5 Tips to Beat the Holiday Bulge
The holidays are a time for giving, receiving and too often overeating! In the month of January I’m often showered with patients who are trying to get back to their clean eating and exercise programs in order to shed the 5-10 extra pounds they gained over the holidays at parties, and from too much alcohol or from the lack of exercise.
These 5 simple tips will help you get 2015 off to a healthier and more energized start.
1. Eat Breakfast
Start your day off with a healthy, protein-rich breakfast. Most of my patients tell me they skip breakfast because they don’t feel hungry in the morning, or because they simply run out of time. Skipping breakfast can be detrimental to keeping a healthy body composition, as well as boosting your metabolism.
This can often backfire by having you feel hungrier and eating more throughout the day, which can in turn lead to an excess secretion of the hormone insulin. Insulin helps to drive glucose into the cells so that your body can use it as energy. An increased level of insulin in the body equals excess fat.
So start your day with one of these healthy breakfast options: green protein smoothie, eggs, homemade granola with grass-fed plain yogurt, oatmeal topped with hemp hearts, chia seeds, nuts and pumpkin/hemp protein powder.
2. Watch for hidden sugars!
Is sugar making us sick? A team of scientists at the University of California in San Francisco launched an initiative to bring information added sugar in our food and drinks to the public by reviewing more than 8,000 scientific papers that show a strong link between the consumption of added sugar and chronic disease. For the full report see www.SugarScience.org. Did you know that 74% of our packaged food contains added sugar?
3. Include good fats in your diet
Don’t always assume that low fat products are the answer to weight loss. If fat is removed from a product, then sugar is usually added to improve taste. And we know from tip#2, sugar is a major culprit for chronic disease especially diabetes, obesity, inflammation and fatty liver disease. Healthy fats include: coconut oil, olive oil, avocados, nuts, seeds, flax, grape seed, borage, black currant, evening primrose and fish oils, eggs and animal fats (free range, grass-fed and in moderation!)
4. Use safe and effective supplements to boost metabolic function
Combined with a balanced diet and exercise, there are safe and effective supplements such as green tea extract, chromium and soluble fiber - PGX - to help increase your weight loss success.
5. Seek help and guidance from your health care provider
If your weight does not seem to be moving in the right direction there could be something more going on. Various conditions such as thyroid disease, adrenal fatigue, metabolic disease or other hormone conditions can make weight loss extremely difficult and frustrating.
Wishing you the Happiest and Healthiest 2015!!!