Christmas is over. What remains are lots of wonderful memories of hours spent together. Unfortunately, also a load of hip and belly fat. But don't worry. Losing weight after Christmas is child's play.
The pants pinch, the sweater tightens, it was Christmas time again. And that quickly becomes noticeable on the scales.
It was impossible to make a bow around gingerbread, speculoos, mulled wine and, of course, the festive Christmas meal itself. Even three days later, there is still more than enough.
Now pack everything in Tupperware boxes and freeze. Because even more kilos on the hips really do not have to be.
After the holidays, looking at the scale is like a disaster for many of us. But don't worry! With our suggestions, losing weight after Christmas will be a breeze for you too.
If you start now with a few small changes, losing weight in the new year is guaranteed to be easier.
Lose weight after Christmas: These tips make the pounds fall
Let's see what you can do right now if your pants are already stretching.
1. have realistic expectations
Yes, I know, you would like to have 5 kilograms less already tomorrow. But as easily as they are fed up, the pounds can unfortunately not be gotten rid of.
Losing weight is an undertaking that does not happen overnight. Crash diets are anything but healthy. To avoid falling into the yoyo trap, you should lose a maximum of 0.5 to 1 kg per week.
Anything else is extremely unhealthy and will not work in the long term. As a rule of thumb, a diet that is reduced by 500 kcal is optimal for losing weight. This way you don't have to starve yourself (which you definitely shouldn't do!).
Christmas is followed by the annual flood of New Year's resolutions. However, these are often forgotten after just a few days in the new year due to everyday life. Therefore, be modest in your demands and set yourself achievable goals.
If the scale shows an extra five kilograms after the holidays, focus on losing those extra pounds first. Once you've gotten rid of them, you can easily expand the goal to another five pounds.
That it does little good to eat only cabbage soup for a week, I have recorded here in a self-experiment.
What you should definitely not do:
Chasing a trendy diet. You will only be slim for a short time.
2. eat consciously and controlled
Whether you're trying to shed three unwanted pounds from Christmas dinner or permanently lose weight with a balanced diet, you need to develop a sense of food.
Make a list of everything you eat throughout the day in the form of a food diary. Also assess how your meals affect your overall health.
With the help of tracking apps, you can get an overview of your calorie intake. That way, you know whether or not you can still eat that rum ball after dinner.
Very important is also one thing: Eat regularly!
How many meals should you eat a day? Are breakfast, lunch and dinner enough, or should you eat five meals a day to keep cravings at bay? In fact, it varies from person to person.
Nutrition experts recommend 3 good main meals instead of eating lots of snacks throughout the day.
This is because of this insulin level: if it is too high, the Body does not burn fat. However, if you eat three large meals throughout the day instead of smaller meals or snacks every two to three hours, your insulin levels will drop. This means that fat burning is at full speed between the three meals - without any feeling of hunger.
What you definitely shouldn't do:
Continue to eat as before. The body fat was not there overnight, but has developed slowly. You ate too many calories for a certain time. These are stored as fat deposits in the body.
3. cook yourself
Yes, things can get stressful between the holidays. But you should still take time for healthy eating.
When you prepare your own meals, you have more control over your food. Prepared foods, such as fast food and frozen meals, contain sugar and a variety of additives and spices. That's not good for you! But don't worry: healthy recipes for weight loss after Christmas can be delicious and varied!
It is really difficult to change the palate from the greasy and sugary food.
Tip: Our We Go Fit Nutrition Plan supports you in changing your diet. We know from our own experience that it is often very difficult to eat right.
Especially when it comes to recipes, you can quickly reach the limits of your creativity. That's why it's worth making a cooking plan. It's best to plan what you're going to eat for a week in advance.
A conscious diet will not only bring you closer to your dream figure. You will also change mentally. If you eat healthy, you'll be in a better mood and have more power.
So that you can succeed, you can take part in our We Go Fit Program create your personal nutrition plan. You simply choose your goal and we calculate your calorie consumption, calorie deficit and create a nutrition plan that fits your needs and that fits you 100%. It's very easy. Give it a try :)
Click here to put together your personal nutrition plan!
4. avoid these three foods
Sugar, white flour and alcohol are taboo from now on.
A glass of wine at the weekend or a piece dark chocolate* is allowed. But if you severely limit your consumption, you can still shed those Christmas pounds!
You should reduce sugar and alcohol as much as possible when losing weight after Christmas. They are known to inhibit fat burning and do not provide any vitamins, minerals.
What you should definitely not do:
Finish the remaining cookies. Put the Christmas cookies aside. Little tip for those who have a lot left over: Cookies freeze well. That way, you can always enjoy them later with a cup of coffee.
In the long term, you should try to eat very little of these three foods. Already by this small step you have a big step towards a healthy change of diet made
5. observe the five plus two rule
No one can switch from an unhealthy diet to an absolutely healthy lifestyle from today. This leads our body into madness. Especially now, when it is used to a lot of fat, sugar and alcohol. That's why losing weight after Christmas - and after holidays in general - is so difficult for most people.
The best way to achieve your goals is to take one step at a time.
Try to stick to healthy eating five days a week and enjoy two "cheat days" for that. If you only manage three or four days, the world won't collapse. After all, you'll have another chance to change your diet next week. And as we all know, a small step gets you closer to your goal than no step at all.
Of course, you should also moderate yourself on cheat days. It would be pointless to eat all the calories you've been avoiding for the past few days.
6. move enough
Have you been stumbling from the sofa to the fridge to the dining table and then back to the sofa in the last few days? And are you convinced that exercise is murder? Then it's time to do something about it.
Basically, it's no surprise that exercise helps you lose weight. Every movement counts, even if it's just a short walk around the block. You can get off one stop early at work, go for a walk every day after lunch, and take the stairs instead of the elevator.
Interrupt your desk activity by getting up every now and then for a short walk. Try to get at least 6,000 steps per day.
Find a sport that you really enjoy. I'm crazy about bouldering. It burns a lot of calories, builds muscle, and makes you feel like you're going above and beyond.
To increase your daily calorie burn, you should exercise more. Endurance sports like jogging, cycling, cross-country skiing and swimming are good choices. HIIT workouts in the living room are designed to burn calories and increase fat burning.
Tip for workout at home: I also like to work out at home. The fitness platform Gymondo is great for that. You sign up once and can then choose from 60 programs and 570 workouts.
All you need is an exercise mat and a little space in your living room.
You can do abs, legs, butt one day and legs and arms the next. Just put together whatever you feel like doing. With less than 8 euros per month and unlimited access to the workouts, the investment will soon pay off.
Here you can find more info about Gymondo!
7. push the fat burning
And that too with protein and vitamin C! If you eat mainly proteins for a few days, avoid carbohydrates and eat a lot of vegetables, citrus fruits and berries, you will stay full longer, consume significantly fewer calories and effectively increase your metabolism and fat burning.
Protein and vitamin C, in addition to collagen synthesis, help supply the connective tissue and muscle fibers with essential minerals and nutrients. This leads to the fact that you see faster results during sports. The skin looks smoother and firmer from the inside out. Vitamin C promotes detoxification processes in the body.
8. smoothies and raw food
The fact is that we all eat too few vegetables. But we eat too much meat and too many carbohydrate-rich side dishes. That's why we're now putting a good portion of greens on our plates.
Have a raw food-only day once a week. Make sure Fruits with little sugar to eat. Consume vegetables and fruits in a 2:1 ratio.
Berries, bananas, sour apples, pineapples, lemons and limes are good choices. Nibbling vegetables like cucumbers, peppers and carrots are great for weight loss, as are celery, kohlrabi, cauliflower and broccoli. Many of these vegetables and fruits make excellent smoothies.
Lose weight after Christmas? Prevention is better!
Even better than putting everything on losing weight after Christmas is to prevent it and not to put on any belly fat in the first place. I have collected a few great tips for you.
- Watch out all the Christmas season. Christmas is not only on December 24 and 25, but at least 25 days. The whole month of December is a big challenge for our figure. Be aware of this and don't start snacking on cookies too early. You can eat two cookies, but not a whole bowl.
- Spices against cravings. You love the taste of cookies? You can also have it in your fruit or herbal tea. Cinnamon*, aniseed, Cardamom*, it all fits perfectly in the teacup and gives your hot drink a special aroma. The spices also work well in cocoa. When it comes to cocoa, it's better to use raw cocoa and mix it with Cinnamon* than the ready-made cocoa mixtures, which are packed full of sugar.
- Mulled wine in moderation. We already had this topic briefly. Alcohol, sugar and a slim stomach - that can't work. Instead of drinking 3 cups of mulled wine at the Christmas market, drink one cup that you really enjoy.
Our conclusion
Losing weight after Christmas is much easier if you eat a healthy and balanced diet beforehand. Avoid sugar and alcohol as much as possible and get enough exercise. Then you have already made a very big step in the right direction.
All the best for you!
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