Fitness Together Personal Training

It’s that time of year again. The holidays are here, and it seems for most of us, that means an extra 5 to 10 pounds by January.  Why is that?

Maybe it’s all the tempting treats that seem to be everywhere during the holiday season, or the pressure from family, friends, and co-workers to overeat. Perhaps it’s the emotional eating from holiday stress, or because the holiday rush doesn’t leave any time to exercise, or it could be in anticipation of the New Year’s resolution to diet and exercise starting in January.

Regardless of the reasons, it usually boils down to one thing: Food.
Food is such an important part of holiday celebrations, parties and family gatherings that people just tend to eat more. And holiday foods are typically high-fat, high-calorie goodies that are low in nutrition.  All you have to do is eat an average of 200 extra calories per day during the holidays, and you’ll put on five pounds by the end of January.

However, it’s not necessary to completely avoid holiday festivities in an attempt to maintain your weight. Here are 10 tips to help you enjoy the holiday season without gaining weight!

1. Focus on maintaining your weight, not losing weight during the holidays. If you are currently overweight and want to lose weight, this is a hard time to do it. Maintaining your present weight is a good goal during the holiday season. Don’t set yourself up for failure by setting unrealistic goals you can’t achieve.

2. Don’t plan on dieting after the New Year. Planning a New Year’s diet will tend to justify overeating during the holidays (“I might as well eat as much as possible now!”) Unfortunately, restrictive diets don’t work in the long run. They increase your loss of lean body mass (muscle, not fat), slow down your metabolism, increase anxiety, depression, food cravings, and binge eating, and make weight re-gain more likely.

3. Eat a light snack before going to holiday parties. Try eating a piece of fruit, a small yogurt, or string cheese before you go.  You will be less likely to overeat, and better able to resist the temptation of eating the higher fat and higher calorie foods at the party.

4. Choose your drinks wisely. Alcohol is high in calories. Liquors, wines and mixed drinks can have 150 to 450 calories per glass! Water and diet sodas are calorie-free. If you choose to drink, select light wines and beers, and use non-alcoholic mixers like water and diet soda. Limit yourself to 1 or 2 alcoholic drinks and then switch to diet soda or soda water. And, remember soda, fruit punch, and egg nog are high in calories too.

5. Reduce the fat in holiday recipes. There are plenty of low fat and low calorie substitutes that taste great. Try using applesauce in place of oil in your favorite holiday breads; use egg substitutes in place of whole eggs; try plain nonfat yogurt instead of sour cream.

6. Avoid recreational eating. At parties and holiday dinners, we tend to eat, and keep eating, beyond our normal hunger simply because the food is there and we are in a social setting. To avoid recreational eating, have one plate of the foods you really want. Eat it slowly, taking time to enjoy and savor every bite. Then, when you’re done, have a mint or a stick of gum, get a glass of water and sip on it throughout the night. Then, position yourself away from the buffet table or food trays to keep yourself from going back for more.

7. Make a plan. Think about where you will be, who you will be with, what foods will be available, what foods you really want to eat, what are your personal triggers to overeat and how will you avoid them. Think about all of these things then make a plan of action. It's much easier to deal with a social eating situation if you've already planned for it.

8. Maintain perspective. Remember, the “holidays” are only 3 real days: Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. Overeating one, two or even all 3 days won't necessarily make you gain weight. It’s the cycle of too many calories and not enough exercise on all the other days that causes weight gain this time of year. If you over-indulge at a holiday meal, put it behind you without feeling guilty, but return to your usual eating plan the next day.

9. Be physically active every day. Often, busy holiday schedules provide excuses to skip exercising, but physical activity can help relieve stress, regulate appetite, and burn up some of those extra calories from holiday eating.

10. Enjoy family and friends. Although food is a big part of the season, it doesn’t have to be the main focus. Holidays are a time to reunite with friends and family, to laugh and celebrate, and to give thanks. Focus more on these holiday pleasures, and less on holiday foods.

The important thing to remember is balance and moderation. Just use common sense when it comes to eating and exercise then relax, enjoy the holidays, and remember what the season is all about.

If you need help making it through the holidays, Fitness Together is celebrating their One Year Anniversary and will be offering Holiday Specials on personal training packages. For more information, contact Fitness Together in Temecula at 951-302-2995 or visit www.fttemecula.comHappy Holidays!