Holidays equate to delicious food, reckless eating, and of course, the inevitable weight gain. Even if you’ve been strictly following your diet, the holiday season is bound to rip your diet-plan to shreds. But the realization of having eaten “too much” sets in only post holiday, when you’re back at your work desk.
Sometimes, binge-eating doesn’t even have anything to do with the holiday season. A sight of the yummy-looking pizza commercial or a night of watching cooking shows on your television is all it takes for your diet to take a backseat the rest of the week. So, the week of binge-eating has made you feel bloated along with making you put on a few kilos . If you’re wondering how to lose it without having to resort to fad diets, read on.
1. Set A Goal
Before planning a schedule to lose the extra calories you’ve gained, set a goal. Examine how many calories you’ve consumed and decide how many kilos you need to lose. Your goal doesn’t need to be limited to losing the extra weight. You can just aim to control your cravings and eat better the next time. If you have a specific goal in mind, it’s easier to work toward it.
2. Don’t Deprive Yourself Of Your Favorite Food
The reason most of us deviate from our diet so often is that we fail to include a cheat meal in our oh-so-healthy diet plan. To make sure you don’t go off track again, set a cheat meal and plan what that meal is going to consist of. This way, you’ll be in control of what you eat and won’t be tempted eat more than what you can burn.
3. Don’t Skip Meals
If you’ve had a particularly “heavy” week, you probably feel the need to compensate for it by skipping a few meals the following days. However, as logical as this may seem to be, it’s far from a good idea. When you skip a meal, you don’t get the required protein and fiber, which are responsible for not only for providing energy but also satiating your hunger. So, skipping a meal only means you’re going to feel hungrier and over-eat during the next meal.1
4. Eat The Right Food
It’s not only important to eat at the right time but also to eat the right food. Make sure to include the following foods in your diet.
Whole Grains
The number of calories you lose after eating a cup of whole grains is the same number you’d lose after a 30-minute brisk walk. Whole grains are high in fiber, a carbohydrate that cannot be digested by your body. This increases the time taken for whole grains to be digested. The slow digestion keeps you full for longer and prevents you from binge-eating more food.2
Lean Chicken
For a filling food that burns fat, add skinless lean chicken to your list. Lean chicken is a source of healthy protein, which burns the fat in your body and converts it into energy. Also, protein can keep you full for a long time and prevent you from eating between meals.3
Nuts
Nuts are rich in omega-9 or oleic acid. Omega-9s stimulate your mitochondria – the energizing “battery” cells – which increase the rate at which your body burns fat. Along with nuts, you can also opt for peanut butter – it’ll not only burn fat but also convince you to stick to your diet!4
Vegetables
Include a lot of vegetables, especially the non-starchy ones, in your diet. They rev up your metabolism and help your body burn fat faster. So eat plenty of broccoli, spinach, pickles, pepper, corn, cucumbers, potatoes, and lentils.
5. Drink Water
When you feel bloated after a week of binge-eating, hydration is essential. Firstly, water helps you digest all the food you’ve eaten and aids in its easy excretion. Additionally, water also flushes out the undigested parts of the food that cause bloating. Aim to drink about 7 to 8 glasses of water every day to improve digestion. If you don’t drink enough water, your body tries to retain as much water as possible, which causes dehydration and bloating.
6. Get Moving
The first thing that you need to do after a day or week of binge-eating is to shed those extra calories. And how do you do it? By exercising, of course! You don’t need to hit the gym and work the scariest looking machine or run a marathon to lose all the kilos. All that you need is about 30–45 minutes of stretching, walking, and some aerobic activity like Zumba or swimming.
7. Be Patient
You won’t lose all that extra weight within a day or two. Hence, it’s important to be patient till you see the results. Don’t give up and go back to eating unhealthy food just because you haven’t lost the kilos yet. And honestly, even if you aren’t able to burn all the extra weight, it’s okay. One week of binge-eating isn’t all that unhealthy, as long as you’re able to get right back on track later.
These are just a few steps to help you burn calories after you’ve eaten way too much. Following these steps will also help you stick to your diet and avoid another binge-eating week in the future.
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