How to avoid holiday weight gain

We are only a couple of days away from Halloween Candy which I think of as the start of the holiday weight gain season.

Treat yourself better than that idea. Take care of yourself in all ways, mind, body, and spirit.

Did you know that people diet and exercise less during November and December than at any other time of the year? That people tend to gain 5 to 10 pounds just during the holiday season?

Well for all of the fun of the holiday season I think that this is easily the best time of year to work on yourself and to lose weight – not gain weight. Below I have 10 tips that will help you avoid holiday weight gain but first want to tell you why you can and should avoid gaining weight and lose instead.

The holiday season is a time when we interact with more people, we get to be more social and to eat great food often and to celebrate. The other thing that many people do is to reflect on the year and their lives so far and take the opportunity to make some real and lasting changes. This is the idea behind New Years resolutions but it could be so much more.

Don’t fall into the trap of gaining weight!

Plan holiday celebrations around activities – Start a tradition of getting out and getting physical as part of the holiday celebration. Park and walk to view neighborhood lighting displays instead of riding around in your car.

Concentrate on quality, not quantity – What are the foods and treats that are special that you associate with the season? Concentrate on preparing or sampling only one or two special foods at each holiday celebration. If it tastes good to have one does not mean you need to eat two.

Keep a habit of planned physical activity – Part of taking care of yourself is by getting some exercise that will help you get energy and burn calories as well. Physical activity is the common denominator for losing weight and keeping it off. Just get that 30 minutes of exercise somehow during the day.

Never skip meals before or after a big celebration – This practice creates a famine-feast cycle. You need to eat smaller meals more often and if you go to a special meal starving you will eat way too much and feel sick from it after.

To prevent overeating at holiday celebrations drink a large glass of water before you eat, don’t stand near a food laden table, place food on a plate rather than eating straight from the buffet, and don’t eat while standing.

Put eating in perspective – Overeating at one meal does not spell catastrophe. But using it as a “mistake” that allows you to forget about walking or later food choices will make it become a catastrophe. Remember that your attitude is your strongest asset when it comes to managing your dietary and physical activity habits during the holidays, in addition to managing your stress. There has to be a give and take and eating has to balance with exercise. Tow wrongs won’t make it better on January 2nd

Spend less time in the kitchen – Do you really need to make dozens of different cookies, candies or breads? Also, consider modifying recipes for baked products by reducing the fat and sugar by one-third. There is options to use applesauce instead of butter and many more ideas

Rethink the food gifts you give – Consider replacing your usual box of homemade candies for the neighbors with an assortment of fresh or dried fruits and nuts, a loaf of whole grain bread, or a jar of your special pancake mix. Try your hand at a craft or give an IOU for a service, such as car washing, babysitting, or lawn work.

Go to the back of the line – Let others go before you in serving and buffet line; tempting items may be gone by the time you go through. Practice being a slow eater. Give your brain 20 minutes to tell your stomach that you are satisfied before going back for seconds.

Get adequate sleep – Chronic sleep loss may affect various components of metabolism that influence hunger and weight gain. Being tired also affects your mental ability to resist temptations.

Plan ahead – Schedule time for yourself and physical activity on a daily basis’ prioritize holiday celebrations to attend’ schedule weekly family activites; be adventurous with new fruits, vegetables, and physical activities.

So you see, there are alternatives to the binging that happens at this time of year. I really want you to think about how you are treating yourself and not just get carried away with being slothlike and just giving into eating fast food and junk all of the time. You need to treat yourself better.

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Be sure to find out how you can change your life with the Free Fitness program.

Looking to make a change and lose some weight? I have reviewed the top diet on the internet and you can go and read over 200 comments people have made about why this diet has worked well for them, as well as some of the problems.

If you like this post then you will probably like these other related items as well

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.