Getting rid of the Christmas stuffing

The holiday season is over. While we lie on the sofa, gloomily scanning the room which was sparkling with Christmas decorations just a few days ago, now only left with sad-looking and dusty ornaments, waiting for someone (me) to have the energy to put them away for next year. 

As is the case for many others, the New Year starts with some slight anxiety over those extra kilos gained over the past couple of weeks. The ham was just too delicious to resist, and you just can’t have too many potatoes. It’s only Christmas once and year, so when else am I really allowed to stuff my face with chocolate? And who said one slice of cake was enough? No, I’ve been eating leftover cake for days now. If I walk fast I can feel my belly wobbling slightly.

Though this isn’t really the end of the world, many, including myself, are becoming increasingly lazy. Eating makes me feel good. And there’s never really a day when exercising feels like the right thing to do. “There’s always tomorrow,” I tell myself.

But I know this is bad for my health. Not exercising comes with a myriad of risks to the body, such as coronary heart disease, strokes, high blood pressure, breathlessness just to name a few.

A recent study compared lack of exercise to smoking and estimated that lack of exercise is responsible for one in 10 cases of heart disease and one in five cases of colon cancer.

Of the 57 million worldwide deaths in 2008, it’s estimated that physical inactivity caused more than 5.3 million. Inactivity is a major public health issue.

Current World Health Organisation recommends at least 150 minutes (2.5 hours) of moderate-intensity aerobic activity throughout the week, or at least 75 minutes of high- intensity activity. You aren’t confined to the gym to achieve this; physical activity can include:

·         Walking or cycling

·         Household chores

·         Playing games and sports

·         Dancing

While my Christmas belly may seem like a purely superficial problem, it could have long term ramifications on my health if I don’t start moving. So I’d better put away these Christmas decorations.

Written by: Mimmie Wilhelmson

Mimmie grew up in Sweden and first came to Australia as a backpacker after high school. After travelling around the country for two years she returned to Europe and pursued a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism in London. But the longing for Australia and the sun became too strong. After having worked for some time in the media industry, Mimmie decided to make a change and swap the news for conferences. She now gets to do what she loves the most, meeting new people and keep learning about cultures and issues while producing conferences on current topics.