Start losing that holiday weight now

CHRISTMAS has passed and many of us are wearing the guilty cap, having yielded to temptation and overindulged in food.

However, this should not hamper your progress, and even if you’ve gained some weight, you can still maintain your commitment to losing it.

Dr Alfred Dawes, consultant general, laparoscopic and obesity surgeon, said gyms will become more populated at the start of the new year.

“More people join the gym in January than any other month. You are struggling to lose weight, or maintain the figure you’ve worked so hard to get, you cannot afford to let Christmas derail your progress,” Dr Dawes said.

To lose the holiday weight, Dr Dawes suggests a continuation of your exercise programme to compensate for all the Christmas sins.

“This way you may fall not too far behind and come January, you will feel more motivated to continue working on that summer body,” he said.

Below, Rohan Gordon, personal trainer at Eden Gardens, gives some steps for losing the holiday weight.

1. Reduce your calorie intake

“On the day after the holiday, put away excess foods in the freezer for another time, or throw them out,” Gordon said.

2. Keep a food log

Keeping a food log of everything you eat over the holidays and looking through it day by day will help you. Gordon suggests tracking what you’ve been having on a daily basis. “Write down your food intake both good and bad. This way you’ll have an understanding of your day-to-day eating habits,” he said.

3. Increase exercise

“After the festive season, continue your exercise programme whether it is a gym programme or your regular home training exercises,” Gordon said. He added that walking can be a substitute as it doesn’t impact your budget and you may gain the added benefit of relaxation by walking in the park or at a football field in your community. “Depending on how fast you walk, you could burn between 60 to 460 calories per day in 30 to 35 minutes,” he said.

4. Have a support group

According to Gordon, having a community support group can help you keep focus if you don’t have that discipline to do it on your own. “Sometimes it can be very hard to keep motivated, exercise or even work out on a daily basis,” he said.

Clubs, churches and community centres often offer wellness practices before and after the festive break.