It’s that time of the year again. The festive season is upon us, which means a lot of eating and drinking are going to happen in different parties and get-togethers. To avoid the holiday weight gain, here are 10 ways you can prepare your body to shed some pounds before Christmas.

1. Exercise regularly – This holiday season, do not let the cold freeze you in place – get moving. The first step is to check your schedule and allot a certain time for your exercise each day, either a session in the gym or an exercise class, such as aerobics, spinning, or yoga. If you can’t go to either of these, going out for a walk or jog will suffice. And if you do not feel like going out of your house because of the cold weather, you can opt to exercise at home by watching free exercise videos on YouTube. If you are a commuter, you may want to consider getting off the train or bus one or two stops earlier and walk the rest of the way to work as an additional exercise. Another way to get moving is to use the stairs and walk up escalators rather than taking the elevator. On weekends, go for a longer walk or do other physical activity.
2. Watch what you eat – The holiday season is the ideal time to be more watchful of your diet. For the meantime, refrain from dining out or ordering to go in preparation for the upcoming festivities. To have more balanced meals, preparing home cooked meals will help. (Related: Recipes for Healthy Holidays.)
3. Start losing weight – Start losing weight today and eat healthy in preparation for the upcoming festivities. Plan your meals, or if you are busy, eat a healthy energy bar filled with nuts and seeds to satisfy your hunger.
4. Fill up your food inventory – To avoid the temptation from ordering fast food, make sure you have enough ingredients for cooking your own meals. For you to easily prepare a meal, it is important to have a well-stocked refrigerator with healthy ingredients. One way to stock up on food supply is to cook meals by batch and keeping meals and soups in the freezer.
5. Switch your coffee – The marketed warm drinks from different chains of coffee shops may be tempting, but these drinks may contain up to 350 calories a drink which should be avoided in order to avoid gaining weight. These drinks are packed with refined sugar. In place of the sugary warm drinks, order a regular tea or an herbal tea as it will last longer and make you feel more satiated. Apart from that, you can stick to water or warming herbal teas at home.
6. Refrain from eating sugary foods – Build a habit of avoiding desserts as early as today because it will make it easier for you to avoid them during the festive season.
7. Limit your alcohol intake – Avoiding alcohol for at least four days a week will make you feel more energized and more active the following day. This will also enable your liver to rest and repair.
8. Boost your immunity – Antioxidant-rich foods will boost the immune system and will keep you healthy and energetic before indulging on the less-balanced foods during the holidays.
9. Enhance your gut bacteria – Evidence on the relationship of gut health and overall health continue to grow. Imbalance in the gut bacteria may lead to irritable bowel syndrome, fatigue, and headaches. The key to having a healthy gut is eating fiber-rich foods, such as vegetables, oats, beans and pulses.
10. Sleep well – Sleep is associated with a healthy body — sleep controls your diet, poor sleep changes your fat cells, and lack of rest makes you crave food. A regular sleep schedule with at least seven to nine hours of sleep every day will help balance the appetite-regulating hormones.

For more tips about losing weight, visit Detox.news.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

Shape.com