license for throwing all the caution to the wind, eating all the things you want to have, etc. No, it is not right. The main aspect is that you should consume all the things with comfort and enjoyment in your mind. Here if you are doing anything to the point, you will not feel anything good. It means that you are pushing yourself a little too aggressively.
Sometimes you might know from your experience that a huge indulgence would lead to bad months of bad habits. It is your job for putting some restrictions on how much you are eating and prevent a single day of enjoyment from turning into something that would go on for a longer time.
What Do You Need to Do If You Are Overeating?
Now when you are having an off day and you end up eating a lot, do not worry. Just do not do anything special. All you need to do is return to better and normal eating habits.
Here the restriction and living in fear is not required. As we all know that life is meant for enjoying and sometimes it would mean consuming food that is not healthy and not punishing yourself for such behaviours. Also, acting like that such diet breaks are allowed.
Each day is not just a holiday or party. And you must not eat like that. However, when days happen, food stress will not be the factor in such an equation. Here this might not seem too healthy, however, adding a few days where you do not need rules to mix into the days that you have boundaries is a fair and reasonable trade.
This would be sustainable and can lead to better results. Like any diet that contains food you like to enjoy with the food that you know is best for you, you are going to follow that for a longer period and that would lead to the biggest transformation.
This would not sound exciting. However great health, less stress, and a better holiday, etc. Such memories are something we all can and like to celebrate.
Holiday Diet Tips You Might and Would Like to Follow
Here you must break down November and December and it can work out for 300 calories each day. Here you are losing at a healthy and controlled rate. Here it would be less than a pound for a week and this would make you stick to the weight loss efforts and keep your weight off the post-Jan.
Some of the holiday diet you can follow are –
Thinking of Cutting Calories – The Method Is Modesty
You must resist the temptation for making major cuts in your diet. Also, there are various things around for eating at this time of the year. Rather than breaking your head on how to cut the calories successfully, you should plan. Aim at reducing the intake to around 100 calories every day. This would be followed by bumping the frequency and intensity of the workouts.
For offsetting the calories intake and increase during the holidays, try to focus on exercises. This will not make you feel deprived. Keep in mind that cutting calories are easy especially if you know where to look out for them.
By giving up on one slice of bread, you are saving about 100 calories. Also, when you are choosing grilled skinless chicken or lean fish over red meat, you can easily save around 100-200 calories. Here the trick lies in translating the weight loss into two folds. Always make sure that you are not making the calories lost with the holiday treats. Try to stay on the consistent mode by burning around 200 calories along with regular exercising and achieving the daily 300 calorie deficit
Now on the days that you are exercising less or not at all, try to make up for the differences by cutting more calories from your food intake. As and when you do it for a longer time, you would be doing a more vigorous workout and at times you might want to have a smaller treat or bank these calories expended.
Using Your Free Time for Calorie Burning Exercises
Think about it. Using your free time for fitting calorie-burning workout routines and to prepare delicious healthy meals would be great. As most people know there is more to get done right at this time of year. Most of us get at least a few days off too.
In that case, you need to utilize that time for fitting in several good workout routines that burn some serious calories and fat (a 50-minute run burns nearly 600 calories or two days’ worth of calories toward your 5-pound goal). It is all about carving more time for workouts by doing a lot of holiday shopping online.
Do make time for regular, healthy meals. You never want to miss a meal or change the timing of your meals. When you eat is key for weight loss, especially during the busy time of the holidays. Make sure you eat a small meal or snack every three to four hours to prevent overeating. If you are going holiday shopping all day, bring something to keep you going, like a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich and a piece of fruit.
Do not Deprive Yourself
Well, keep in mind one thing. Never deprive yourself of the food that you like to have. Sometimes being too rigid during the holiday season would backfire and affect you. Rather you must remain focused on eating small amounts of food and even sometimes the food that you love several days a week. Having a small quantity of your favourite food every day would take off your anxiety you would feel like eating something that is forbidden.
Here the exception would be that a single bite can lead to another and you would end up keeping the verboten food out of your home. Here you need to avoid the panic of missing out on the food that you enjoy every once a year. And this is done by placing a few of the goodies right in the Ziploc bag and ensuring that you are freezing them.
When you know that you are going to have a bite of the Christmas fudge in February, it would take the edge off and would avoid you from overindulging a lot. Ultimately you should check out the holiday healthy diet tip that can assist you from navigating parties and bring out the best attitude about the holiday eating and exercising.
Try to Reframe Holidays
Various studies show that an average individual would gain just over a pound on holidays. Hence do not dust off the elastic-waist pants. Rather take a hard look at what really pushes your buttons to overeat now. Might be the parties, difficult relatives, or the endless bowls of candy at work.
Try to look at each party as a separate event. Convenience yourself that you are going to enjoy yourself tonight. When the party’s over, you go back to healthy eating and exercise.
Wrapping Up
Healthy eating during holidays might seem like a struggle but that is not what you might struggle from. You won ‘t just have to exercise but here it is about enjoying yourself on such holidays.
Much of the holiday season would be food that attracts your eyes. You can compensate for the excess weight after the holiday season. There is no harm in overindulging regarding the food fantasy you have. It would provide you the extreme satisfaction that you will not want to miss.
