6 Get-Slim Holiday Tricks

The one occasion that strikes fear into the heart of every dieter across the land is Christmas.

It’s not necessarily the day itself that does the damage – even an all out Christmas food-fest binge will only lead to a couple of pounds of fat gain, which can be remedied within a week, but the fact that Christmas seems to go on for so long makes it many dieters’ ultimate pitfall.

The holiday season can run from the end of November right the way through to the middle of January, and no matter how much you convince yourself you’re going to be disciplined, you’re bound to give in at some stage. It’s difficult with so many temptations at hand – cupboards full of sweets, refrigerators bursting at the seams with holiday-related junk, and enough sugar in your house to keep Willy Wonka in business until the next Millennium.

The key is to implement a few simple tricks to help you avoid these temptations, stick to your diet and maintain your physique. Not only that, but you may even be able to get slimmer over the holiday season, while those around you pack on the pounds and start the New Year with a sense of misery and despair.

3 Dieting Tricks

Find Lower Calorie Alternatives

This may sound obvious, but it’s amazing how many people throw their dieting principles out of the window come holiday season. They general thought being “If I’m going to put on weight, I won’t bother with any type of diet.”

This is pretty short sighted though. Even if you’ve resigned yourself to weight gain, you may as well practice damage limitation at the very least. There’s no need for you to go the whole hog and choose the highest calorie options of everything, just because it’s Christmas.

• Opt for low sugar cranberry sauce (or add stevia to it) over regular,
• roast your vegetables in a low calorie spray, rather than cooking them in a vat of oil,
• eat only white meat from the turkey, rather than the legs and wings.

The same goes for holiday snacks and other meals too, not just Christmas dinner.

• When making sandwiches with your leftover turkey, use light mayo or Greek yoghurt as dressing,
• stock your bowls with fruit rather than chocolate,
• choose light beer or red wine when drinking alcohol.

Strategically Plan Your (Ch)Eating

One popular dieting method is “cheating.” It may sound bizarre, but the theory goes that when you’re in a calorie deficit on a weight loss diet, your metabolism boosting hormones start to drop. The more you diet and reduce your calories, the lower these hormone levels go, making your metabolism slow down and your progress stagnate.

This can get pretty frustrating, and in the end, simply cutting calories further doesn’t cut it. What you can do however, is introduce cheat meals.

Ideally your cheat meals should be five to seven days apart, which could give you three or four days to eat higher calories over the Christmas period.

These aren’t an excuse for an all out binge, but it does give you the chance to relax your boundaries, eat foods you wouldn’t usually and go to town on the carbs, safe in the knowledge this could actually be boosting your weight loss.

Count Calories

It may be boring and uncool, but it works.

The simple fact of the matter is that if you consume fewer calories than you burn, you’ll lose weight. While you probably won’t be wanting to be in a calorie deficit every day, if you count calories every day over the holiday, then over a period of two to three weeks, you should still be able to come in under your calorie maintenance.

3 Training Tricks

It’s all too easy to let your training take a back seat over the holidays, but this is a short cut to fat town – population you. Don’t skip training just because it’s Christmas, or you feel that everyone else is doing it, so you should too. Set the example, and carry on training by implementing three really easy tricks.

Master the Art of the Short Workout

Pushed for time? That’s fine – there’s no need to spend three hours in the gym. You can get all you need done in just 20 to 30 minutes.

The key is to pick exercises that work multiple muscle groups (and therefore burn more calories and create a bigger metabolism boost) and to work like your life depends on it. If time is of the essence, there’s no way you want to be spending your gym sessions walking on a treadmill, talking to friends, or sitting on the thigh machines while chatting on your phone or reading a magazine.

Get on the free-weights – squats, deadlifts, lunges, bench presses, rows, and so on. These exercises hit lots of muscles in one go, making them awesome calorie burners, and will get you fitter, stronger and leaner.

Keep your rest periods short too – not only does this further boost your metabolism, but it allows you to get more work done in less time. If you’re feeling confident, or really are pushed for time, go for a whole body circuit comprising four exercises, each performed for eight to 10 reps with a weight that’s challenging enough that you struggle for the last one or two reps.

Perform all the exercises back to back, rest for two minutes then go again. You should be able to get at least four rounds done in the time.

Home Workouts

Before you’ve spent all your cash on presents for other people, go out and buy yourself some basic home fitness equipment.

A set of resistance bands, chin-up bar, exercise mat, skipping rope and perhaps a kettlebell makes an ideal home gym and will cost less than $100. With this, you’ve got no excuse for not getting your workout in, as everything you need is right there in your own home.

Even if you haven’t got space to keep any kit, body-weight exercises are a fantastic way to keep in shape without leaving the house. Become a king or queen of pushups, squats, lunges, burpees, chin-ups and planks and those holiday pounds are certain to be kept at bay.

Run

Running is a great stress-buster, so will help you deal with the inevitable family quarrels and rows over gifts. It’s also free, requires very little training, no equipment (apart from a pair of shoes) and is pretty time efficient.

If you’re new to running, start off my alternating walking and jogging. More experienced runners can try tempo runs or interval training, and if you’re really looking for a festive kick up the butt, find a hill and go hell for leather on some hill sprints.