by Samantha Montpetit-Huynh

I heard something on the news today – if turkey makes you sleepy, carrots make you see better and spinach makes you strong, what makes you lose weight?

Eating properly, watching food portions and burning more calories than you take in does. It’s not rocket science but the whole weight loss dilemma continues to plague people year after year.

Once the weather gets a bit cooler and the holiday season begins, the primary focus is family and food – a ridiculous amount of food and for some insane reason our coping mechanisms go AWOL. We drink and we gorge just to later lie on the couch and say, “Why did I do that? Again?”

But let’s be realistic. It’s not going to stop anytime soon. If you’re like me you will say, “I’m NEVER doing that again!” Right.

How about instead, accepting what you have done and starting fresh? A few holiday pounds never hurt anyone. It only begins to hurt when you allow the holiday “cheer” to domino and you don’t nip it in the bud!

Here’s a few sure fire ways to getting back on track and losing those pounds in just a couple weeks:

1. Out with the old and in with the new. If you did a good job of eating over Thanksgiving, there was no shortage of sweets available and you have had your share. The cravings (hopefully) are gone and you probably feel a bit blah. Make a commitment of sugar abstinence and try keeping it for a week. Doing this mini sugar “cleanse” of sorts will help to stop additional fat storage, lower your blood sugar levels and alleviate bloating especially around the middle.

2. Drink LOADS of water. Water makes things move; good and bad. If you have taken a lot of crap in, it needs to go.

3. Up your workout routine. An oldie but a goodie. Burn more calories than you take in. By adding one more day per week or an additional 10 minutes to each workout, you increase the overall calories burned and temporarily increase your metabolic rate.

4. Remove 500 calories per day from your diet. Did you know that 3,500 calories = 1 lb. of fat? If you remove 500 per day, by the end of the week, you have lost one pound. Sweet.

In general, if you want to rid yourself of the couple of pound that crept on, there will need to be somewhat of a sacrifice to get it off. But remember, it’s only temporary as long as you go back to eating well and saving the “holiday eating” for the holidays.

 

Samantha Montpetit-Huynh is the mother of two beautiful girls and the founder of Core Expectations, Toronto’s only full services wellness team that delivers personal training, abdominal rehabilitation and other support services to the homes and offices of pregnant women and new moms across the GTA.