Welp, it’s already here. 2018 has just begun and it’s time to head back to the office. Hopefully, you had an amazing holiday and threw a great Christmas party with your friends and family. The only problem with all those cookies, Christmas cake, and Christmas roast? Now you’ve got a few lbs to lose before the summer.
But don’t fear, we here at Naipo have got your back. Here are 8 ways that you can burn away that holiday fat:
1. Find The Right Diet
“It’s simple, I’ll just go for a walk every day”, you say to yourself. Wrong. As the saying goes; you can’t outrun a bad diet. Exercise is a great choice but if you really want to burn away the fat you need to eat properly. There are a lot of diets out there nowadays (low carb, the Mediterranean diet, vegan, intermittent fasting, etc), it’s hard to know which is the right one. Everyone is different and everyone responds differently to each diet. What works great for your friend may not work for you. The trick is to find the diet that works best for you and stick with it.
2. Get a Weight Loss Buddy
Dieting is great but everyone has a story of that time they started a post-holiday diet, stuck with it for 2 weeks, and then promptly gave up. It’s easy to start a diet, the tricky part is sticking to it. One way to ensure you stay on your diet? Get a weight loss buddy. A weight loss buddy is someone that will check in with you about how your diet is going, making sure you aren’t cheating. Having someone you are accountable to will help you keep your diet and not cheat.
3. Don’t Just Do Cardio
As already stated, for serious fat burning results you need to do both diet and exercise. But what is the best exercise to do? Cardio? Resistance? Well, the answer is actually both together. As this Huffington Post story points out a 2008 study at the University of California showed that doing cardio plus resistance training burns significantly more fat than doing cardio or resistance training only.
4. Embrace HIIT/Tabata Training
HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) has been shown to be a very effective cardio training method, involving intervals of high-intensity exercises with short breaks in between. A popular HIIT method is the Tabata training protocol: 20 seconds high intensity, 10 seconds break, 8 rounds. Want to add that resistance we talked about in the previous point? Use a total-body exercise like the Goblet Squat Tabata or the Burpee Tabata. A great thing about this tip? No need to sign up for a gym membership!
5. Eat Bananas
You’re probably going to feel a little bit peckish after you’ve worked out and burnt some of that holiday fat. Want to know a great food for not just recovery but also burning fat? Bananas. Bananas are filled with potassium and magnesium, which not only aid in workout recovery but also helps reduce the bloating eating all those cookies caused. Bananas are also packed in plant-based prebiotics, which “feed” the good bacteria in your gut.
6. Drink Green Tea
A good way to help you burn fat is to make sure you are well hydrated, and drinking green tea not only helps you stay hydrated it also aids in burning fat. Green tea can provide a big boost to your metabolism, thanks to the compound EGCG that is found in brewed green tea. In fact, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported that drinking four cups of green tea a day helped people lose weight in just a few weeks. If you want to learn about more foods that can help burn off that holiday fat, check out our article on the 13 Best Fat Burning Foods.
7. Get a Massage
Chances are that on relaxing holiday break you weren’t very active, and no, lounging on the beach does not count as active. Well, it’s time to get your blood pumping again and what better way to do that than a massage? Massages help reduce stress and anxiety (which are linked to weight gain), increase circulation, and relieves back pain. With better blood circulation your muscles can better feed themselves, dump out toxins, and burn away fat. If a day at a spa getting a massage sounds too expensive for you, then there is another option. Personal massagers are inexpensive, effective, and means you can have a massage whenever you want, like the Naipo Back Massager Shiatsu Massage Seat Cushion (available here).
8. Give Yourself a Deadline
It’s easy to start a diet and exercise plan, the tricky part is sticking to it. One way to help ensure that you stick to your weight loss plan is to get specific. Don’t just say “I’m going to lose weight”, specify a specific amount of weight you’re going to lose and a deadline to lose it by, e.g. “I will lose 10lbs by 08 February”. By giving yourself a specific goal and deadline you are more likely to keep to your diet and exercise plan.
We hope these tips will help you in your mission to lose those dreaded holiday lbs. The holidays are over and it’s time to get back to work, both in the office and in the gym. We’ll see you looking fit and slim on the beach in the next holiday.
