Slowly but surely, Christmas is approaching, which is a holiday of peace and especially food. This is also associated with the annual stress of people not to gain weight. During these holidays, there is really a lot of food (and alcohol), so let’s take a look at how to indulge in peace and quiet and not feel guilty about every piece we put in our mouths.
WHAT DO WE GAIN FROM?
Today it is very fashionable to buy everything “organic”, “raw”, gluten free”. It is also fashionable not to eat pastries, skip carbohydrates altogether and eat only tons of leaves and vegetables and wash it down with collagen from your favorite influencer. However, all these “amazing” diets are based on one fact – reduced CALORIC INTAKE , and not the elimination of a certain item from the diet.
Whether we gain weight or lose weight will affect us energy resp. caloric balance in the body (intake > expenditure = we gain weight, intake < expenditure = we lose weight, intake = expenditure = weight is maintained). So we don’t gain weight from baked goods, nor from carbohydrates, nor from demonized sugar or fats, but from simply having more energy intake than its consumption. Of course, it also depends on the quality of the food consumed, but it is mainly the volume of food that will affect our body composition or the hand on the scale.
By eliminating baked goods from the diet, we will probably be able to lose weight, but not because we have eliminated the carbohydrates that baked goods contain, but because we have eliminated the total calories from baked goods. The same would happen if we eliminated fats or other types of nutrients. However, it should be noted that one “unhealthy” food will not make us gain weight, just as one “healthy” food will not make us lose weight. From the point of view of fat loss, it is primarily the total calories consumed, not bread, carbohydrates or “not eating after 18”. It’s all about the aforementioned caloric balance, which gradually accumulates, and whether we gain weight/lose weight will only become clear in about 8-11 days, not from evening to morning.
CHRISTMAS MEALS
There is more than enough on the table during Christmas. Many of these foods respectively. However, the dishes have a high caloric volume and do not fill us up for too long (gingerbread, cookies, nuts, etc…). Therefore, it can very easily happen that you exceed your optimal daily intake by thousands of calories in a few evenings in front of the TV. It’s not so much about one or two days when a person overeats, but if it’s a continuous two holiday weeks when a person is in a huge caloric surplus (energy intake > expenditure), the weight will definitely go up. And not just by 1-2 kg.
It is ideal to spread your diet sensibly throughout the day and, on the contrary, use foods that have a low caloric volume, but fill us up for most of the day. Such foods include, for example, vegetables, which have minimal calorie values and contain a lot of fiber, which satiates us for a longer time. Of course, no one wants you to spend the holidays eating vegetables, but this can also prevent overeating during Christmas. Just add vegetables to one of the main dishes and we will reduce the chance of overeating for the rest of the day. Next, we should focus on protein intake, as it satiates us the most among all macronutrients. Proteins include meat, fish, ham, legumes, skyrs and Greek yogurts, as well as eggs and cheeses. An excellent alternative to watching calories are, for example, potatoes, which, compared to rice, have a much lower caloric value and therefore we can eat more of them, which also has a psychological effect for us (a fuller plate).
If you can’t primarily orient yourself in calories, it is possible that the more often you eat during the day, the more excess calories you will take. Therefore, another option is, for example, to skip breakfast or. Have a smaller breakfast, in which we mainly replenish protein for long-term satiety. By “skipping” one meal and eating the first larger meal around lunchtime, it is assumed that we could reduce high calorie intake or. save calories for the evening “eating”.
Holidays also include alcohol, which contains empty calories. These can easily increase our already high caloric intake by another 500-800 kcal. If you are going to consume alcohol, then of course in moderation. On average, one beer contains about 160-170 kcal and a few glasses of wine even more. When “braking” hard alcohol with sweetened drinks, we can also accumulate quite a lot, so I would recommend plain water instead of juices or cola as a “brake”.
CONCLUSION
Everything in moderation! Extreme overeating and skipping exercise just because it’s the holidays is definitely not good, as is worrying and counting every piece we put in our mouths in our heads. We need to be able to enjoy and enjoy good holiday food, but we should still know when enough is enough. We should also not forget about exercise (home exercise, walks), which will help us burn excess calories and keep ourselves in shape. Find the golden mean and enjoy the holidays without regrets.