How to get slim in the Christmas season

First of all, one thing should be made clear: Weight gain does not take place from Christmas to New Year, but rather from New Year to Christmas. Enjoy the pre-Christmas period and make good resolutions for the new year. A little sin belongs to the Christmas season. Sitting frustrated in front of a salad annoys not only one's company, but also ruins the joy of the moment. A weight gain of 1 to 2 pounds during this time does not signal the end of the world, because the pounds will disappear just as quickly as they came - when done right.

Selection of Christmas cookies

Temptation lurks everywhere

Naturally a lot of calorie traps lurk around before and at Christmas: Cookies, mulled wine and fruitcake are offered everywhere, and then in the cold months, there's also the desire for roasts. Of course they are all calorie bombs, but they are part of our culture and simply belong to the season.

My tip: After a decadent meal, go on a fast for a day on the very next day. Before excess calories can be deposited in fat tissue, they will be burned.

Interval fasting as a quick solution

A single day of fasting is called an interval fast. Compared to fasting over a longer period of time, interval fasting offers the advantage of avoiding the dreaded yo-yo weight gain effect, because the body's metabolism only adapts to the reduced calorie intake after the second day of fasting, after which it then shuts down. However, then eating returns to normal and the calorie burn remains steadily high.

On a fasting day, consume no more than 500 to 600 calories in order to achieve measurable success.

How a fasting day could look:

- In the morning: Herbal tea or black coffee, served with 1 apple, or 200 g (1 cup) lean yogurt

- At lunch: Vegetable soup or salad with a dressing made only of vinegar, oil, salt and pepper

- In the cvening: Turkey breast with salad or vegetable soup

- Drink plenty of water or unsweetened tea in between

If this is all too cumbersome, simply drink a protein shake.

It is important not to fast longer than 2 days, and to be sure then to eat normally again.

Baking the "right" cookies

Christmas cookies usually contain a lot of butter, sugar and white flour. However, there are healthier versions that consist only of nuts, a little sugar and beaten egg whites: For instance, nut macaroons. These contain only healthy fats from the nuts and valuable egg white from the hen's egg. These cookies are not low in calories, but they contain a lot of protein from the egg white, and in metabolizing the nuts, already 20 percent of the calories are consumed. In my opinion, these are the healthiest cookies out there.

One of my favorite nut macaroon recipes:

Hazelnut Macaroons

This recipe originates from Germany, where bakers often scoop the batter on to wafers called Oblaten. No need to search high and low for the wafers; the cookies also taste delicious without them.

Ingredients:

4 egg whites
1 pinch salt
300 g (2 cups) ground hazelnuts
200 g (1 cup) powdered sugar
1 pinch cinnamon
Handful of candied lemon peel and candied orange peel, finely diced
Handful of dried apricots, finely diced

Preparation:

Line a baking sheet with baking paper. Beat egg whites with salt until stiff, then fold in powdered sugar, hazelnuts and fruit.

Scoop batter into small scoops on wafers (Oblaten) if available, or simply drop the scoops on the paper-lined baking sheet, and bake them at 140°C (290°F) for 25 to 35 minutes. The oven should remain slightly open to prevent the macaroons from hardening. After cooling, store in a tin can.

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