With the holiday season in full swing, chances are you’ve woken up a day or two recently and felt like have exaggerated things a bit on the food and wine front.
While we’re taught not to skip meals or even breakfast, at times when we’ve overeaten there’s nothing wrong with eating lightly for a day or two to give your body a chance to process the extra calories you’re eating. has consumed.
The key is knowing the best nutrient-dense options to focus on when you know your tummy could use a break.
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exchange a meal
A day of light food does not mean eating as little as possible. Instead, indulging in one or two meals that are primarily plant-based will not only give you a healthy dose of key nutrients and dietary fiber, but will also significantly reduce your calorie intake.
Think a bowl of fruit or vegetable juice for breakfast, salad or soup for lunch, or a plant-based meal like a vegetable stir-fry or roasted vegetable salad for dinner.
A day of light food does not mean eating as little as possible.
Simply adding a rich vegetable starter, such as a broth-style soup before a meal, has also been shown to be an easy way to reduce meal size and calorie intake without crash dieting or calorie restriction.
Know your light superfoods
When you’re trying to eat light, the good news is that there are a wide variety of nutrient-dense, low-calorie foods out there. superfoods that you can still enjoy while maintaining a day with fewer calories. Shrimp and shellfish, popcorn, rye and corn crackers, cottage cheese, plain yogurt, berries and salad greens are all exceptionally low in calories and can be enjoyed as snacks or light meals when your tummy needs a rest.
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focus on the fluid
Chances are if you’ve been eating out a lot and consuming a lot more alcohol, you’re dehydrated. This means that a day or two where you avoid alcohol and other diuretics like coffee and energy drinks will go a long way in ensuring that you rehydrate and give your body a head start on regaining fluid balance.
Think at least a couple of liters of liquid tea, water, kombucha, vegetable juices along with plenty of fruits and vegetables that are high in water content, such as celery, cucumber, cantaloupe, and berries.
This will help reduce swelling and alleviate the fatigue and dryness that is common when alcohol consumption has been much higher than usual.
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rediscover your hunger
It may sound relatively basic, but it can be easy to automatically eat our meals every day instead of waiting until we’re really hungry to eat a meal. This means that after a few days of eating more calories, there is no need to worry if you are not hungry for your next meal and skip or delay it for a few hours until you really feel hungry.
Eating when we are not hungry ultimately sets up excess in the long run.
Extend the overnight fast
There are a number of benefits associated with reducing the number of hours per day that we consume calories. It appears that a longer overnight fast, particularly at least 10 rather than 12 or 14 hours, helps to better regulate the hormones that control fat metabolism. This means that after a few days of higher calorie intake, simply waiting a good 12 to 14 hours before consuming a major meal is an easy way to stay on top of your calorie intake over the holiday period.
move much more
Often, we feel heavy and sluggish after a period of heavy eating, as we move a lot less at the same time. One of the easiest ways to buffer higher calorie eating periods is to move a lot more, especially after eating.
This means that a well-timed 20-30 minute brisk walk two to three times a day during the party period will go a long way in keeping your digestive system working effectively, helping to eliminate excess of fluid from the body and will reduce the experience. of bloating and digestive discomfort that is common after heavy meals and a lot of alcohol.
Author susie burrell is a leading Australian dietitian and nutritionist, founder of form meco-host of The Nutrition Couch podcast and prominent media spokesperson, with regular appearances in print and television media commenting on all areas of diet, weight loss and nutrition.
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