Now That You've Eaten All The Things - A Post-Feasting Mini Guide
Happy Holidays! Merry Boxing Day! Happy Day 1 of Kwanzaa!
Whatever you may or may not celebrate this season, most of us more than likely indulged in a tad more food and drink than at other times of the year.
And it was fabulous, wasn’t it? The holidays are made for epic meals, hanging with family and friends, not really checking for calorie counts and definitely being too busy to get in workouts, am I right?
That’s just how life is: there will always be a holiday or wedding or birthday or something to celebrate with food and drinks.
Absolutely nothing wrong with that - in fact, everyone should make it a point to enjoy these times to the fullest!
The danger comes when we don’t know how to stop and go from indulging to bingeing. And then from bingeing to punishing self with extreme diets and "cleanses" and hardcore exercise. Back to bingeing and punishing and cycling over and over every time some event/holiday/rough time comes up.
This kind of behavior can have devastating effects on the body, but we will not get into that right now. A little too bleak and depressing for Boxing Day. Just know it’s not good for you and there are better ways of managing times of indulgence.
For one, try not to think of holiday feasting as bad behavior that needs to be punished with diet and exercise. Ideally, you would have prepared for the occasion by making sure you stayed active and aimed to keep meals as balanced as possible throughout the season. But if not, no worries. Know that food is just food - it’s neither good nor bad. It’s either moving you closer to your goals or it isn’t. It’s either in line with your personal beliefs and principles or it isn’t.
So what to do when your goals are to eat all the yumminess and not move? When all intentions of balanced plates, eating in moderation and burpees went out the window?
Don’t worry, I got you! Here are 7 tips for After The Feast:
When you just gotta eat the black cake and cookies, stop when you’re satisfied. When your body is satisfied that is, not your eyes. Your eyes will go for ALL the tings regardless of how full you may be, so try to really listen to your body and know when it’s had enough.
Drink your water! For every glass of alcohol, have a glass of water. Have some water with dessert. When you feel hungry, have some water first to make sure it’s not just thirst. Just keep a big ol' bottle around and keep sipping!
Take a walk. A 20 minute walk after eating helps with digestion and burns some extra calories.
Add colorful veggies and fresh fruit to your meals - and eat those first! Having leftover ham? Add some leafy greens. Having some bread pudding? Eat some strawberries beforehand. This way you are more likely to get in good for you vitamins and minerals AND it will help you feel fuller and more satisfied before you end up cleaning up the entire pan of macaroni pie.
Do the chores! That West Indian tradition of picking down the whole house for the holidays is actually fantastic exercise and burns plenty calories.
Make the leftovers work for you. Freeze extras so that a) you don’t eat all now, and b) you have meals for days when you don’t want to cook. Bonus points for packaging them into individual portions for ultra-convenience.
Get in a quick workout. Tabata workouts are super quick, SUPER intense and they can be done anywhere - no gym required! Here’s how to do them: choose a movement (squats, lunges, push ups, burpees) and do as many as you can, going as hard as possible for 20 seconds. Rest for 10 seconds. Complete 8 rounds for a total of 4 minutes. Feel like death. Then feel awesome.
Holidays and special occasions are wonderful times of the year and are meant to be enjoyed fully! Give some of these a try and let me know how they work for you.
Happy holidays!!
