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2023 Author: Cody Thornton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-24 11:20
I've been in beauty farm. I bought back the line ahead of the Notorious-Costume-Proof. And now I'll tell you how to do it, that Easter has passed and the summer is just around the corner.
Wait, maybe I was a bit telegraphic. I just wanted to introduce you to the subject right away.
Even though I know that everyone's memory goes immediately to Professor Birkermaier's Alternative Weight Loss Clinic, where the accountant Ugo Fantozzi secretly gorged himself on meatballs from Bavaria. Or at Villa Samantha, the nursing home for obese adults run by the Verdone-Pozzetto couple weighing 7 kilos in 7 days.
Luckily, La Maison du Relax, where I had the pleasure of spending a few days of remise en forme, it does not resemble one or the other.
The philosophy of modern wellness centers is centered on pampering. Yes, of course also on diet and a certain rigor, but tangible results are not lacking.
Above all, you learn to follow a healthier lifestyle. Which can be carried on an equal footing in everyday life.
Here, then, is what I learned.
1. Talk to your doctor
In a serious center, an appointment with the doctor is essential and daily.
When, at the first meeting during my stay, the doctor asked me if I wanted to follow a slimming regimen or simply a detox, I replied - all garrulous - that I had no problems with the line.
Then he put me on the scale (I don't have one at home). And I immediately changed my mind.
The balance test was followed by anamnesis and a general visit. It was not my case, but for those who wanted to lose weight in an important way, clinical tests were also provided (blood, urine).
Exaggerated? No, that's correct: before starting a stint, it is essential to check your general state of health.
Especially if you intend to follow a "notable" diet (in terms of weight loss), contacting a dietician is not an option but an obligation.
Do you just want to get back in shape? A preliminary consultation with your primary care physician can only do you good.
2. Get moving
There is no effective diet without movement. Both because moving helps to burn calories and fat, and because slimming actually "empties" and only with physical activity is it possible to maintain muscle tone.
There is no need to undergo exhausting running or gym sessions. Especially if you are not used to it.
In the beauty farm, the morning begins with an hour of stretching, which is gentle but still effective and suitable for everyone.
I understand that, at home, 60 minutes of gymnastics every day is an impossible luxury to indulge in (but a quarter of an hour of stretching, as soon as you get up, gives you forgotten elasticity).
However, think about how to increase your weekly physical activity. Resume your yoga class, go to the pool or cycle on the weekend, walk at least half an hour a day at a brisk pace (on a lunch break, on your way to or returning from work).
In short, do something. Even small. Which will always be better than doing nothing.
If, of course, you are already sporty, keep it up.
Corollary dedicated to ladies: massages & co. At the wellness center, beauty and physiotherapy treatments are included in the package. At home, booking for a draining or firming cycle can be a good idea to close the circle of your getting back into shape.
3. We are what we eat
This phrase is heard repeated almost everywhere. Unfortunately, it is true. I have never known anyone who, after the age of twenty, would remain lean and dry by eating fatty and caloric foods.
The filiform constitution exists but it is the exceptions that confirm the rule. Everyone else gets fat and their metabolism, the more the years go by, the slower it slows down. There is no way to oppose. The only weapon is to eat better.
In the beauty farm, the food was little, I was on a diet. However, all of excellent quality. So good.
Whether it was a legume soup or a pasta with tomato sauce, a buffet of steamed vegetables or a grilled fillet, it was all very fresh, well cooked, tasty. Of course, fat free. But - do you know that I found out? - you can live a few days without condiments.
The doctor also recommended it to me, for the home maintenance regime: during the week, controlled diet, free weekend (but really free), Monday and Tuesday zero added fat. How is it possible? Read the next point.
4. Cooking lean
On Sunday I began to prepare large pots of minestrone, naturally without sautéing. No frozen bags, just fresh vegetables bought at the market on Saturday mornings.
I dusted off the cast iron grill pan for grilled slices and paillard without condiments, but also for asparagus, radicchio, aubergines, courgettes and company.
I used the oven for the whole fish and for the fillets, just sprinkled with a pinch of breadcrumbs.
I learned to make yoghurt sauces with herbs and spices and I became a mustard-addicted: mustard, of all sauces, is the least caloric (not even 100 calories per 100 grams) and a teaspoon is enough, diluted with a little juice lemon, vegetable broth or even yogurt, to obtain a fluid dressing to sprinkle on all of the above.
Speaking of vegetable broth: just make a slightly long soup from which to take the liquid you need.
For example, to lengthen my homemade puree, then thickened over a high flame, with which to season the pasta, whipping only with its cooking water: I assure you that you will get a creamy sauce just right and not excessively punitive, especially if abundant with the aromas (from chilli pepper to basil), the real secret weapon of any light but quite tasty cuisine.
Finally, always on the advice of the doctor, at least one portion a day of whole grains. Whether they are pasta, rice, a slice of bread, breakfast flakes. Fiber is always important.
5. Eat 5 times a day
The number one enemy of the diet is always the same: hunger. Sure, as long as you know how to keep your throat at bay.
By using - as we said - only quality products, the taste is not (not excessively) penalized. But the small portions (we are talking about no more than 120-150 grams per serving of meat or fish, 70 grams of pasta, in short) are not very filling.
Mid-morning and afternoon snacks come in handy. Nothing lustful, alas, but a yogurt, a fruit, a fruit salad, a fresh smoothie help to spice up lunch or dinner.
I know, now there will be those of you who will say that they prefer to keep the meat rather than eat ridiculous plates of plain stuff, gorge on cooked vegetables, salads, fruit and waste half an hour a day exercising.
But when, after returning from the beauty farm and following two weeks of maintenance, I found myself with 2 cm less around the thigh and the rolls on the hips disappeared, well, I have to tell you: it was worth it.