Holidays are a time of excess and abundance and these aspects also relate to food. Late December and early January are probably the most dangerous periods of time for your body weight. This is when a lot of celebrating takes place and there is food everywhere you turn your eyes. Fighting temptation after temptation each day for a few good weeks can be a tiring process, which materializes in two distinct stages.
The first stage, the most common one, is that of letting go. You stop caring about extra weight and start enjoying the season. If there's food on the table you eat it, as there is no point in starving or feeling miserable, especially during times of celebration. Of course, this approach does offer a good short-term solution: you are happy and full at the same time. On the other hand, though, there is that annoying "little" detail of putting on weight. For each hour you spent celebrating and eating without control you'll probably have to work ten times more to take that excess weight off. It is not a good deal and most of us are well aware of that, but still we keep on doing it.
The second stage is different – you resist temptation, fight it, ignore it, minimize it. You are successful in the end, and there is little or no extra weight, but your spirit is almost broken, not because of lack of self-esteem but because the fight depleted all your mental energy. This situation is as bad as the one presented before, but there are a few tricks that you can use to overcome both of the above-mentioned obstacles.
Moderation should be the word of the season. Take part in every fun activity, but do it wisely. Don't let your stomach and your subconscious mind work against you. It is time to take control over things and never even think about over eating and then finding an excuse like "there was nothing I could do". Try to eat little portions several times a day. If there is a big dinner enjoy it! But don't transform this into a habit of having five courses for dinner each day.
Try to find some time to do a little work out. Set your mind on working out at least 15 minutes a day, no matter which day it is. When you do begin your workouts session hide all the clocks and watches in the room – you will probably go beyond the 15-minute limit. Excuses like "I'll start working out seriously after the New Year" can only lead to negative results, as you are tricking yourself. Set a goal now and set it low. If you want to do push ups, for example, start by doing 5 at a time and then taking a break. After a while you will develop more stamina and strength and five push ups should be easy to do. When this happens raise the number – to seven maybe. Gradually increase the difficulty of the exercise or the time spent doing it – this is the best way to convince your body to adapt and burn more and more fat to replenish the used energy.
The whole idea of a celebration is to be with the people you care about. Food is an addition to the concept of holidays, so don't let it grow beyond its limits. Place more accent on socializing then on eating and a natural state of well being will develop. If you use common sense and the basic principles and ideas mentioned above you will spend some wonderful holidays without working during the whole spring to take off extra weight.
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Willie Krut is the core provider of a selection of self help products that truly help people to improve their life, health and career. Subscribe to the free Willie's Newsletter, visit the
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