How To Lose Christmas Weight

How To Lose Christmas Weight

For many of us, the Christmas holidays are a time to unwind, celebrate with family and enjoy incredible holiday food. To that end, it’s no surprise that on average people gain between 1-3kg of additional weight over the holiday season! This is usually caused by the combination of increased food and alcohol consumption, coupled with putting your feet up and letting your diet and exercise commitments go a little.

While you shouldn’t feel guilty about celebrating the end of a difficult year, it’s important that we take care of ourselves to ensure a happy and healthy new year. If you’ve changed your diet over the holidays and you’ve been experiencing digestive issues (such as bloating, stomach pain, constipation, diarrhoea and more), you may also be seeing the effect of a food intolerance on your digestion.

If you’re looking to shed some holiday weight or you’ve begun to experience digestive issues, read on to find out how to get back on track and feel healthier in the new year.

Losing Christmas Weight

Losing weight can be a bit of a daunting task. There are so many different types of diets and exercise regimes – it can be difficult to know exactly where to begin and what’s right for you! Many individuals struggle to feel motivated by this and put off beginning their weight loss journey or fall off the wagon shortly after starting.

However, weight loss doesn’t have to be difficult and scary! Starting with small steps and introducing little but important changes to your diet is a great way to not only lose weight, but also receive all of your nutritional requirements. Coupled with simple lifestyle changes such as cutting down on alcohol, losing weight and feeling healthy doesn’t have to be hard! Some great ways to begin losing your Christmas weight include:

1. Drink More Water

   Water is necessary for digestion, to absorb important nutrients from food, to get rid of waste, regulate body temperature and much more. Many people also confuse thirst with hunger and therefore snack when they should be drinking water or herbal tea instead. Being well hydrated ensures your body is functioning optimally and keep hunger at arm’s length.

2. Eat Regular Meals

   Eating at regular times and ensuring you don’t skip breakfast helps you burn calories more effectively around the clock. It also stops you from feeling hungry throughout the day and opting for a quick, unhealthy snack.

3. Reduce Alcohol Consumption

   Alcohol contains a large number of calories, it stops the burning of fat, can lead to poor food choices and can damage your liver, heart and more. Cutting down on alcohol is a really great way to keep healthy and lose weight.

4. Eat More Fruit & Veggies

   Fruits and vegetables are low in fat and high in fibre. Fruit and veggies also contain many of the important minerals and vitamins that our bodies need to function. Adding more fruits and vegetables into your diet or trying out some different, healthier recipes are great ways to lose weight and shake things up in the kitchen.

5. Plan Your Meals

   It can be easy to reach for unhealthy foods when you’re not sure what you’re having for your next meal, especially if you don’t have time to prepare something then and there. Planning your meals and preparing them in advance is a great way to ensure you’re never left hungry.

6. Don’t Buy Junk Food/Unhealthy Snacks

   When you don’t have junk food or unhealthy snacks in your cupboard/fridge, it’s a lot easier to ignore the cravings. If you still feel snackish between meals, try eating healthy snacks in moderation such as fruit, vegetables, nuts or low-fat yoghurt.

7. Do More Exercise

   Exercise doesn’t have to be intense work-outs at the gym (unless that’s what you like!). This works for some people, but for many it can lead them to quickly feel burnt out or unmotivated. Increasing your exercise in any way you can is beneficial for losing weight. This can include walking, running, yoga, cycling, playing sports and much more.

Combining these lifestyle and diet changes is a surefire way to lose some of that extra weight gained over Christmas without drastically changing up your life and schedule. With that said, it can be difficult to get started and sometimes a bit of extra help can really go a long way. At Capalaba Natural Health, we can help you reach your weight loss goals by listening to you, understanding your body and creating a personalised weight loss plan tailored specifically for you. We provide a free weight loss assessment to help you get started. Book an appointment online with award winning weight loss specialist Tony Daniel and begin your weight loss journey today!

Typically most woman lose between 1-1.5kg of weight per week and men lose between 1.5-2kg. Losing weight is the quickest and most effective way to improve your health and reduce your risk of some serious illnesses.

Food Intolerances

Over the holiday period, we usually eat a lot of food. Many of these foods that are eaten in moderation throughout the year become diet staples (including chocolate, cured meats, deserts, alcohol, snacks and more). We also eat a number of different foods that we don’t ever regularly have when at gatherings with friends and family. While these foods are delicious, these excessive (and usually unhealthy) diet changes can leave you feeling bloated, digestive discomfort or pain, nauseous or in digestive distress. If you’ve been feeling nauseous, uncomfortable, pain, bloated or have IBS type symptoms since the holiday period (even when returning to your normal diet), you may be exhibiting signs of a food intolerance.

If we don’t eat a food for a while and then we add it into our diet, if we are Intolerant to the food, our body really lets us know it is unhappy and IBS type symptoms occur.

A food intolerance is the inability to digest particular food items, usually due to lack of enzymes or overconsumption of a specific food. Symptoms include stomach pain, constipation, diarrhoea, bloating and feeling gassy. Food intolerances are different to food allergies because they do not cause an immune response, a food intolerance means your body has difficulty digesting a specific food. Common food intolerances include dairy, eggs, almonds, wheat, yeast and gluten. Reducing or eliminating the food that you are intolerant or sensitive to can alleviate your IBS type symptoms and allow your body to repair itself.

Figuring out which food you are intolerant to can be difficult due to how long symptoms can persist even after stopping the problematic food. Food intolerance testing can quickly identify which foods are causing you problems. At Capalaba Natural Health, we provide food intolerance testing in Brisbane that is fast and reliable. We can help you come up with a diet that will alleviate your symptoms and get you back to feeling like yourself. Book a food intolerance test online and get started today.

Drop The Christmas Weight And Manage Food Intolerances

Using the information above, you can quickly and easily lose excess Christmas weight and get on top of food intolerances – leading to a happy and healthy new year. If you have more questions or would like to chat to a weight loss and food intolerance expert, give the team at Capalaba Natural Health a call on 07 3823 3103.