Festive season: Tips to avoid excess weight

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Extract from the article: The festive period is the perfect time to stop worrying about food, indulge yourself and eat hearty meals as you should. But that doesn't mean you should put on extra pounds in the space of a few days just before the start of the New Year. Of course,

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The festive period is the perfect time to stop worrying about food, indulge yourself and eat hearty meals as you should. But that doesn't mean you should put on extra pounds in the space of a few days just before the start of the New Year. Of course, says Sandrine Yasmine Zerbo, Nutritionist-Dietician, Specialist in Clinical Nutrition and Enteral and Parenteral Nutrition, Consultant and expert in dietetics, everyone is free to eat what they want. But here's some advice on how to limit the impact on your health and fitness.

The festive period is never easy when you're watching your weight. Here are a few tips on how to avoid putting on weight over the festive period.

Tip 1: Prepare the « ground » the night before

Before the party, try to eat 100% healthy, i.e. only live foods. « This will allow you to empty your glycogen stores, i.e. the sugar stored in your muscles, so that your body is in the best possible condition to prepare for the high-calorie meal you're going to have the next day », recommends Sandrine Yasmine Zerbo, Nutritionist-Dietician, Specialist in Clinical Nutrition and Enteral and Parenteral Nutrition, Consultant and expert in dietetics.

« Don't hesitate to do some physical activity the day before to boost your cleansing process and get yourself in the right condition.If you're really motivated, doing some physical activity on an empty stomach in the morning will help you keep off those extra kilos », says Sandrine Yasmine Zerbo, a qualified nutritionist and dietician.

Tip 2: Encourage digestion

« To help your body eliminate the extra food you eat, it's important to help it digest properly.You can take a small piece of ginger, the root in particular, which will help your body to digest, eliminate and avoid a stomachache after eating », suggests Sandrine Yasmine Zerbo, Specialist in Clinical Nutrition and Enteral and Parenteral Nutrition, Consultant and expert in dietetics.

Ginger has extraordinary properties. If you want to encourage digestion right to the end, you can massage your stomach clockwise during the meal to stimulate intestinal peristalsis.

Third tip: Avoid foie gras

Of course, says Sandrine Yasmine Zerbo, consultant and expert in dietetics, « you're free to eat what you want, but you should know first and foremost that foie gras is a sick liver! The liver of a healthy person is tiny. For economic reasons, to supply foie gras in large quantities, farmers practise what is known as force-feeding ».

The purpose of the liver is to filter the toxins present in the blood. During force-feeding, the liver accumulates an enormous amount of waste and ends up swelling. When you're stuffed with several kilos of food a day, you feel bloated, tired and your stomach is ready to explode.

Fourth tip: Limit alcohol

« I'm not asking you not to drink a single drop of alcohol.Of course, if you don't feel like drinking alcohol, don't », says Sandrine Yasmine Zerbo.

But for those who plan to drink it, here's some advice to limit the damage: « Don't drink alcohol on an empty stomach. Alcohol is aggressive to the stomach lining and to limit the damage, I really recommend that you drink while eating or after eating a minimum amount.Your stomach will also thank you the next day.Avoid mixing alcohol and sugary drinks. All drinks contain a lot of sugar as well as alcohol.Try to choose good wines, preferably without added sulphites and organic.Your headaches will thank you », advises the State Registered Nutritionist-Dietician. « Try to drink equal amounts of water and alcohol. Why should you do this?Because water will dilute the alcohol and make it less aggressive », continues the Consultant and expert in dietetics.

Fifth tip: Start elimination the next day

The Specialist in Clinical Nutrition and Enteral and Parenteral Nutrition has this to say: « The next day, don't eat breakfast, don't eat before midday, and try to postpone lunch until later in the afternoon.Why should you do this?This will allow your digestive system to go into « cleansing » mode. If you've had a hearty meal the night before, you won't need to eat at all the next morning.If you feel your stomach rumbling, don't worry, it's only because it's empty.That doesn't mean you have to fill it up at all costs ».

On the contrary, says Sandrine Zerbo, « the more you eat, the more your body needs to rest in order to recover.Remember that you can go an average of 30 days without eating, so don't worry, you'll be fine ».

The festive season is often synonymous with unavoidable weight gain due to the many high-fat and high-sugar meals eaten in a relatively short space of time. However, Sandrine Yasmine Zerbo, a qualified nutritionist and dietician, recommends these tips for preventing weight gain while still enjoying the festivities: Drink plenty of water and make herbal teas to purify your body. As soon as you wake up the next morning, drink a large glass of water to help with elimination.Do a bit of physical activity.Even if you've had a big meal the day before, that doesn't mean you shouldn't do something all day.Try to take a short walk during the day.

I wish you a happy and healthy festive season.

William O.