subject: How To Lower Your Weight And Increase Your Fitness Levels Before Christmas [print this page] At little over six weeks away, Christmas is looming - more so than most people can actually believe.
After the UK had its summer weather in May, it's seemed like the country has gone through a particularly elongated autumn which was never going to end and rather than act as a transition between summer and winter, we've become so accustomed to the long autumn that winter has arrived somewhat abruptly and surprisingly.
Everyone has their own aims for the coming weeks, with most simply wanting to have enough presents, food and drink for everyone to have a fantastic Christmas.
One of the points that many consider, however, is losing weight and increasing their fitness levels, but it very often gets disregarded as with just six weeks to Christmas, it can seem impossible to lose any noticeable amount of weight, right?
Well, no - it would have been ideal if you'd started eating healthier, exercising and increasing your fitness levels earlier, but in six weeks you can still lose enough weight that you'll not only be able to drop a dress or waist size, but people are also likely to notice the loss, too.
And what's more, you can lose weight before Christmas by following just four simple steps.
1. Lower your carbohydrate intake - any dietician will tell you that you the best diet is a well-balanced one that incorporates foods from all of the major food groups and which doesn't exclude any particular group.
However, if you're looking to lose a few pounds in the coming weeks, it's worthwhile contemplating lowering the amount of carbohydrates that you eat.
The reason behind this is that carbs give your body energy by helping to store the other foods that you eat for use at a later time. However, if you don't work any excess carbs off - which unless you're carrying out regular exercise you're unlikely to - it's advisable to just cut back on your bread, rice, pasta and potatoes for a few weeks.
2. Cut out the alcohol - lets be honest, chances are once Christmas comes around, you're going to be drinking more alcohol than you have done in the last few months. Therefore, cutting it out for the weeks leading up to Christmas will not only give your body a break from alcohol, but it will also help you tremendously with your weight loss.
3. Go walking - the easiest and simplest form of exercise, walking outside during late autumn and winter can be a bit cold if you don't wrap up properly, but if you're set for the occasion, the walk outside can be refreshing, invigorating and most importantly, a fantastic way of exercising.
4. Plan your meals - the difficulty through winter that people have with their diets is that they need to eat food that's going to keep them warm and full throughout the day, so things such as salads and cold pasta dishes that you might have throughout the summer usually won't suffice.
However, it can seem difficult to eat foods that will keep you warm and full that aren't unhealthy, as most hot foods, to many, can seem fattening or full of carbs.
The truth is that you don't have to be eating bacon sandwiches or bags of chips every day, however and for the most part it just requires for you to sit down and plan your meals in advance so that you can come up with ideas that will fulfil your winter diet needs.
