Beat The Christmas Bulge
By admin • Dec 8th, 2009Christmas is now just weeks away and women across the UK may be looking forward to the chance to tuck into some turkey and roast potatoes, Christmas pudding, chocolate and copious amounts of alcohol.
However, when it comes to squeezing into that new evening dress to wear to the New Year’s Eve party, ladies may find themselves regretting the decision to splurge.
So once the annual new year’s resolution to lose weight is back in place, what exactly can people do to banish those unwanted pounds for good?
According to Ladan Hajihassani, dietician at Worcestershire Royal Hospital and member of the British Diabetic Association, the main route to effective weight loss is a change in lifestyle, which means making a commitment to healthy eating and staying committed, whatever temptations lie around the corner.
This means thinking sensibly about eating on a more permanent basis, rather than crash dieting for a few days and then digging into a takeaway.
"There are a few ways of dealing with it - eating less, or doing more - but the best way obviously is eating less and moving more. Eating a sensible amount of food, [restricting] portion size and then regular exercise is recommended," Ms Hajihassani advises.
She adds that this does not have to mean banishing regular snacks, but people should make sure if they are eating between meals it is healthy food, such as fresh or dry fruit, vegetables which have been cut into crudites or a small hand full of nuts.
"As long as they are good snacks it should be OK and obviously portion size is important," Ms Hajihassani recommends.
Her comments may prove extremely useful, after research by Herbalife revealed that while the average woman will splash out £68 on a new dress to look her best at the office Christmas bash, only 50 per cent will manage to lose enough weight to get into it.
It was also found that one in three women always go on a diet pre-Christmas - but only one in five keep the weight off permanently.
This year has seen a number of celebrities successfully shed the pounds, which could help to inspire ladies on their quest to lose weight healthily and then keep it off.
After a picture emerged showing Hannah Waterman in a size 16 bikini while on holiday, the former Eastenders star decided to do something to beat the bulge and has now reportedly dropped five dress sizes over the last five months, taking her to a size six.
The actress told Heat magazine that she opted to lose weight steadily rather than crash dieting and that she had achieved her target size by doing interval training.
This form of exercise works by working out to speed up heart rate, before switching to a lower impact activity and building up again.
Hannah told the magazine that the regime is hard "but it works".
Women can follow her exercise regime on her new DVD Hannah Waterman’s Body Blitz.
Another celebrity to have battled the bulge this year is Natalie Cassidy.
After dramatically slimming to a size eight a few years after leaving Eastenders, she admitted she had struggled to keep the pounds off and she slowly crept back up to a size 16.
However, following a stint on Strictly Come Dancing, Natalie has managed to shed some of the weight she gained, although she admitted to Chris Moyles on his Radio 1 breakfast show that she was worried about getting "really fat again", adding that she would start going to the gym but "I can’t bear it".
Do you have a weight loss plan in mind for after Christmas?
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One of the biggest errors I see people make is going on a diet that doesn’t include their usual foods, including snacks and treats.
They “diet”, lose some weight, and then are desperate by the time they go back to their normal foods. And since they haven’t made any fundamental changes then all the weight comes back.