Many people believe that the holiday season, which begins soon with Thanksgiving just around the corner, is a time to take a vacation from exercise and good eating habits. Not true! Such thinking can lead to a long period of neglect, resulting in–you guessed it–weight gain!
If you’ve been working hard to shed pounds, do yourself the favor of keeping it off over the holidays so you don’t have to backtrack once the holidays are over and burn pounds you’ve already spent time getting rid of!
Here are ten tips to help you keep holiday weight gain at bay. (For a real challenge–see whether you can continue losing weight between now and January!) Do:
1. Make sure you are aware what you are eating and eat small portions.
2. Allow yourself to eat sweets, but eat only one small serving size–and keep the number of times you do this (parties, family get-togethers, etc.) to a minimum. Try to substitute fruit for sweets when you can.
3. Get to the gym! Go early and get in at least 30 minutes of cardio 3 times per week.
4. Take a fitness class. A good, challenging class will make you feel better mentally about yourself.
5. If you are on a workout and eating plan, stay on it. It’s ok to veer off a little during the holidays, but try stay on track as best you can.
Don’t:
6. Overeat just because lots of food is in front of you. Remember to stick to proper serving sizes! If you overeat, you’ll regret it, especially if you’ve made progress with your workout and eating plans.
7. Stop going to the gym. Your health depends on exercise, and so do your weight loss goals!
8. Make poor eating choices. Keep your diet nutritional by making healthy choices at each meal.
9. Eat late at night. (This is actually a year-round tip.)
10. Drink a lot of alcoholic beverages at parties. Alcoholic drinks are full of sugar and empty calories. If you do drink, choose something low-cal like light beer, clear liquor with diet soda, or a glass of wine. Limit yourself to 2 drinks over the course of the evening, and drink a glass of water in between to avoid dehydration and to feel fuller.
Gary Weingarten is a Commercial Fitness Equipment Sales Specialist, Sales Executive, and Key Account Manager at Precor, a division of Amer Sports, which supplies equipment to Lucille Roberts gyms.
