It is the season of heavy drinking and alcohol in the coffee. ‘Tis the season of Christmas parties, bakeries and three dinners at three different houses. One could say, ’Tis the season… of weight gain! All the parties, eating and drinking are definitely not conducive to weight loss. How can you combat this trend and stay on track? We’ll tell you how!
Studies performed by the New England Journal of Medicine (1) and Nutrition Journal (2) concluded that individuals gain one to two pounds during the six-week holiday season, ending January 2nd. The reports also found that obese individuals gain more than those of normal weight. One to two pounds may not seem like a big deal, but the most disturbing aspect of the studies was the long-term affect on body weight. The weight gained over the holiday season, on average, is never lost. Given this information, the holidays can contribute to a 10-pound increase in weight over a 5-year period. This weight gain, unsurprisingly, is not from muscle.
Mentality
Don’t view holiday weight gain as inevitability. View it as a choice that can be controlled. Drinking does not have to be heavy (or at all), and overeating is not a foregone conclusion. Follow these holiday weight loss tips and the season can remain healthy as well as happy.
Stay Sober
Do not get drunk. Alcohol sales skyrocket over the holiday season because individuals drink to enjoy (or cope with) family functions. The calories in alcoholic beverages come from the alcohol itself. Alcohol contains seven calories per ounce, and these calories are the very definition of empty calories. No matter the beverage – beer, wine, or liquor – the calorie content is around 100 calories per serving. If an individual consumes six drinks, then that is at least 600 calories in alcohol alone. If you choose to drink a liquor mixed drink, do not mix it with anything highly acidic, such as dark cola. Alcohol is acidic enough.
Alcohol consumption often leads to poor nutritional choices as well. After a few drinks, someone may lose the willpower to resist fatty, salty and high-sugar foods. After eating, the liver will not process the calories from food until all the alcohol is cleared. When you eat before going to sleep after a night of drinking, your metabolism is ‘behind the eight ball’, in that the calories from food stay in your system.
When you stay sober, you also don’t have to worry about expensive, embarrassing, and potentially deadly drunk driving mishaps.
Before the Party
Christmas and New Years’ parties provide an extravaganza of sugary deserts, fatty foods and salted everything. Prepare yourself for this onslaught by eating a small, low-calorie meal or snack before attending these parties. This small meal/snack helps prevent overeating. Families may not have time to stop and prepare a small snack, so if this is you, consume a protein shake, bar, or nuts/seeds, in the car. Health bars and protein shakes contain ‘good’ fats. Good fats act as a filling appetizer before your eyes feast on the high-calorie spread at the party.
Offer, prepare and bring healthy baked goods to holiday parties. Back a batch of low-calorie, all-natural cookies or muffins. If you don’t have the time to bake or are not confident in your baking ability, pick up the foods from healthy-minded delis and grocery stores. Bring a delicious dessert to parties, don’t tell anyone the food is healthy, and no one will suspect.
At the Party
A quite obvious yet overlooked tip is to stop eating when you are full. Everyone, at some point in life, has said yes to another serving of mashed potatoes long after the stomach said stop. And don’t be worried about offending the host. It is rude to not eat anything, but it is not rude to refuse seconds and thirds.
Do not over-fill your plate. Many theories suggest people eat more simply because they want to finish all the food on their plate, causing overeating. Another solution could be to eat off of a smaller plate. This way you’ll be able to finish all your food without overeating. This same concept works with bowls of soup and desserts.
Eat slowly. When an individual eats too quickly, the stomach doesn’t have enough time to tell the brain to stop eating until it’s too late. Paced eating allows the stomach to relay the ‘full’ signal, giving you the opportunity to stop and avoid overeating. Swishing your drink not only helps clear the teeth, but it also gives the stomach more time to process food intake.
During desert, try to substitute fat free, low calorie fruit juice bars for ice cream. These bars, on average, contain 60 to 100 calories. Comparatively, five ounces of chocolate ice cream contains between 300 to 350 calories. Ice cream contains more calories from saturated fat (180) than the calories of an entire fruit juice bar.
Holiday Lifestyle
Christmas can be a very emotional time. Many individuals use eating as a coping mechanism for holiday depression. Curb this emotional eating by realizing how counter-productive emotional eating actually is. An individual may feel down, so they eat, and then they feel guilty for eating, get even more emotional and eat again to cope. Do not allow this counter-productive cycle to doom your health. Let your faith and wellness guide you during down times.
Take your vitamins. The Christmas and New Years’ season bombards your time with work, shopping, family obligations, traveling and more shopping. The holiday season falls on the flu season as well, so it is important to increase daily vitamin intake.
Individuals spend vast amounts of time shopping during the holiday season. Burn an extra calorie here and there by taking the steps instead of the escalators. Don’t spend an hour looking for a perfect parking space at the mall. Completing a half of a workout is better than no workout at all. Do whatever it takes to keep your wellness in mind.
Weight control proves tremendously difficult during the holidays. If it weren’t, the average individual wouldn’t gain weight over this time. Curb your alcohol consumption, take steps to avoid overeating, and keep your wellness in mind. These simple steps help win the battle against holiday weight gain.
Sources:
* Jack A. Yanovski, M.D., Ph.D., Susan Z. Yanovski, M.D., Kara N. Sovik, B.S., Tuck T. Nguyen, M.S., Patrick M. O’Neil, Ph.D., and Nancy G. Sebring, M.Ed., R.D. “A Prospective Study of Holiday Weight Gain” New England Journal of Medicine. Volume 342:861-867. March 23, 2000.
* Holly R. Hall, Duncan Radley, Mary K. Dinger, David A. Fields, “The effect of the Thanksgiving holiday on weight gain.” Nutrition Journal 2006, 5:29
Ken Kashubara earned a BSBA from the University of Pittsburgh along with four varsity letters. He has now furthered his wellness knowledge by earning Personal Training certificates from both the American Council on Exercise and the National Academy of Sports Medicine, which he puts to good use through his writing for Greenmaple Wellness Inc, and his Kash Personal Training business, where he now leads others to better health.
