If you feel that your pants are a bit tighter after the festive season you are not alone! Millions of people will start January off in the hope of losing the weight they gained during December.
I would like to encourage you to steer clear of detox and fad diets as a quick fix solution. Although heavily marketed these diets are not considered to provide healthy and sustainable weight loss.
Here are a few tips to help you lose weight the healthy way:
- Decrease your portion sizes
- Remember that it takes up to 20 minutes for your body to digest your food, so eat slowly to avoid overeating
- Have 3 small meals per day (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and add some fresh or dried fruit as snacks in between
- Cut out the treats that may have snuck in too regularly during the holidays – things like crips, nuts, biscuits, cakes, chocolates etc.
- Focus on eating complex carbs, lean proteins and good fats
- Don’t skip breakfast – I think the benefits have been well documented on my blog!
- Increase your intake of vegetables and salad – make sure half of your plate is made up of these foods!
- Cut out alcohol for the rest of the month
- Avoid fizzy drinks and fruit juice and stick to still or sparkling water. You should be drinking at least 8 glasses a day
- Up the exercise. The sun is shining, the weather is sweet. Enjoy the outdoors and burn some calories! For weight loss you should do at least 150 minutes of cardio a week!