Merry Christmas!! The Festive Season is here! This means holidays – end-of-year parties, Christmas, New Year, summer vacations, time off school and work, and Australia Day later in January. This all adds up to eating, drinking, and making merry – and, as much enjoyment as we all get out of these, they’re also the enemy of maintaining weight loss!

Christmas and the holiday period are a notorious time for putting on weight. The average person will gain weight during the Festive Season – some as much as 3kg or even more just from all that Festive Cheer! As easy as it is to put on, for most of us losing the weight will be a struggle – and some will never lose this weight, building on it year after year to gain an average of 10kg over a decade simply from Festive indulgence.

It can also be really hard to maintain your regular exercise regimen. Here in Australia, we are, in many ways, fortunate that this time of year falls in summer, which is an easier time to eat healthier (think salads and light meals as opposed to the stodgy food we crave in winter). But it is also easy to fall victim to heat and humidity, which can be very detrimental to our inclination to exercise. Add to that changes to our regular day-to-day schedules, it is easy to neglect those important daily choices we make which keep us trim and healthy.

How to Keep Weight Off over the Holidays

Making healthy choices at this time of the year is as important as ever – if not more so. The great news is that there are small, simple things you can do which all add up to maintaining or even boosting weight loss!

• Get Off the Couch! As tempting as it is to be lazy, don’t spend the entire break on the couch in front of a Netflix binge! Take at least half an hour a day to go for a brisk walk, get out in the garden, walk the dog, go to the beach or for a swim – anything to get your body moving and which you find fun. It’s not just great for your body, but for your mind and spirit too!
• Time Your Exercise. Let’s face it – the Australian summer is hot and uncomfortable and this does not encourage being active (unless you adore the heat). Earlier or later in the day are much more comfortable times to get out and do some exercise. If you’re an early bird, get up with the sun (or soon after) and do some exercise then. If you’re a night owl, make your exercise time late afternoon or early evening before the sun goes down. (If you’re walking a dog, it’s also much better for your pet to take him out earlier or later in the day in summer).
• Make Opportunities for Incidental Exercise. From parking your car a little further away to getting off the bus or train a stop earlier and walking the rest of the way; from taking the steps rather than the lift or escalator to spending a couple of hours window shopping and walking around the air-conditioned mall; there are plenty of opportunities to get a workout in – and it won’t even feel like a workout! If you go away on holidays, explore your area on foot – and if you stay home, explore a new part of your town or city on foot. Even going to a gallery, museum, or botanical garden for an afternoon can add up to good exercise.
• Play with your Kids. This is great for them and you. Play chase with them, go for a long walk on the beach, play backyard cricket or catch. Take your kids for an evening stroll to see your local houses lit with Festive lights. Go for a picnic in a big park, a bike ride, or a swim – anything that gets your body moving is great.
• Maintain a Healthy Sleep Schedule. Did you know that poor quality sleep is extremely detrimental to weight loss? It can even cause weight gain, plus an array of other health implications. While the occasional late night is OK, try to maintain your regular sleep schedule over the holidays. A new habit of sleeping late, napping in the afternoon, and staying up until all hours will be remarkably hard to break, and bad for your body.
• Limit Indulgences. Yes, it’s Christmas. Of course you deserve a treat and the odd blow-out or two. But don’t ruin all the hard work you’ve done up to this point by going overboard.

There are great choices you can make even as you indulge:

• If you drink alcohol, choose a white spirit (gin, vodka, etc) with soda over wine or beer. Always drink water between alcoholic beverages, and avoid mixers other than soda water as they are chock full of sugar.
• Choose non-milky/non-creamy/non-chocalatey cocktails.
• When it comes to food, don’t go back for seconds!
• Be careful of “grazing” – it’s hard to keep track of just how much you’re eating.
• Enjoy fresh summer flavours – seafood, salads, and summer fruits, and limit added refined sugar, processed foods, and white carbohydrates like rice, pasta, white potato, and bread.

 

• Be Realistic. By its very nature, the holiday season is going to be different – and after the year we have all had, we certainly deserve to take a break and reward ourselves with things that make us feel good. All in moderation! If you are going to be feasting one day, allow it but actively choose to be healthier the next. If you skip a few exercise sessions, that’s OK! Pick up again in a day or a week with renewed motivation.
• Set Goals for the New Year. Commit yourself to maintain a healthier lifestyle in 2021 – in terms of exercise and eating, as well as not smoking, sleeping better, and doing more of what makes you happy.

If you have stubborn areas on your body which simply don’t respond to diet and exercise, make 2021 the year you do something about it – and book in for liposculpture at Be Sculptured.

Be Sculptured for your Best Body!

Liposculpture may be the key to your best body in 2021! Liposculpture is a minimally-invasive procedure, carried out in the clinic, providing permanent solutions when paired with the appropriate attention to weight loss. There is no hospital admission, no general anaesthetic, very little down-time as you recover.

Contact Be Sculptured to discuss how we can help you reveal your true and best shape and overcome those stubborn areas which are resistant to even the most regimented exercise and diet program.

Be Sculptured is open as usual and adheres to NSW Health Department guidelines.

Call us now on 0484 898 977 to discuss how Be Sculptured can help define your body so that you look your very best in 2021. You may also visit our website to book a confidential, obligation-free consultation with Dr Meaghan Heckenberg, our leading Sydney liposculpture expert.

You may also choose to book an online consultation via https://besculptured.com.au/online-consultation/ or send an email to [email protected].