LOSING WEIGHT BEFORE THE HOLIDAYS

BY: FITZ-GEORGE RATTRAY

As the holiday season rolls around thoughts of office and other parties, family dinners and the various holiday foods come to mind.  It is a time of fellowship, shared eating experiences for many.

Holidays, and vacations, may destress your mind, but the holiday eating often stresses your body more than heal it.  I have heard, “I need a holiday from my holiday” too many times.  Even people who are generally balanced eaters, need pre and post adjustments, especially because our bodies change as the years pass.

Moreover, if weight management is a part of your challenge, minimizing holiday gain, should also be on your mind, if it isn’t already.

HOLIDAYS INCREASE ILLNESSES AND HEALTH RELATED DEATHS

A distinct increase in heart related and other health related deaths during and just after the holidays (last week of December first week of January) has been frequently documented. Once stress and weather-related potential caused were ruled out, it is highly speculated that the increased deaths are caused by changes in eating and alcohol consumption.

There are a few points to keep in mind when it comes to holiday eating:

• Giving up on your wellness program and goals for the duration of the holidays is a no-no. It is beyond foolish to abandon the path of well-being for randomness at the time of highest peril. Any good weight management system will be able to support you through;
  • holidays
  • travel
  • vacations
  • challenging times
  • special occasions
• You should be able to enjoy your holiday eating wisely
• Holiday eating often increases toxins, damage your microbiome (specifically your healthy gut bacteria) and your liver
• Holiday eating adds extra pounds.  On average the weight gain is notable and if left unchecked, will accumulate and increase your health risks over the years.  Fortunately, this gain can be counteracted with a combination of pre-holiday and post-holiday eating management.

To negate the potential damages of holiday eating, and to lower your likelihood of overeating your preholiday eating management program should begin weeks before the season taking the following points in mind:

Designed to clean up your system so you will have reduced risks

Most foods are acceptable in moderation, but there can be an accumulation of excess calories, toxins, carcinogenic (cancer causing) and dangerously inflammatory foods in your diet. It is best to control your diet before the holidays; reducing the risk of health threatening accumulations. To this end a pre-holiday weight loss or “detox” system should:

• Be designed to reduce inflammation and allow your body to reduce toxin levels
• Contain the necessary balance of foods needed to build your healthy gut bacteria,
• Reduce sugar levels

Must always be balanced and healthy. Should never be a fad

Cutting out natural healthy foods to cut pounds before the holidays is a path to poor nutrition and potential eating disorders.  Fad and crash diets are not lifestyle solutions and most often cause more fat gain in the holidays and more damage than they are worth.

Be precisely calculated to prevent metabolic adaptation and metabolic syndrome

Simply cutting back on food intake can trigger metabolic adaptation, or worse metabolic syndrome. In adaptation your body will reduce how many calories it requires to get through the day. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of symptoms such as heightened triglyceride levels, increased blood pressure, insulin intolerance and more. This state creates a higher risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease etc.  Thankfully there are Weight Management Lifestyles such as Intekai which take these possibilities into consideration.

THE TIME TO START IS NOW

If you have excess body fat you should shed a few extra pounds before the holidays. The time to start is now. Major weight gains and increase in inflammation does not happen all at once. It is a result of accumulation, increases from on event to another, which was never balanced. You have 4 choices, lose now or lose later, risk not losing at all and the best option, controlled pre AND post-holiday eating management.

Remember, a pre-holiday eating plan should not be so drastic and careless that it traumatizes your metabolism, leading to even more gain and damage.  It is tempting to see the few lost pounds as a ticket to overeat until you pass out, but it is not. The goal is to not stress your body with uncontrolled eating,

A healthy, informed, eating plan will keep your body fat where there is a lowered risk of potential illness triggering, and placing you in the perfect position for even further wellness gains, giving you a happy holiday and happy after holiday.