4-week purifying diet to eliminate those extra Christmas pounds

After the Christmas holidays, it's time to get in shape and lose extra weight gained during vacation. No more roscones, nougats, roasts and banquets to make way for a healthier diet that allows you to reduce three or four kilos that, on average, Spaniards gain at Christmas.

Exercising is an option to eliminate the extra calories from the last few weeks, but simply walking is also an alternative to losing weight. Thus, a study funded by the United States Institute of Health quantified exactly the time or kilometers that must be covered to eliminate calories from specific foods such as pizzas, snacks, chocolate shakes or donuts, among many others.

Another option to leave behind Christmas excesses in our body is to put into practice a cleansing diet. Elena Soria, nutritionist at Clínica Menorca, proposes a four-week nutritional plan for healthy people, after which a healthy diet will be carried out to maintain weight

In the proposed menus, foods are given without weights, but the following references must be taken into account:

· 1 serving of protein product corresponds to: 200 g of poultry and fish, 125 g of red meat, 2 eggs.

Vegetables: 400 g per day

Fruit: 2 small pieces per day

· 2-3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil per day

Weekly menu for the first four weeks

During this time, Elena Soria recommends avoiding dairy products of any origin, animal milk, egg whites, cereals (except 1 slice of gluten-free bread) and pre-cooked and refined products. On the other hand, a week you have to eat blue fish, anchovies, mackerel, sardines four times.

breakfast

– Vegetable smoothie + 75 g of serrano ham + 1 slice of gluten-free bread

· From the second week onwards you can swap the shake for an almond drink

· In the third you can vary sausages, ham, loin, turkey,

· On Wednesday you can include an egg without the white one day, if it is not eaten in other meals

Mid morning

1 fruit + 4-5 nuts, hazelnuts or almonds + 1 infusion.

Foods

– First dish: Vegetables of any type and mixtures, avoiding tempura and creams with milk or cream. They can be boiled, steamed, sautéed. Preferably, do not exceed 90ºC when cooking.

– Second plate: Meat, fish or egg yolk

In the second week you can season it with a little olive oil (a tablespoon) and garlic, pepper, tomato, onion…

The third may include a glass of wine, if we have an event

In the fourth week, we can eat a light stew, such as boiled lentils, meat with vegetables.

snacks

1 Fruit + 4-5 nuts + 1 infusion

Dinners

– First dish: Vegetables (soups, purees, smoothies)

– Second plate: Fish or bird.

· In the second week you can add a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil to the creams

· In the third week you can start using canned or preserved fish

· The fourth week can be accompanied by the second with a garnish of boiled potatoes

In addition to this menu, it is recommended to drink several infusions a day, mainly green tea, and 2 liters of water a day, preferably with lemon slices.

If you feel anxious, you can resort to eating carrot-type vegetables in the first week or nuts from the second to third week onwards, always in small portions, one carrot, 3 walnuts, 5 hazelnuts…

Weekly menu from the fifth week onwards

The pattern will be the same, but other foods will be incorporated

breakfast

1 Infusion + 1 glass of rice or almond milk + Serrano Ham, Sirloin, York Ham or Scrambled Eggs. You can keep the initial breakfast

Mid-morning and snack

1 green tea infusion + 1 small fruit + dried fruits (3 to 5 dried fruits or the equivalent in hazelnuts or almonds)

Meals and dinners

400 g of vegetables per day + protein distributed as follows: 4 times a week fish (preferably blue), 2 times poultry, 2 times beef, lean Iberian chorizo, 2 times eggs and 4 times legumes and cereals from the area, for example lentils with rice.

You can have a glass of young wine at lunch and dinner.

As before starting any diet, it is recommended to go to a specialized medical consultation so that a doctor can help you lose weight in a healthy way. Furthermore, micronutrient supplementation (vitamins and minerals, omega 3 from fish, etc.) is important and must be guided by a doctor during said training.