The tantalising smells of pineapple tarts, bak kwa, and other Chinese New Year goodies fill the air. As you look ahead at the endless fest of steamboat, pen cai, and yu sheng over the next few days, excitement builds. This year, you don’t plan to hold back. However, visions of stepping on the scale in a month and seeing the numbers creep up dampens your enthusiasm.
Gaining weight is a common worry during the Chinese New Year festivities. The presence of so many scrumptious foods that are typically higher in fat, salt, and calories makes overindulging a possibility. When compounded over the many gatherings and celebrations during this period, the little bites here and there can add up to unwanted pounds.
You don’t have to choose between feasting to your heart’s content and watching your diet like a hawk. You can find the right balance to enjoy CNY treats without the regret of weight gain with some planning and simple lifestyle tweaks!
Strategic Eating Tips
Enjoy your CNY goodies, but in moderation. Mindful planning and smart choices let you indulge without overdoing it. Follow these helpful eating strategies:
Come up With a Game Plan
Heading out to gatherings on an empty stomach is a recipe for overeating. As the sight and smell of nian gao, pen cai, and other foods surround you, your hunger pangs may cause you to eat more than necessary. Research shows that hunger and cravings may impair decision-making abilities and willpower.
To avoid this, optimise your eating schedule. Have a balanced meal containing fibre, protein, and healthy fats before visiting. Some good pre-visiting snacks include a wholemeal sandwich with lean meat and veggies, oatmeal with fruit, or yoghurt with nuts and seeds. Going into a situation satiated helps you make controlled food decisions.
Pace Yourself
Chinese gatherings tend to be filled with tempting foods on rotation. Starter platter, sweet desserts, you name it! Treats keep coming. It’s easy to overindulge when you have uninterrupted access to these goodies for hours.
Implement the 20-minute rule. Since it takes up to 20 minutes for the brain to register fullness signals, eat slowly instead of rapidly filling up your plate again. The aim of this setup is to avoid overeating from delayed satiety cues.
Put down your chopsticks between bites, chew thoroughly, and converse with your dining companions. Not only is this better for digestion, but it also gives your brain time to tell you when enough’s enough.
Use the Smaller Plate Approach
Dishing out food onto bigger plates often leads to bigger portions. The result is excess calorie intake. Interestingly, studies show that using smaller plates (like salad plates) tricks your brain into thinking you ate more, leaving you equally satisfied without consuming larger portions of food.
At buffets, opt for smaller 7- or 8-inch plates over the big 10- or 12-inch options. Use side plates for main meals instead of dinner plates. Measure out snack servings as well instead of eating straight out from containers.
Portion control takes minimal effort but reaps rewards for weight control.
Alternate Between Healthy and Indulgent
Nothing ruins a celebratory mood faster than rigid dieting restrictions. Depriving yourself completely backfires. You’d usually end up in a blowout binge. However, leaving no checks and balances also unlocks mindless eating.
Strike a balance with the “alternating” method. For instance, have one pineapple tart, then follow up with fresh fruit or nuts. Couple some roast duck with veggie sides. Doing such allows you to enjoy your Chinese New Year without going overboard.
Stop at the First Signs of Fullness
Chinese culture emphasises finishing every single grain of rice in your bowl. But during times of copious feasting, practise recognising your body’s cues. Slow down and check if your hunger is satisfied before automatically loading up again. Overstuffing yourself to discomfort ruins the rest of the evening and brings on feelings of regret later.
Tuning in and stopping at the initial signs of satiety give your brain’s appetite control mechanisms a chance to work. Who knows? You might even have room for second helpings of your favourites later!
Make Better Drink Choices
Beverage options during CNY tend to consist mainly of sugary sodas, sweetened teas, and other high-calorie options that can sabotage your weight loss goals. Make more hydrating choices, so you can cut back on empty calories and feel satisfied sooner.
Stay Hydrated with Water
Going through an entire CNY day with minimal water intake slows metabolism. It interferes with satiety signals and sets you up for overeating. Sipping on plain or infused water keeps you hydrated, helps food digest better, and prevents mistaking thirst for hunger.
Drinking water also creates a stretching sensation in the stomach lining which gets relayed to your brain as a feeling of fullness. Therefore, gulping down a glass or two 20 to 30 minutes before a meal causes you to eat less without making any changes to your actual food portions. Easy enough!
Avoid Bloat-Inducing Carbonated Drinks
The bubbles in fizzy drinks like soda and beer can expand inside your digestive system. As a result, they cause bloating, gas, and discomfort. This compounds towards the end of a CNY celebration meal when you already feel overly stuffed.
Swap out carbonated drinks for healthier options like sparkling water, unsweetened teas, or just good old H2O whenever possible.
Getting into the habit of preparing your own drinks not only makes them cleaner but also encourages more water consumption too. Keep a pitcher of water infused with fruits so you always have something flavourful and fruity to enjoy.
If you do fancy the occasional ginger ale or root beer, pace yourself by alternating alcohol-free drinks in between.
Teas Over Pre-Packaged Drinks
Bottled teas and fruit juices seem like innocent options for hydration. However, they load up drinks with extra sugar to compensate for their lack of flavour. Going for unsweetened iced teas allows you to control sweetness and calories better. Unsweetened tea such as green tea, peppermint tea and oolong teas, which are packed with antioxidants assist in digestion as well
Skip Calories with Zero-Calorie Drinks
If water starts to feel boring by the third CNY dinner, zero-calorie drinks provide an exciting alternative without derailing your diet. Even if artificially sweetened, beverages like Coke Zero or Zevia use non-nutritive natural sweeteners with minimal effects on blood sugar and insulin. You get your fizzy drink worrying less about weight gain or other health impacts.
Burn Extra Calories
No matter how strategic you eat, extra indulgences during the long CNY period still make burning additional calories a good idea. Light activity during gatherings, post-meal walks, and consistent workouts help create a calorie deficit to compensate for feasting.
Incorporate Exercise During Gatherings
Sedentary multiline or poker card games popular during CNY are notorious for enabling continual snacking with minimal movement. There are plenty of ways to increase activity even when socialising:
- Suggest familial dance sessions to get hearts pumping and smiles going. Play some festive Chinese New Year music or classic hits that the older folks would enjoy dancing along to. Or you can hit upbeat tunes that everyone recognises to encourage participation.
- Take occasional walks around the house in between snacks. Even light strolls while chatting help with blood circulation.
- Offer to help with festive prep like hanging up decorations and tidying up.
You don’t need intensive training to burn extra fuel. Studies show that even basic movement incorporating more steps, muscle engagement, dance, and household chores expend calories that would otherwise get stored.
Go on Post-Meal Evening Walks
Heading straight home and slumping on the couch after back-to-back CNY meals isn’t ideal. Take advantage of cooler night temperatures and longer evenings to walk off some dinner calories.
Brisk walking after eating regulates blood sugar spikes better than sitting. Just 15 to 20 minutes of leisurely strolling with family keeps your metabolism humming as well. Late evening neighbourhood walks also promote better quality of sleep.
If relatives insist on playing cards or mahjong right after dinner, compromise by taking mini breaks every 30 to 45 minutes to stretch your legs and chat. Then embark on a longer walk once the games wrap up.
Incorporate Exercise Routines
To offset increased calorie intake during the CNY, your best bet lies with continuing regular workouts. Maintaining cardio and strength training routines creates a substantial daily deficit:
- 30 minutes of aerobic dancing or swimming burn at least 200 calories
- 45 minutes of brisk walking torches around 200 calories
- 30 minutes of circuits or strength training fries off at least 200 calories
Keep active daily rather than putting exercise on hold, so you’ll have an easier time staying on track with your weight loss goals after CNY!
Damage Control
Despite the best-laid plan, lapses in willpower leading to overindulgence can still happen during the CNY period. Use these damage control tips when an occasion arises (and only if there is one) where you overeat to discomfort.
Rehydrate
Alcohol and sugary drinks during feasting cause dehydration that leaves you depleted. Headaches, fatigue, and sluggish digestion follow suit. Instead of starving yourself or immediately cutting calories the next day, focus on rehydrating yourself first.
Drink water consistently. Add electrolytes via coconut water or hydration supplements too. Getting back to a fully hydrated state should take priority over anything else, even calorie deficit.
Get Light Exercise in
Hitting the gym for strenuous workouts immediately after overstuffing yourself actually harms recovery. On the other hand, light walking helps circulation for better nutrient absorption and reduces bloating.
Take a 20 to 30-minute stroll with family or friends. The social time will improve spirits too. Follow up with some leisurely yoga or stretching while watching TV to decompress tight muscles without taxing your body further.
Eat Normally At Your Next Meal
The natural instinct after an eating spree involves either skipping your next meal entirely or severely restricting portions. Unfortunately, this backfires by messing up satiety signals and usually ends in another binge once hunger returns.
Instead, consume a nutritious, balanced meal like nothing happened. Include fibre, protein, and fats to stabilise blood sugar and energy. Sticking to normal balanced meals prevent further issues from nutritional deficits or distorted hunger cues.
Of course, avoid using this as an excuse to eat everything in sight perpetually. But during isolated incidents of loss of control, normalise eating again as soon as possible.
Get Back On Track
One bad day or meal doesn’t erase all your hard work! After recuperating, avoid fixating on what has already passed. Self-criticism causes stress hormones that encourage holding onto fat storage.
Simply resume your diet program or meal plan
Get Expert Guidance with Eureka Wellness
Chinese New Year is meant to be a celebratory period of joy and quality time with loved ones. You can feast on traditional delicacies and partake in bonding activities without guilt or weight gain regrets if you can properly implement the strategies discussed.
When motivation slips, or you simply need extra support, don’t hesitate to look for the best and the most effective weight loss program in Singapore. Eureka Wellness offers a weight loss program to help you achieve your weight loss goals sustainably.
Here’s to feasting happily this season!
