Tips to beat holiday weight gain
26 September 2018
A thoroughly enjoyable holiday can be punishing on our waistlines, though not quite as much as you might have thought. One study mentioned by Saga found that, in the case of the 195 participants, the average weight increase was less than a pound.
A thoroughly enjoyable holiday can be punishing on our waistlines, though not quite as much as you might have thought. One study mentioned by Saga found that, in the case of the 195 participants, the average weight increase was less than a pound.
Nonetheless, weight gained on holiday doesn't tend to go over the next 12 months, potentially leaving us to pile on the blubber over time. Here are some ways to help prevent this happening.
Drink water before eating a main meal
In a study by the University of Birmingham, this tactic helped the obese study participants to shift weight. In this instance, it was 500ml of water that they drunk ahead of eating, while the resulting weight loss from doing this before all main meals was reportedly 9.43lbs.
However, if you don't drink so much water already, don't be afraid to gradually build yourself up to this amount over time. If the strategy could also affect medication that you use, consult your doctor.
Watch out for alcohol's hidden calories
As the likes of gin, whisky and beer are liquids, you might assume their calorie content to be scant. However, on the contrary, they are calorie-loaded. For example, there can be as many as 228 calories in just 250ml of wine and 180 calories in a pint of lager.
Therefore, during more celebratory moments of your holiday, you might want to resist reaching for a tipple. Instead, consider drinking water - which, as we have already detailed, can help weight loss.
Spare yourself more time to sleep
According to studies cited on The Telegraph's site, getting too little sleep can curb your fat-shifting ability by as much as 55%. Mustering more slumber can ease your weight loss efforts through helping your muscles to recover more effectively and relieving your stress levels.
However, seemingly the biggest factor is ghrelin, a hormone produced in larger amounts when sleep is lacking. As the presence of ghrelin grows, so could your hunger pangs.
Make your holiday a sunny one!
Provided that you choose the right location, your holiday could actually assist your weight loss efforts. Opt for somewhere particularly sunny, as the sunshine could supply you with vitamin D. A deficiency in this could lead you to become overweight, suggests research noted by Woman.
Why not make your holiday particularly fitness-oriented as well? That's possible when you book a Prestige Boot Camp retreat to enjoy in either Spain or Portugal, which both get plenty of sun.
Get lots of exercise on that holiday, too
Being on one of our fat-burning retreats gives you an especially good excuse to keep moving while on holiday. "Don't just sit, keep moving," urges Perryn Carroll, Specialist Obesity Dietician and spokesperson for the British Dietetic Association.
She adds that exercise benefits not just your weight, but also your energy levels and emotional health. All good reasons to phone us on 0117 973 12 13 to place your booking, especially given that we run boot camps in Devon, Suffolk, Somerset and London, too.
