Drop those Christmas kilos

Dec 13, 2019

With the help of a nutritionist, identify your ideal weight and desired size and then slowly but steadily work towards achieving it, keeping all the above points in mind.

Feeling the need to shed a little end-of-year weight? In this article, first published in Flair magazine, Issue 4, 2016, Sheila Magambo shares some healthy ways to get back into shape.

It is a fact that many people feel the festive season is the time to reward themselves after a whole year of diet plans, exercise, and for some, detoxifying. At Christmas, diets are shelved with the hope of finding them again after the season ends.  In a season abundant with many celebrations like weddings, end-of-year parties and all kinds of festivities, this is to be expected. The mood generally is that of celebrating and thus people find themselves over-indulging in food and drinks of all kinds. No one really pays attention to how much they are ingesting and nobody really cares.

But then the season comes to an end and you realise that last year's clothes are a little bit too tight and the scale is reading higher than it was. It dawns on you that you had a little too much to eat and drink during the festive season.

For those who are in this situation and are wondering how to get your shape back, here are few tips.

Switch up your diet

Weight loss is 30% exercise and 70% diet. Therefore what we eat plays a major role in weight gain or reduction. Foods that are high in carbohydrates and sugar play a huge role in weight gain. If you have overindulged in these as well as soft drinks, alcohol and over-sweetened fruit juices, it is time to switch up your diet/eating plan. Throw out all the foods that are high in carbohydrates like white rice, pasta, bread, chapati, matooke and replace them with more protein and vegetables. For vegetables, go for leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber, tomatoes, and peppers. Diet is key for anyone trying to lose weight.

Exercise

Exercise helps burn off extra calories and keeps the body fit, in good shape as well as in good health. There are various exercises that you can do, so identify what works for you and stick to it. Don't start skipping rope simply because your friends do. If you are very heavy, skipping might hurt your ankles and knees whereas swimming or brisk walking would work very well. Regular exercise also helps to keep those kilos off so you can maintain a steady weight.

Discipline

A lot of times you find that people start off well with their diet and exercise plans and then somewhere along the way, start to slip back into the bad habits that got them in the mess that they are in. But if you plan to lose the kilos and keep them off, then you have to develop the discipline to enable you to keep up with your diet and exercise plans. It is so easy to fall back into bad eating habits or to just feel too lazy to exercise. Discipline is the key to achieving your goals.

Goals

There is nothing as frustrating as not hitting the goals that you have set for yourself. This actually discourages many people when it comes to weight reduction. But I have also come to realise that we tend to set for ourselves unreasonable goals and targets. We set the bar too high and then struggle to reach it and then when we see that we are not reaching it, we get discouraged and give up. We need to set realistic, short- term goals that are obtainable. It is better to work off 1kg at a time than go for the drastic 5kg reduction in one week!

With the help of a nutritionist, identify your ideal weight and desired size and then slowly but steadily work towards achieving it, keeping all the above points in mind.


The writer is a Certified Zumba Instructor

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