Overindulged For The Holiday? A Simple Fix To Lose Weight, Get Fit, And Feel Better Now

The holiday season is a time for celebration and indulgence. But what happens when all of that celebrating and indulging leaves us feeling bloated, tired, and out-of-shape? If you're like many people, you may feel like you've overindulged and need to take some corrective action. Don't worry - we have the perfect solution for you! In this blog post, we will discuss a simple plan that will help you lose weight, get fit, and feel better in no time!

Eating Habits

Detox

The first step in our plan is to detox. This means cutting out unhealthy foods and drinks, such as processed foods, sugar, and alcohol. One of the main culprits for adding weight over the holidays is an increased consumption of carbohydrates which leads to excess stored glucose in the body's cells and water retention. When the energy consumption is greater than the energy expended, it becomes stored as fat.

Carb cycling can help speed up weight loss and lead to feeling "lighter" and better. What is carb cycling? It is when you reduce carbohydrates or eliminate them from your diet for one to three days. Doing this can help exponentially increase weight loss due to the increased functioning at the cellular level, which draws glucose stored in fat cells. Cutting carbs and sugar out of your diet helps your body cleanse itself from all the toxins it has been exposed to.  It also helps to stabilize your blood sugar levels and improve your digestion.

Carb cycling helps create a leanness in the body by reducing ingested energy, forcing the body's cells to draw upon stored energy sources at the cellular level. This helps reduce inflammation in the body, which can help ward off a host of issues like heart disease, diabetes, and the risk of many other health problems.

Adding supplements to aid in detoxing and cleansing the body can help speed up this process. Some of the best detoxifying supplements are omega-3 fatty acids, probiotics, green tea extract, vitamin C, glutathione, and chlorella. These supplements help the body flush out toxins and waste materials, as well as support healthy digestion and stabilize blood sugar levels. 

Finally, drink plenty of water throughout the day. This will help detoxify your system by flushing out impurities that can build up over time. An increase in water consumption when combined with carb cycling as detailed above will help the body eliminate stored sodium, which will lead to increased urination; however, this is the excess water stored in the glucose-saturated cells.

By "leaning out" from carb cycling, the cell's mitochondria can reset and draw energy from other parts of the body, which leads to clear-headedness and feeling lighter as you reduce your excess weight and inflammation (more about diet and cellular function benefits of carb reduction at the Huberman Lab Podcast). Hydration is also important for detoxing because it helps move toxins through your digestive tract so they don't get reabsorbed in the body.

If you follow this plan, you'll be sure to get back on track with your health and wellness goals for the new year. So, don't be discouraged by holiday indulgences - instead, focus on taking the right steps to become healthier and happier!

Physical Activity Health Benefits

Move Gently

Once you've detoxed your body, it's time to move! Exercise is an important part of any weight loss plan, so make sure you get in some type of workout that includes cardio and strength training. This will help you build muscle and burn calories faster.

To help undo the damage from overindulgence, you should ease into a simple physical activity that's not too jostling on the body, but active enough to fire up the muscles, increase breathing, and get all that ingested food moving through the digestive tract.  A light walking or jogging routine is perfect for this.

Aim for 45 minutes of walking at an easy pace, increasing your speed as you go. This will give your muscles a good workout and help to increase energy expenditure which leads to weight loss. Plus, walking can help reduce stress hormones and improve sleep patterns - both of which are beneficial to overall health and well-being! 

Walking is a great way to get in tune with your mind and body. This can help increase serotonin and endorphins, which will help improve mood, well-being, mental health, and physical fitness.  So make sure to add in some extra walks throughout the next few days to reap all of these amazing benefits!

By following this detox plan and engaging in light exercise like walking you'll be well on your way to achieving your weight loss goals, undoing the damage from overeating, and feeling better mentally and physically. Taking small steps towards healthier habits will go a long way toward ensuring lasting success!

Finally, end your walking session with some stretching exercises. More on this is detailed below.

Break A Sweat!

In addition to light walking, you should aim to get one or two long-duration sweat sessions that focus on both strength and cardio. Long-duration can be anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. The key is to break a sweat, an indicator that your entire body is physically working out. This will help your body eliminate even more toxins and improve circulation. 

Strength exercises can include things like strength or resistance training, bodyweight movements, or timed circuit workouts. This type of exercise helps build strength and lean muscle mass.

Cardio exercises are those that increase the heart rate and get you sweating. The great thing about strength and cardio is that they don't need to be completed separately; they can be combined in one workout session to maximize the sweat benefits! Examples of cardio could include running, cycling, jumping rope, swimming, rowing, or even playing a sport.

By engaging in both strength and cardio activities regularly during your detox plan (and beyond!), you'll help keep your metabolism revved up so you're burning more calories throughout the day - even when you're not exercising.

Make It Fun With Music

But physical fitness is hard, and it can be challenging to sustain the motivation to continue slogging through a tough workout session. This is where music comes in!

Listening to great music with an upbeat tempo and inspiring lyrics can help motivate you to push through those last few miles or reps. Studies have even shown that listening to music during exercise can increase physical output by as much as 15%. So don't be afraid to plug in your music, pop in the best earbuds for fitness, and turn the volume up!

Choose music with a tempo that matches your pace or style of exercise. For example, music with a faster beat may be better for running or other high-intensity aerobic exercises. Slower tempo music is great for yoga and stretching sessions.

In addition to music, you can also listen to podcasts or audio books to learn something new while you exercise. And don’t forget the armband or fitness carrying case to bring your phone with you wherever you go so you can listen to your favorite programs with your earbuds while on the run. This will help make your workout session more enjoyable and help pass the time faster while feeding your brain good mental food on those long walks.

So next time you do workout, be sure to add music into the mix! It can motivate you to push through those tough exercises and increase physical output for greater results!

So, get to it and break a sweat! You'll feel great afterward and be well on your way to achieving your goals.

Finally, our last two steps are to eat light meals and stretch and recover.

Overindulged On Food And Drink?

Eat Light

Eating light meals allows your digestive system a break from all the heavy foods we tend to consume during the holidays. Make sure to include plenty of lean proteins and vegetables in each meal, while avoiding processed foods, reducing (or limiting) carbohydrates, and cutting back on sweets and alcohol. Some of the best food options to help reset the metabolism while detoxing are a healthy mix of vegetables and lean proteins at each meal. 

Breakfast

For breakfast, vegetables like spinach and kale are a great way to start your day. You can add in some lean proteins such as eggs or Greek yogurt for extra protein.

Lunch

Lunch should also be light and include vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, and sprouts. Adding in lean proteins such as grilled chicken or fish will help keep you full until dinner.

Dinner

Dinner is the perfect time to enjoy some of your favorite vegetables while adding in more proteins - this could include things like lentils, quinoa, beans, nuts and seeds, tofu, tempeh (an ancient grain), or grass-fed beef.

In between meals you can snack on vegetables with hummus or nut butter, fruits with nut butter or plain yogurt, vegetables, and lean proteins or healthy, low-carb/low-sugar protein shakes.

By following this detox plan and adding in some light exercise like walking or strength and cardio workouts regularly you'll be well on your way to achieving your weight loss goals, undoing the damage from overeating, and feeling better physically and mentally!

Stretch and Recover

Stretching is also important after every workout session - it helps reduce muscle soreness by increasing blood flow and flexibility throughout the body. These will help to maintain flexibility in the joints and prevent muscle soreness after exercise. Allowing the body time to relax both strengthens muscles and increases blood flow throughout the body, aiding in recovery and promoting better physical performance over time. 

Take a few moments to stretch after each workout session and even throughout your day. Stretches range from basic stretching poses like the cat-cow pose, cobra pose, child’s pose, and downward dog pose to more complex stretching sessions such as yoga or Pilates.

Regardless of whether you prefer active stretching that moves with your body or passive stretching that holds positions for several minutes at a time, stretching can be a great way to reduce muscle fatigue and soreness while increasing flexibility and aiding in recovery. It's also a great way to reduce high blood pressure, helps with eliminating toxins, and over time can help promote disease control in the body by reducing inflammation and cortisol.

Stretching is also a great way to relieve tension to help aid in digestion, reduce upset stomach, and induce deep, restful sleep at night.

Finally, make sure you recover with adequate restful sleep - this helps restore energy levels so you can wake up feeling refreshed and ready to take on the day.  A good sleep routine will help to reduce tension, mental anxiety, and promote deep sleep. To encourage this, limit your screen time an hour before bed and focus on stretching exercises that relax the entire body - such as seated forward folds or lying down stretches. 

When stretching, aim to hold each stretch for at least 30 to 45 seconds and focus on your breathing. Long and deep inhales through the nose, and a relaxed exhale through the mouth is the best way to connect with your breathing and help ease the muscles into a deeper, more restorative stretch.

By following this detox plan you'll be on your way to disease prevention with increased health and wellness steps that lead to both mental and physical benefits! With the combination of eating light meals, engaging in regular exercise, stretching regularly, and taking time for yourself - you're sure to find success and improve your overall health in no time.

Conclusion

Now that you know how to reset your metabolism by detoxing, exercising regularly, eating light meals, and stretching & recovering - it's time to put these habits into practice! Not only will following these steps help reduce holiday weight gain but it will reduce your risk of developing any diseases, reduce inflammation in the body, improve mental clarity and reduce stress levels.  So what are you waiting for? Get out there and start living a healthier lifestyle today! 

By taking care of your health now, you'll be better prepared to face any obstacles life throws your way tomorrow and next week!

So, what are you waiting for? Start your detox journey today and take control of your health! Good luck and have fun! :)

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