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Surviving Through the Holidays
Holiday season is around the corner. It is the
time of the year where you'll inevitably have to miss some of your regular exercise
sessions and sharing plenty of delicious delicacies. These we know all so well could also
mean extra inches around our waist when the celebration is over! Does that mean we should
give up all the good food and avoiding meeting up with friends to carry on with the usual
workout, in order to avoid the after holiday's side effects? Not really. In this issue, we
will share with you some really useful tips you could use to maintain your figure or even
shed inches during this period. Read on.
Here are some
really fun activities you could do to tone up your muscles and burn plenty of calories
during the holiday:
- If
you are not going to the gym totally, at least do some bodyweight exercises at home. Doing
pushups, squats, lunges, chin-ups, crunches etc, will prevent your muscles from losing
size, and consequently decreasing metabolic rate which spells BIG TROUBLE - FAT GAIN.
Doing the bodyweight exercises will also train your body from different angles and if you
train hard enough you might even add some new muscles to it.
- House cleaning. All the
mopping and washing, clearing away junks and decorating the whole house can really burn a
few hundred calories and pump up your heart rate. Be diligent in it and you'll reap the
health benefits as well as enjoy the fruit of your labour - a new looking house!
- Dancing the whole night
away during the party. I guarantee that you'll burn more calories here than your normal
jog on the treadmill if you dance your heart out for at least 2 hours.
- Wrapping present can tone
up your muscles. The larger and heavier the present is, the more you'll exercise your
limbs, chest and back muscles.
- Do frequent shopping for
groceries and presents. Begin by doing window shopping around the whole mall, this will
not only burn calories but also assist by warming up your muscles when you carry heavy
stuff afterwards. If the items to be bought can be hand carry, then carry them. Resist the
temptation to use a shopping cart. This will ensure you get a good workout for major
muscle groups. Park your car as far as possible from your shopping point and make
more trips to your car to drop off your purchased items.
Food is an
essential part during the gathering of family and friends during the celebration. I must
agree that tempting treats during the holidays are hard to resist. But there are many ways
to prepare and eat healthy less fattening meals without sacrificing the taste, fun and
enjoyment. Here's how:
- Instead of using regular
mayonnaise, salad dressing, milk, and cheese, try to use the reduced fat or even better
still, use the fat-free version.
- Instead of using all whole
eggs for cooking and baking cakes, substitutes half of egg yolks with egg whites.
- Remove the all visible skin
and fat from the meat.
- Use less sugar and salt for
all cooking. Make use of spices, herbs, pepper etc as flavoring instead.
- Drink water as much as
possible to fill you up so you eat less and also keep your system hydrated.
- Try not to deep fry your food. Instead, try to
bake, roast, steam, pan-fried, or grill them.
- Use fresh fruit instead of
canned fruits which are usually heavily soaked in syrup.
- When you visit your
friends, request for fruit juices or plain water instead of soft drinks.
- Trim all visible fat when
you eat. Use less toppings, gravy and dressings on your food.
- Request for a small
plate/bowl when you invited to eat. This will reduce your overall food portion and you
will also tend to eat more slowly.
Here's to your happy, healthful holidays!
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