Getting Rid of the Excess Christmas Baggage
Written by: xjox
Ok come on how many of you ‘over indulged’ this Christmas? Be honest now! Christmas 'tis the season to be jolly and stuff our faces with turkey dinners, chocolates and cakes with cute little Christmas trees on them. Are your jeans fitting a little tight round your middle? Is your backside threatening to take over the world? Well fear not I have prepared this helpful top ten guide to get rid of your excess baggage and whip you back into shape!
1. First off we need to get rid of any yummy Christmas delicacies you have lying around the house. Give the chocolates to a friend or neighbour, bin those cakes and free your home of any temptingly sinful foods.
2. Bag up all those horrible presents your great aunt Agnes got you for Christmas and walk down to your local charity shop and donate them to a great cause. Help others and burn off a few calories at the same time.
3. Get any gift vouchers for Christmas? Then walk to the shops and buy an exercise video, pick something fun that you will actually use. Now days you can get tons of different types from ‘disco dancing your way to fitness’ to ‘kick boxing the flab away‘.
4. Do some cleaning. An hours worth of cleaning your room burns approximately 140 calories!
5. Don’t diet, you are more likely to fail if you attempt to stick to a strict diet, instead just make it easier to choose healthier options. Put healthy food at the front of the cupboards and stick the fattening stuff right at the back. Chop up some fruit and keep it in an airtight container in the fridge, when you need to snack you have a bowl of fruit salad already prepared. Do the same with vegetables and dip them in a low fat dip when you are peckish. Stick to 3 well balanced meals a day and only snack on fruit and vegetables and those extra inches will soon fall off!
6. Involve your friends and family. It helps to have support when you are trying to lose weight at any time of the year but when shops are still full of Christmas goodies and especially when they are all on sale it is essential. Enlist a group of friends and share tips, do the exercise videos together and push each other along. Set yourselves reasonable targets and celebrate together when one of you achieves their target.
7. Take up a new sport. Take a look at what your local leisure centre has to offer, they have a wide variety of activities to suit everyone. If keep fit classes aren’t your thing then what about swimming or tennis? If you ring beforehand there are usually qualified instructors who can give you advice on what activity will be best for you.
8. Walk the dog. If you don’t have a dog then see if a neighbour would allow you to walk theirs, or take a young family member to the park. If all else fails then contact your local animal shelter, sometimes they need volunteers to walk rescued dogs.
9. Experiment in the kitchen. Either buy a healthy cook book or borrow one from the library, there is more to healthy eating than just salad so try out a few new recipes, who knows maybe you could invent one yourself! (Be careful in the kitchen, where needed make sure you have a responsible adult to help you!)
10. Last but by no means least, treat yourself. Instead of buying chocolate bars put the money into a pot and save up for something just for you. Buy yourself a new outfit for when you have achieved your target weight or buy that new cd that you have wanted for ages. Give yourself small rewards for being healthy for a week and have a larger reward for when you have reached your final target.
Use any opportunity to get in a little exercise, use the stairs instead of the lift. Get off the bus a stop early or if in a car, park at the far end of the car park.
Most importantly have fun and you are guaranteed to succeed!
Small disclaimer: Be safe, never walk alone late at night. If you are young then make sure there is an adult with you and seek parental advice before undertaking anything new. If needed consult your doctor before undergoing any new health regime. Use common sense when using any guide to lose weight or keep fit. Always eat sensibly, don’t try and crash diet, it is seriously bad for your body and it never works in the long term.