With the holiday season over, many of us are back at the gym working out frantically, starting a new diet and putting unnecessary pressure on ourselves to lose weight.
Nutritional consultant Vanessa Ascencao advises that a quick-fix approach may cause more harm than good.
Ascencao says a healthy lifestyle and looking good requires consistency.
This encompasses a regular exercise routine and a daily balanced diet which includes whole, natural foods.
Ascencao recommends the following tips for getting back into shape and staying that way:
• Ditch the guilt trip: you can’t take back your holiday indulgences.
Focus on the future and what you can do to become healthier, long term.
• Don’t deprive yourself: crash diets are not long-term solutions.
Focus on health, rather than diet.
Choose healthy foods and cut out big, heavy meals.
Have small meals or healthy snacks throughout the day instead.
• Drink water: you could feel hungry when your body really needs water.
Aim for up to two litres a day.
• Choose healthy: increase your intake of fruit, vegetables and salads.
They contain fibre, anti-oxidants and low GI carbs which are all great for a clean and healthy system.
• Cut down on sugar and avoid artificial sweeteners: sugar is an enemy of good health and artificial sweeteners contain harmful ingredients.
Instead, choose a natural sweetener like xylitol.
Alcohol is also packed with sugar so cut back on your consumption.
• Be creative: if you’re craving processed food and sugar, find healthy recipes online that satisfy your taste buds and your sweet tooth.
Healthy eating doesn’t have to be boring.
• Stress less: the holidays are sometimes also stressful.
Stress can lead to unhealthy eating and burnout.
Lower your stress levels with yoga, meditation and massage.
• Get more sleep: the holidays can interfere with your sleep patterns which in turn may negatively affect your appetite.
Avoid sleep deprivation.
Get back into a healthy, eight-hour nightly sleep pattern.
• Get active: regular exercise is non-negotiable.
If you don’t have time for gym, walk, run, swim or play with the kids in the garden or walk the dogs for 45 minutes a day.
On weekends, go hiking or play sports.
• Always have breakfast: oats is a great source of slow release carbs and will keep you going until lunchtime.
Sprinkle raw nuts, seeds or fruit on top.
Alternatively, try a boiled egg on rye toast.
These meals keep your blood sugar levels balanced throughout the day
Nothing happens over night so ease into your new year fitness goals.
