Diet: 5 Tips To Lose Holiday Pounds

At the beginning of the year, it is not uncommon for the festive season to result in a few extra pounds on the scale. But don't worry: you don't have to fast or go on a strict diet to get back to a healthy weight! We have listed for you 5 tips to lose holiday pounds gently.

1- Reduce portions

The first of the 5 tips for losing holiday pounds without overindulging is simply to reduce the amounts consumed.

Reducing portions is a simple way to slim down gently, without excluding from your diet the dishes you love.

Often we are not aware of what is a portion of this or that food per person. Yet there is a simple trick to visualize the right amount of food for one person: just look at your hand and remember the following equivalencies:

- 1 serving of meat = the size of your palm
- 1 serving of fish or bread = the size of the open hand
- 1 serving of starch or fruit = the size of a closed fist
- 1 serving of vegetables = the size of 2 fists
- 1 serving of cheese = the length and width of your thumb
- 1 portion of butter = the length of a phalanx
- 1 portion of chocolate = 2 phalanges

2- Reduce sugar

The second of the 5 tips for shedding holiday pounds is to reduce added sugar (white sugar, honey), without depriving yourself of it completely.

Even if you're a real sweet tooth, make an effort to limit added sugar in your diet. This good New Year's resolution will be beneficial to your weight but also, more globally, to your general health.

To succeed in reducing sugar without sacrificing the sweet tooth, you can:
- replace industrial cookies and cakes at snack time with a piece of fruit and a slice of sports bread
- make homemade cakes by reducing the proportion of sugar by 25% (i.e. 75 g of sugar instead of 100 g)
- drink your tea or other infusions without sugar.

To give a sweet taste to a sugar-free infusion, you can add a pinch of dried licorice root (if you don't suffer from high blood pressure) or flavor your herbal tea with a teaspoon of organic and edible orange blossom water.

3- Reduce processed foods

Another way to limit added sugar in your diet is to avoid industrial foods, also known as ultra-processed foods or AUT. This is one of the 5 tips for shedding holiday pounds.

These industrial products can be found in the prepared meals section, dehydrated soups, breads and pastries, appetizer cookies, but also breakfast cereals and industrial desserts.

This is one of the best nutritional resolutions you can make at the beginning of the year because these food products are full of additives, sugar and bad fats.

When shopping at the supermarket, get in the habit of looking at labels and put down products with very long and incomprehensible ingredient lists.

Remember that the healthiest foods are also the simplest ones, such as whole fruits, raw or frozen plain vegetables, poultry or fish fillets, semi-skimmed milk and unflavored yogurt.

4- Reduce starchy foods

If you're a die-hard pasta fan in any form, but also white rice, potatoes, bread, pizza and cupcakes, one of the 5 tips to lose holiday pounds that you can easily apply is the PFF method (for bread, starch, flour).

This method simply involves not eating multiple starches in the same meal. In practice, if you eat pasta as a side dish or main course, you should not eat bread during the meal or cake for dessert.

If you want to eat bread with a portion of cheese or cake for dessert, your main course should be only vegetables and protein, such as a portion of white meat or fish.

Another tip that is beneficial for your figure and your health is to replace white pasta, rice and bread, which raise blood sugar levels significantly, with their semi-complete equivalents.

5- Reduce stress during meals

The last of the 5 tips for shedding holiday pounds is not about the food itself, but rather the context in which it is eaten.

Meals eaten in a hurry are not satisfying and make you fat. To successfully cut back and leave the table full, you need to take the time to enjoy your meal, savor it and chew the food well.

The RAS method (to breathe, wait and savor) can help you reduce stress and the speed of food intake.

Eating slower is a good tip for eating less, while feeling fuller. So sit back and take time to savor each bite.