With the holidays being here already, let’s face it…. we all feel chubby, bloated, and “fat”. I’ve already had too many fish tacos, gingerbread cookies, and salty foods.
BUT, whether you’re stepping on the scale to see if you lost or maintained weight, or maybe your clothes fit tighter, it may not be the weight you think it is. Water weight can fluctuate from around 2-5lbs per day in some people.
SOME of the many reasons why you may be extra bloated:
•you aren’t eating on a regular schedule of every 2 hours or so
•you don’t drink a gallon of water a day
•more sweets/alcohol than usual
•you’re stressed (cortisol the stress hormone causes more bloating and water build)
•too much sugar
•alcohol
•your time of the month
•hormone regulation issues
•constipation
•lifting heavier than usual
•creatine
•bad metabolism due to past eating disorders/restricting diets
How to help bloating
1. Realize it’s normal and enjoy
2. Drink more water
3. Wait it out
4. Avoid tons of salt and sugar
5. Queue into when you’re hungry and eat before the stomach growl/nausea stage
6. Avoid liquid calories everyday
7. Daily moment
8. Stretch and do relaxing movements besides just lifting heavy
9. Brisk walk or jog outside
10. Warm bath or massaging your stomach if it’s sore
11. Fiber foods! *depending on how these affect you, you may need more or less!
I have the type of stomach that will grow 3x it’s size from eating dairy, too much fat, or sugar due to both lactose intolerance and a stomach condition I have. I have to be extremely careful of what I eat because of this…but I’ve also realized that many of the fixes I listed do help.
Workouts, water, bath, food, Advil, long walk, nap, and stretching are some of my favorite bloating fixes.
Enjoy the holidays, eat the cookies, and realize that the bloat “bubble” won’t always be there!
-Ashlinn
Growing Healthies 
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