It would be nice to think that after gaining weight during the holidays, you could go back to your original weight immediately. Hopefully, lose more than what you have gained. You promise yourself to eat less and exercise when the new year comes. You even enroll in the gym in confidence that you will turn over a new leaf.
Sad to say, this is not the case most times. Once we have devoured our way into those delicious holiday meals, our promise to lose weight the following year becomes a distant memory after we are faced with new challenges at work and at home. And by challenges, we mean excuses.
If you want to live a healthy life, your weight-loss promises to yourself should not simply be written on paper. You need to follow through. Fats accumulate year after year of holiday feasts, and if you don’t watch it, your weight gain could be uncontrollable. Furthermore, losing weight takes time, so you will need to have focus and dedication throughout the whole process.
What can you do to battle holiday weight gain?
Exercise
You’ve eaten enough, so now it’s time to lose that blubber. If you’re a guy, then you’re in luck because you can turn that body mass into muscles. All you need is a steady exercise regimen and you’re on your way to having a Jason Statham physique (think positive!).
What you need are good cardio workouts and compound exercises. If you go to a big sports club, like the New York Sport Club, you’ll find out that they have a wide variety of programs that could address your concerns. You will see a lot of members battling the same problems as you, so you will not feel alone in your adventure. You could join group exercises that are not only designed to make your body toned and lean the fastest way possible, but they are also designed to be fun and motivating so you would have courage not to give up.
For starters, you can do BodyPump. With this exercise, you will use light barbells and dumbbells, but with many sets and repetitions. Your trainer will be there to supervise and push you to the limit. Once you see how many calories you’ve burned in one session, you will surely come back for more.
Other cardio and core exercises you might enjoy are cycling, barre conditioning, burn, and Zumba dance.
Next, you will need to develop lean muscles and combat your body fats. The most effective exercises are compound exercises because they target groups of muscles in each exercise, and your muscle development will be proportioned. The basic compound exercises include barbell squats, deadlifts, bench presses, reverse grip bent-over barbell rows, and dips.
You could also try boxing or kickboxing. Contact sports are excellent full-body workouts. Aside from building strength, agility, flexibility, and stamina, you will be able to learn self-defense moves. Your reflexes will quicken and you’ll discover that they are also useful outside the gym.
Eat right and drink a lot of water
Even if you are overweight, it doesn’t mean that you have to starve yourself. It is actually important that you don’t skip meals. If you skip a meal, your metabolism will become low, and will lead you to feel sleepy after meals. Sleeping after meals is an excellent way to gain weight.
Of course, you need to move away from pizzas and buffalo wings and cakes and cookies. Eat healthy food. If you’re feeling hungry, you can eat avocado, egg whites, tuna, peanuts, salad, and some fruits, among many others. Also, sometimes you may want to think of your craving as thirst instead of hunger. If your stomach is filled with water, you might lose your interest in food.
Rest
Rest days are important when you workout. You will need to give your body time to recuperate and for your muscles to repair themselves. If you over-train, you might sustain injuries that will further prevent you from going back to the gym.
What we also don’t want to happen is for you to feel too tired and then quit working out. We understand that you may also be busy with some other things such as work, school projects, household work, children, or weekend trips.
To push you to follow your workout routines and eating the right meals, you can have a reward system that you can administer. For example, if you want to buy that new game or that new dress, allow yourself to only do it once you have lost a certain number of pounds. The more pounds you lose, the higher the prize.
The ultimate reward will definitely be the time that you achieve your desired weight and body type. You will gain more self-confidence and you will notice that your outlook in life is better. You would have proven that the word impossible is only in your mind.