"Avoid Gaining
Weight This Holiday Season ...while still enjoying the festivities."
By Lynn Bode
This holiday season don’t be trendy – avoid the
Seasonal Seven (the average weight most Americans gain between
Thanksgiving and New Year’s). That’s one trend you don’t want
to participate in!
I know what you are thinking – the holidays are
a time for fun and indulgence. You don’t want to think about fitness
during that time. You want to enjoy yourself. Don’t worry! The
festivities don’t have to be eliminated or avoided. You can have
a fabulous time while also maintaining your weight and your fitness
regimen.
The secret to achieving a holiday season that
is both full of fun and also includes fitness is found in moderation.
There are two typical approaches to the seasonal festivities:
1) throw all healthy habits out the window and indulge in every
guilty pleasure 2) starve and binge approach (for example, you
eat nothing all day long to allow yourself to overindulge in party
food). Of course, neither approach is successful at maintaining
a healthy, fit lifestyle throughout the holiday season.
As mentioned above, the key is found in moderation.
With a moderate approach both to what you eat (or don’t eat) and
how much exercise you do (or don’t do), you can avoid packing
on extra weight AND also partake in all the fun of the season.
So this season, get a head start on the New Year instead of starting
January with extra pounds to lose.
Here are some tips to help you:
Create a plan ahead of time.
Before the holidays sneak up on you, create a plan for incorporating
fitness and good nutrition into your daily routine. Evaluate your
holiday schedule and then determine how much time you will realistically
have available to devote to working out and/or eating healthy
meals.
Don’t put your fitness goals on hold
until the New Year. If you can’t exercise as often during
this time period as you normally do, adjust appropriately. Don’t
use the excuse that since you don’t have time for your full workout
you just won’t workout at all. Instead accept your limited availability
and simply reduce the frequency and/or duration of your exercise.
It’s much better to cut your fitness time in half than to completely
eliminate it.
On the day of a party, be sure to eat
regularly all day long. If the party is in the evening,
eat breakfast, lunch and a snack before hand (just as you would
on any other day). Once you are at the party, go ahead and indulge
in some of the fun, delicious foods. Since you have eaten meals
earlier in the day, you probably will find that you aren’t tempted
to go overboard and eat everything in sight. However, if you starve
all day long attempting to save up all your calories for the party,
you will be so famished by the time it begins that it will be
difficult not to overeat.
Schedule your workouts. Mark
them on the calendar and set-aside time to complete them. Consider
them as important as any other appointment or event you have marked
on your calendar.
When at a party, start by eating some
of the healthy offerings. For example, vegetable sticks
(without dip), fruit pieces, plain chicken pieces, etc. Then move
on to some of the less healthy (but yummy) offerings. You will
be less likely to overindulge on these foods if you have already
filled-up on some of the healthier items. Yet, you will not feel
deprived or unsatisfied.
On days that you really lack motivation
or simply do not have time for your complete exercise routine,
commit to do just 10 minutes of exercise. You’ll probably
end up doing more than that once you get started. Even if you
only end up completing 10 minutes, that is still a lot better
than zero minutes. When presented with a large variety of food
options, it’s tempting to want to eat everything. Rather than
eating one large slice of chocolate cake or a huge plate of meatballs,
select a sampling of bite size pieces of several of the desert
or appetizer offerings. This way you get the enjoyment of trying
many different foods without overeating.
Exercise at home. You’ll be
more inclined to follow-through on your exercise commitment if
you don’t have to drive somewhere to do your workout. Plus, you
won’t waste any time on driving, parking, the locker room or waiting
to use equipment. Working out at home requires very little equipment
(even can be equipment-free) and is quite inexpensive.
Avoid wasting calories on alcoholic beverages.
The average alcoholic drink contains 150-200 calories per glass.
Indulge in just 2-3 drinks and you’ve drunk the equivalent calories
of an entire meal. If you partake in these beverages, choose wisely.
For example, instead of having a full glass of wine, try mixing
half a glass of wine with sparkling water or with a diet cola.
This will help cut your calories in half.
When running errands or shopping, be
sure to pack some healthy snacks to have on-hand. Then
after you work-up a big appetite, you won’t be tempted to grab
something at the mall food court or the fast food restaurant on
the way home.
Hopefully these tips will help you find a balance
between staying fit and also enjoying the fun of the season. Remember,
moderation is the key.
Have a great holiday season!
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