5 Ways to Stay Healthy & Slim during Chinese New Year

During CNY, people often go all out to celebrate and enjoy the moments with their family and friends. No doubt that meeting relatives, eating different kinds of CNY snacks and receiving angpao are the three happiest things during this festival. More often than not, we can hear people complaining they’ve gained weight after CNY. This is very bad news for those who have maintained their body weight throughout the years. Is there any tips to avoid this happening every year? There are solutions for this, but all you need is determination and discipline. 

Here are the 5 ways to stay healthy and slim during the CNY celebration: 

1. Don’t visit relatives or friends with empty stomach

You are likely to overeat on an empty stomach as your stomach is craving for food. It is advisable to eat some food before heading to your relatives or friend’s house. Try out some high-fibre snacks such as oats, fruits or wholefood bread as fibre will keep you satiated. Especially when you’re heading to CNY open house buffet parties which you oversee will eat more than usual. 

2. Go for smaller portions

Try having smaller bites at each meal and eat slower. This will lead to better digestion, easier weight loss and maintenance, and greater satisfaction with our meals. Chewing food thoroughly is able to slow down your eating pace and in turn reduces the number of calories you’re taking in, which can prevent you from overeating. Also, you can use a smaller plate for every meal. Using a smaller plate will trick your brain to think you’re eating more than enough, making you feel satisfied after eating. 

3. Prepare a healthy reunion dinner 

Most of the people will prepare a reunion dinner at home. If you’re also having reunion dinner at home, try to prepare a healthier reunion dinner with your family. First of all, try to use healthy cooking oil such as olive oil, sesame oil and peanut oil. Must include vegetables as well. Besides that, try to avoid preparing processed food such as Chinese sausages, fried bean curd, fishball etc. especially when eating steamboat. Opt for natural, wholefood material for the meal. 

You can also reduce the carbohydrate intake if you feel like eating all the food prepared. Focus on eating the cooked food instead of eating loads of white rice or noodles. This is suitable for those who want to maintain their weight during CNY. When the food are too delicious, you might end up bingeing all the food into your stomach, this will cause indigestion and stomach discomfort after that. You might experience weight gain as well. 

Moreover, if after meal desserts are a must, try to choose healthier desserts instead of the commercialized canned fruit cocktail which contain a lot of sugar syrup that can raise your blood sugar level more after the meal. The best choice would be fresh fruits and fresh lemon with sparkling water. Lemon is well known for boosting metabolism, improving digestion, and assisting in weight loss.

4. Eat selectively

No doubt eating snacks is the must-do thing during CNY for everyone. BUT do you know how many calories are there for every snack you eat? I’m not telling you not to enjoy snacks totally, instead you should control the amount you eat every day. Other than that, you can also pick healthier snacks such as roasted, baked or raw sunflower seeds, mixed seeds, vegetable chips, and freeze-dried fruits. These snacks will fill you up and make you less inclined to binge on other snacks. Avoid nuts that are fried or coated in sugar, honey or salt. 

Besides that, avoid or control the consumption of sugary drinks such as chrysanthemum tea, lychee drink, winter melon tea, etc. Instead, opt for water, fresh fruits with sparkling water, or even Chinese tea which are the better choices for your health.

5. Stay active (Light exercise) 

Exercise will help muscle cells to absorb blood glucose faster. Therefore, you can do some light exercises such as morning jog and evening walk after dinner for 30 to 60 minutes, not necessary to be high intensity exercises such as HIIT or running. If you’re too lazy to go out during CNY, here’s a better choice for you: stretching on bed before sleep. Stretching will help to reduce the muscle tension throughout the day and promote a good night sleep. Advisable to complete the low-impact exercise at least 1 hour before bedtime. 

→ Check out this Exercise video to burn fat

Hope you’ve learned some tips to keep fit and healthy during this CNY. 

Stay healthy and stay safe !