How to Burn Your Holiday Belly

It’s no secret our hol­i­day tra­di­tions cause weight gain. The Amer­i­can Heart Asso­ci­a­tion reports most peo­ple gain five to 10 pounds between Thanks­giv­ing and New Year. Overindul­gence in alco­hol, desserts and tra­di­tional hol­i­day treats along with spend­ing more time eat­ing and less time exer­cis­ing may leave you with a lit­tle extra bulge in your belly.

If you are guilty of overeat­ing dur­ing the hol­i­days, here are some tips to get you back on track and burn off your hol­i­day belly.

1. Drink 80 oz. of water daily.

Drink­ing 80 oz. of water or more is one of the most impor­tant things you can do on a daily basis. It’s as nat­ural as you can get. There are no added calo­ries, or cho­les­terol, and none of those unhealthy addi­tives you find in other drinks.

Another ben­e­fit of drink­ing water is that it helps remove tox­ins from your body. It helps trans­port food from one part of your body’s diges­tive track all the way to the very end. Fur­ther­more, dehy­dra­tion can affect your metab­o­lism which can delay weight loss. Drink up.

2. Replace cof­fee with green tea.

Green tea can help boost your metab­o­lism and burn fat more quickly. It also con­tains caf­feine and antiox­i­dants. Green tea helps reg­u­late glu­cose, fight heart dis­ease, pre­vent can­cer, and reduce inflammation.

Another way green tea is good for burn­ing belly fat is because it is a nat­ural diuretic that helps reduce water weight from the body. This makes you look less bloated and helps clean out your sys­tem each time you drink.

3. Eat lots of fruits and veggies.

Fruits and veg­eta­bles are weight loss all-stars. Not only are they low in calo­ries and high in fiber, they con­tains antiox­i­dants that boost your health. It’s impor­tant to eat a wide vari­ety of col­or­ful fruits and veg­eta­bles every day to reap opti­mum health benefits.

4. Choose bet­ter carbohydrates.

Get rid of white sugar and processed car­bo­hy­drates and choose instead to eat whole grains. Good sources include: steel oats, brown rice, whole grains, yams, sweet pota­toes and legumes.

Eat car­bo­hy­drates after an intense work­out when your body is most recep­tive and will con­vert them to energy. Also include pro­tein and fats in your daily meals.

5. Stay active.

It can help you imme­di­ately feel bet­ter. Car­dio exer­cise can include brisk walk­ing, run­ning, bik­ing, danc­ing, or cross-country ski­ing. Doing car­dio four to five times a week with com­bi­na­tion of weight train­ing two to three times a week is a great way to burn body fat.

If you are not see­ing results, increase the inten­sity of your car­dio exer­cise. But give your­self time to see results. The key is to stay active.

We all overindulge from time to time but get­ting back on track is one of the best ways to deal with the stress and anx­i­ety that comes from overeating.

Start now. With each healthy choice you make, remem­ber your com­mit­ment to stay healthy and fit year-round while quickly burn­ing off your hol­i­day belly.

Source: Active​.com