Since holidays always involve indulging in extra rich foods and drinks, it’s actually very common to gain a few pounds following the holiday period. Imagine that a single piece of roasted turkey with skin on is more than 250 calories. If you add all these rich sauces and desserts or high sugary drinks, the calories will easily pile up and you are going to end up (or not) with at least one pound extra once the holidays are over.
Many advocate that we better be careful with the calories and foods that we eat during the holiday season, but we have found this to be extra challenging, especially when you are invited to a friend’s or relative’s house as they often have very few or zero healthy and lean eating options and you can’t exactly demand that they do.
What you should do instead is to try to detox yourself for a period of 2 weeks or more, right after the holidays so you can easily shed off any extra weight gained during that period. Here is how:
No 1: Drink only water and tea. Plain old water and tea are probably the only drink choices that have little to none calories (water actually has zero calories and plain herbal tea only 3-5 calories per cup). Not only this, there are some herbal tea combos that offer additional detox benefits like the ones we currently offer here. If you want to add some sweetness, add some stevia or agave syrup instead of sugar since they are healthier and have a less amount of calories.
No 2: Go for less than 600 calories every other day. This is similar to intermittent fasting--but instead of consuming less than 600 calories every day, you will only have to consume this amount every other day so you don't starve yourself. If you eat good amounts of lean protein and veggies/fruits that are rich in fibre, you will stay fuller for longer without feeling hungry and be tempted to eat something fattening and unhealthy afterwards.
No 3: Eat 5-6 small meals per day. Another trick to kickstart your metabolism so you can easily burn fat is to take 5-6 small meals per day rather than 3 big ones. Choose healthy snacks, fruits, veggie sticks, sandwiches with whole wheat bread and lean meat slices e.g roast skinless turkey slices, and/or nuts and seeds to make light and healthy meals for any time of the day.
No 4: Perform some cardio workouts at least 3x a week. Exercising may be obvious but when it comes to detoxing and burning fat, not all exercises and styles are created equal. The best and most probably quickest exercises for losing weight are aerobic and cardio workouts like for example jumping jacks, squats, and rope jumps. Perform these ideally 3x per week minimum for half an hour each session, and results will start to show up in as little as 2 weeks, especially if you also combine your workout with a healthy diet.
No 5: Avoid any starches and processed sugars. There is nothing that kills all your detox and weight loss efforts more than eating starches and sugar. Not only they are full of unhealthy calories, they can easily get converted and stored as body fat if you don’t do something about it. And the best way to prevent this, is, of course, to avoid or minimize the consumption of sweets, sugary drinks or starches like breads, pies, pastas, or regular potatoes. If you crave something sweet go for fruits, dark chocolate, and stevia instead so you can satisfy your cravings without any guilt.