6 Tips to Lose Weight after Thanksgiving

6 Tips to Lose Weight after Thanksgiving 

If you're like me, you most likely woke up to having to deal with post-Thanksgiving "damage control"- not fun! Getting back on track with your fitness and weight loss goals after a festive holiday of overeating with family and friends can be overwhelming for some people. If you ate too much yesterday don’t worry you can regroup and get back to exercising and eating clean!

Typically at social gatherings there are plenty of high-calorie foods and desserts to tempt and tantalize your taste buds. Often self-discipline and control seem to go out the window the moment you step through the door. If you overindulged during Thanksgiving, don’t despair, there is nothing wrong with indulging now and again; in fact, it’s good for the body and mind to have a high-calorie meal after weeks of eating clean.

Unfortunately, many people have negative self-talk in the aftermath of overeating and convince themselves that they already ruined their diet, they may think “Why should I continue to try to lose weight or get in shape? I already gained weight back....” Then before they know it, they begin to mindlessly eat junk food and sweets and lack the desire to continue to exercise which ultimately causes more weight gain and frustrations.

Here are 6 simple ways to get back on track to assist you in reaching your ideal body weight goal. 

  6 Tips to Get Back on Track!

1. Get back to the gym! It’s easy to let the day after Thanksgiving be a lazy day after waking up feeling the water retention aftermath of eating a high-calorie feast. But actually

, the best thing you can do for your body is to work out. Your body prefers to be active, it takes a few days for the body to balance itself again after eating large high-calorie meals and desserts.

2. Drink up! After eating a huge meal filled with carbs, fats, sugars, and sodium your body will have a lot of toxins to get rid of. Drink a gallon (or more) of purified water to flush out your system. A great detox drink to have first thing in the morning is a warm apple cider, honey drink. Warm up (on the stove) 8 oz of water, add 1 tsp of lemon juice, 1 tbsp. of Braggs apple cider vinegar (with Mother), a pinch of cayenne pepper and cinnamon and mix in 1 tsp raw honey. This will aid on detoxing your organs and digestive track, and help you shed weight faster.

3. Eat a low-carb diet. When you eat a lot of high-carb foods your insulin increases glucose in the blood stream which causes storing the energy as fat. It also limits the body's ability to release stored fat. To turn your body into a fat-burning machine, try to keep your carb intake to 50 grams a day and eat protein with each meal and snack. Stay away from processed foods, sugars, gluten, and dairy, they cause water weight retention and inflammation in the body which will sabotage your weight loss efforts. Eat carbs in the AM after you work out and then eat lean protein, veggies, and clean fats the rest of the day. 

4. Write down your fitness & weight loss goals. Write down fitness goals to help you reach your weight loss goals. Create goals that you can follow through with for a week or two. Be sure to write in the present tense, as though you have already accomplished your goals, i.e. “I weight ____.” “I love to work out!” “I crave healthy food to fuel my body.” See yourself accomplishing your goals--see yourself reaching your goals—and then give thanks that you can and will follow through! When you set up a road map to success, your subconscious initiates action to accomplish what you set out to do. 

5. Visualize fitness success.  Each morning and night focus and visualize exactly how you want to be, use all 5 senses to skyrocket your desires. Us visual aids, post a photo of how you want your physique to be. Have an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks throughout the day for your miraculous body. The more positive you are, the better environment your body will have to thrive, which will aid in shedding the extra weight gained during the holidays.

6. Plan ahead and be prepared! Be prepared, know what you’re going to eat, when you’re going to work out, and when you will be in bed each night (sleep is imperative for weight loss). If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Write down your meals and workouts plans for a week, and then keep your commitment to yourself! To help you stay on track, keep a journal to log your meals and workouts. You can also keep a gratitude journal to help shift your mindset to expect the best and achieve fitness and weight loss success. Being accountable to yourself with the aid of journal keeping is highly motivating!

If you do the above faithfully, you will overcome the dreaded post-Thanksgiving weight-gain damage easily and quickly. Make exercise a high priority in your life to get your body, mind, and spirit back on track.

Have faith in your ability to shed the weight quickly and have fun as you continue to strive to live a healthier, happier way of life.   

Happy Holidays!

Carol Whitaker Xox