Afraid Of Gaining Weight This Festive Season? Here's How To Ensure You Don't Break Your Workout Routine

The festive season is here and so is the fear of gaining weight after indulging in some delicious delicacies. But worry not! We have a list of things you can do to maintain your weight without compromising on the fun.

The festive season brings with it a lot of fun and frolic with friends and family. It is a time when we meet people, dance at parties, play cards, rejoice in the festivities, and eat and drink to our heart's content.

While it is a crucial aspect of our mental and physical being, a major challenge during this time is also taking care of one's physical well-being.

Sweet treats, processed foods, carbonated fizzy drinks, the desire to be lazy - these are attractive and inherent to our festivities. However, it can also set you back on your fitness goals and even lead to considerable health issues, if left unchecked. This is not to say that one should not have fun during the festive season - in fact, it is what you must prioritize. But, the fun can also be supplemented with a few small things to ensure you remain fit and healthy during and after the occasion has ended. This in turn will have a great impact on your mind and body - thereby improving your overall well-being.

Manage Your Health And Fitness During The Festive Season

Here are some of my tips to ensure you are able to manage your health and fitness goals during the festive season:

1. Squeeze in some exercise every day, at home or at the gym, for 20 minutes or more. The best time for this would be around 10-11 am or 5-6 pm since most sleep late and wake up late. Just some movement, walking, running, dance, or yoga can leave you feeling refreshed and energized for the rest of the day.

2. Ensure you get power naps during the day if your night sleep schedule has been altered. Avoid exercising without good sleep, instead, choose a 20-30 min massage to feel relaxed.

3. Dance as much as you can at all your Diwali parties. Playing cards is fun, but it will also mean you are sitting for long hours. So make dancing a part of your parties and squeeze in some movement through dance!

4. Pick your sweets wisely! Source sweets made from natural sweeteners like dates, honey, and raisins. This will not only benefit you but also your guests. This will also help you control cravings & indulging in natural sugars don't create that addiction.

5. Ensure your drink is not mixed with sugary beverages like Coke, Pepsi, sprite, Fanta, etc. Stick to water and soda. The drink itself may not be high calorie, but the mixers can prove dangerous. Water, in turn, will help ensure you do not consume less than your daily intake.

6. Add a lot of fruits or fruit juices throughout the day or just have 2 tender coconut water a day. This is excellent for dehydration that's caused due to alcohol.

7. Snack sensibly. Keep the protein snacks going at night, it's good for you and can help keep that unwanted weight at bay. These include nuts, seeds, trail mix, fruits, etc.

8. If you cannot avoid namkeens in your snacks while drinking, keep options of healthy snacks, nuts, boiled eggs, grilled chicken. Protein snack during alcohol helps slow down the sugar spike in the body. Also, keep some salads/vegetables with a yoghurt dip. This can fill you up while also being super nutritious!

9. Lastly, Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate! They will certainly help wash the toxins away and may help avoid those pesky hangovers as well.

(The article is contributed by Shwetambari Shetty, Fitness Expert, Cult.fit)