7 tips. To get Through the Holidays Without Gaining Weight BY SHANNON CLARK, CPT

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1 7 tips To get Through the Holidays Without Gaining Weight BY SHANNON CLARK, CPT

2 With the Holidays Right Around the Corner... You might be feeling a twinge of anxiety over the fact that weight gain could be the likely result. Many people indulge a little too much during the holiday season, and then after it s all over, they regret a few of the decisions they ve made. This year, why not try something different? You don t have to gain the weight that many people put on at this time of year. You can take control, make a few changes in your approach, and come out with your diet intact. Here are seven tips to help you get through the holidays without gaining weight. 1

Make Smart Swaps at the Meal Next, if you are the one planning you holiday meal, remember that nothing says you must cook the traditionally used foods.

3 Make Smart Swaps at the Meal Next, if you are the one planning you holiday meal, remember that nothing says you must cook the traditionally used foods. Sure, chances are good you ll want to serve a turkey, but you don t need to serve butter-laden mashed potatoes and bread based stuffing to go along with it. Try mashed sweet potatoes, prepared with a little coconut oil and low-sodium chicken broth instead. This will provide an excellent source of complex carbohydrates to have alongside your turkey. Next, you might consider making your own rice stuffing outside of the turkey. Prepare it using spices, cranberries, celery, and onions, and it ll still be a delicious side to your meal. In fact, you might even find you enjoy this more as it brings a unique change to the menu. Rather than purchasing store-bought cranberries to go with the turkey, why not try fresh? You ll get far less added sugar and more of the real fruit. Look around for lower calorie ways to prepare gravy as well and consider using that rather than the high-fat variety. With a few easy substitutions, there are ways you can make your holiday meals far healthier and nutrient dense. 2

4 Build in Some Wiggle Room The first thing you ll want to do is build yourself some wiggle room. In the few days leading up to the holiday, consider cutting back on your calorie intake by calories per day. Resist the urge to do much more than this as if you are cutting calories by 500 per day in the few days leading up to the event; it may just promote binge eating because you ll be much hungrier. You ll hardly notice calories out of the picture, so this shouldn t be enough to impact you in a negative way. But, if you eat 200 calories less for the three days leading up to Thanksgiving or Christmas, this gives you 600 extra calories to play with when you sit down for dinner. 3

Get out for Some Exercise Beforehand While it s understandable the day will be quite busy as you re preparing the turkey and all the food to go with it, this doesn t mean you should neglect exercise.

5 Get out for Some Exercise Beforehand While it s understandable the day will be quite busy as you re preparing the turkey and all the food to go with it, this doesn t mean you should neglect exercise. Try and squeeze out for a brisk 30-minute walk in the few hours leading up to dinner. This will do three things. First, it helps put you in the healthy mindset. You may find you re less likely to cheat on your diet when you ve already done something good for your body that day. Second, it helps to suppress your appetite. While a lot of exercise increases the appetite, a small dose of exercise can help to suppress it, making it easier to control your eating later on during the meal. Finally, exercise also helps to burn a few extra calories. While you may only burn calories on that 30-minute walk, that s calories more that you can afford to eat at that meal. This will allow for a bit more indulgence. 4

6 Focus on the Company As you re sitting down to eat, remember to focus on the company and having a good time. Too many people put all their emphasis on the foods they are eating and forget to acknowledge the fact that this is a time that is meant to be shared. Let food play a secondary role here to spending time with the people you love. Put your fork down between bites and take in the company and this will slow down the speed in which you eat, which will also help to combat overeating in its tracks. If you are eating too fast, there s a good chance you ll overeat before your body gets the chance to register that it s full. Give your body that chance so you know when you ve had enough. 5

Strength Train the Day Before Another fitness tip to consider when trying to keep your weight in check over the holidays is to do an intense day of weight lifting before the actual meal.

7 Strength Train the Day Before Another fitness tip to consider when trying to keep your weight in check over the holidays is to do an intense day of weight lifting before the actual meal. This is going to do a few things as well. When you perform intense strength training activity, you will be depleting muscle glycogen levels, which is the storage form of carbohydrate in the body. This then means when you later consume carbohydrates during the meal, they ll move right into the muscle tissues, rather than going to stored body fat. If you go into Thanksgiving or Christmas slightly depleted in your muscle glycogen levels, it positions you for the lowest amount of potential fat gain. Second, intense strength training is also going to spike your metabolic rate for up to 48 hours after the workout is over, so this too can help reduce your chances of gaining body fat. When doing this session, you ll want to focus on the most intense, compound exercises possible. Think squats, deadlifts, bench presses, rows, and shoulder presses. Doing a full body workout using a slightly higher rep range of reps per set (which depletes more muscle glycogen) is your best bet. 6

8 Eat Only Those Items That are Seasonal Here s another tip to remember as you sit down for dinner: eat only those foods that are seasonal. Chances are, you aren t cooking a turkey every day of the week, so indulge a bit and have that large slice. Likewise, you probably only get stuffing a couple of times per year, so again, indulge in a little. But that bread that s sitting on the table? You can have that any day of the week, so skip it. Unless it s your Aunt s famous home cooked buns you only get when you see here, there s just no reason to add calories from this food. If you focus on indulging on only those items that you can t get year-round, it ll keep your total calorie intake in check. 7

9 Veggies First, Dessert Second Finally, last but not least, fill your plate with as many fresh vegetables as possible. Salads, steamed vegetables, or whatever else is being served, provided they are cooked in a healthy manner are all fair game. Eat a big ole dose of these and then if you still want to have dessert once the meal is done, go for a small piece. Vegetables are great as they fill up your stomach, providing bulk to the meal and reducing your urge to eat. If you eat enough of them, you may just find that you want to skip that dessert entirely. So keep these tips in mind as you move through this holiday season. If you plan ahead a bit and are mindful in how you go about the process, you can enjoy the meal without setting back your progress. 8

Healthy for The. This Holiday Season, Eat Mindful, Not Mindless

Healthy for The. This Holiday Season, Eat Mindful, Not Mindless Healthy for The This Holiday Season, Eat Mindful, Not Mindless It s the holidays for most Americans, that means eating, a lot of eating, followed by weight gain and a New Year s resolution to lose weight.