The average American gains between five to ten pounds during the holidays that becomes nearly impossible to lose, according to the National Institutes of Health. And with all the traditional feasts clumped together at the end of the year, how can we avoid it?
There’s Thanksgiving, where it’s a national tradition to eat unhealthy amounts of turkey and pie. Then there’s all the late night snacking when you’re studying for a final, the end of year party with your friends, all the holiday candy being handed out at any office you go into—and that’s just at school!
When you go to visit the family during the break, there are reunion dinners, then the non-denomination-discriminatory Holiday feast, more candy, New Years dinner and obligatory sugary or alcoholic beverage, and finally a goodbye meal.
Between the finals, family, feasting and festivities, there’s no time to keep up a regular exercise plan unless you’ve got a completely uncomplicated life where you have time to do the things you want and need (and if that’s the case, please adopt me).
But don’t worry, this article wasn’t written to draw attention to the sensitive issue of weight gain and depress everybody before they head home. I’ve found some surprisingly easy tips to keep the dreaded scale in the same spot.
Firstly, when you have a dinner with a myriad of dishes, try to fill up on fruit or vegetables. Mashed potatoes and turkey are great, but keep the starchy and high calorie foods to a minimum.
If you eat a couple helpings of Grandma’s asparagus, you’ll be getting more vitamins, filling up without maxing out on carbohydrates, and make her happy by eating the vegetables that always seem to be left lonely on the table.
This doesn’t mean that you give up the good stuff altogether, but maybe try cutting in half the food portions you know aren’t the healthiest.
When you’re heading out to one of the (hopefully) many parties this season, make sure you don’t go hungry. If you show up to a party with an empty stomach, then it’s easy to head right to the snack table and fill a plate up with whatever looks colorful and delicious.
The smart thing to do would be to munch on a granola bar or piece of fruit before you go to ensure that snacking is firmly at the back of your mind.
Speaking of those parties, don’t just stand around! Mingle with people, go annoy someone you don’t know, just get socializing. When you’re talking to someone and getting into a good conversation, it’s hard to think about food or focus on cramming whatever’s on your plate into your mouth.
If you’ve got a nice, buffet style meal, then let other people go first and wait for the end of the line. Not only will people think you’re a nice person, but all the really fatty, unhealthy foods will be gone or severely depleted so you’re not as tempted to take a heaping portion.
It’s a hard thing to do, knowing that you’ll purposefully not get some pumpkin pie or apple dumplings, but if you’re really concerned about weight gain, then it’s a good way to stop tempting yourself.
Finally, try to get a little workout. It doesn’t have to be anything much—in fact, aim for 10 minutes a day of any exercise. Chances are that you’ll want to continue on and do a little more. If not, hey, at least it’s better than getting no exercise at all!
Family time is great and there are some things you know you can’t get out of, but maybe suggest going to an ice skating rink or walking around the neighborhood and caroling. I know that hardly anybody carols anymore, but why not bring it back and lose some calories from walking in the process?
There’s also skiing, snowball fights, racing your younger siblings or cousins through snow drifts. Just try to do some activity that requires a little sweat. It’s fun and it’s technically exercise—double win!
You’ve still got a little time before the break starts and the holiday face-stuffing can really begin, and you can use some of that time to get a little more exercise or balanced nutrition in now to make up for what you might be missing when you go home.
Hopefully this holiday season can remain fun for you without doing too much damage to your waistline.
Be the first to comment on this article!