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Holiday weight gain season has officially begun! A new study put out by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) suggests that the average American only gains 1 pound between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day instead of the commonly reported 5-10 pounds. However, most of us DON’T ever shed that pound and over the course of many years this may contribute significantly to the obesity problem faced by many Americans.
My diet and exercise plans haven’t really taken off yet. I’m down about 3 pounds, But I’m only losing about .5 lbs/week instead of 1.5 lbs/week. Also, I AM eating slightly better than I was when I started this whole thing, but I’m not exercising every day. My exercise goals are very modest. I only want to get 30 minutes of exercise 2 out of every 3 days. This is not very much considering the current guidelines of 60 minutes/day. But hey, those are just guidelines, right?
In years past, my weight loss progress has often been derailed during the holiday season. There are lots of tips out there to help you avoid holiday weight gain. Here are a few that might work for me (and you) this year.
- Never go to a party hungry–instead, eat sensible small meals throughout the day so that you don’t feel ravenous when you arrive at the party. I’ve often fasted the day of holiday parties knowing full well that I would over eat–this, evidently was a bad idea.
- Focus on socializing–This is a difficult one for me–almost as difficult as avoiding food. But, if I spend more time being social there will be less time to eat.
- Plan holiday celebrations around activities–When you’re the host, start a tradition of sledding, skiing, ice skating etc. Incorporating winter activities into your holiday parties solves two problems: You exercise, AND you don’t eat!
- Think more about food quality and less about food quantity–What are the food items that you love the most about the holiday season, the ones you can’t live without? Eat those, but lay off the rest of the junk–and don’t forget about portion control.
Give these tips a shot and see if they work for you. I especially am excited to try the holiday party activity ideas. Ice Skating anyone?
J.D.
9 responses so far ↓
1 FinanceAndFat // Nov 27, 2007 at 8:49 am
I’m already feeling the pain of holiday weight gain. I gained one pound over Thanksgiving week. I needed to lose 2 pounds that week to be on track to meet my first weight loss goal.
Seeing that caused me to get serious again with tracking my calories and putting forth more effort to exercise. This is a tough time of year for weight loss!
2 Keiichi // Nov 27, 2007 at 1:42 pm
This was the first thanksgiving I did not have turkey. We were away from family and our friend took us to a sushi buffet. My oh my that was a big mistake…
I agree about socializing, because I know when I yap my mouth I stop eating! It’s also nice if you socialize it’s usually standing up and talking. But every year is a challenge in keeping those pounds off. It’s festive and its cold and I all I want to do is eat plenty and hibernate
3 Jiminycricket // Nov 27, 2007 at 5:42 pm
Watch your alcohol consumption too - it is really easy to slurp down a couple hundred calories in one little glass even before you hit the party platter!
4 Uncle Midriff // Nov 28, 2007 at 7:25 am
The first tip wouldn’t really work for me, as hunger rarely factors in to how much I eat. I eat when I have the desire to experience the pleasure of eating and whether I’m hungry or not doesn’t matter. So for me, I’d eat normally throughout the day and then still eat ravenously at the party.
This is a problem I am currently working to remedy, mind you, by rethinking my attitude towards eating and all that…and that’s the reason I’m reading this site; I’m trying to make a tangible lifestyle change that will result in a slow, healthy loss of weight which will hopefully be easy to maintain.
5 macdaddy // Nov 28, 2007 at 9:53 am
6 djeikyb // Nov 29, 2007 at 4:44 pm
You guys might like the hacker’s diet:
http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/
7 m // Dec 9, 2007 at 2:32 pm
Any exercise is better than no exercise and any healthier eating is better than not eating more healthily.
That ’s how you begin, and that’s how you keep going, by telling yourself, well it may not be an hour, but this [whatever exer. you’re planing to do] is better than siting home on my butt doing nothing.
And so you will do that exercise, and you may end up even doing it for longer than you planned, and it won’t be hard because you will focus on that one day, that one exercise that isn’t overwhelming for you, and that it’s better to do it than not do it.
Do that each time you have a chance to exercise (or eat well) and you’ll be doing great and will eventually find you can and will want to exercise for longer, more frequently, more strenuously, and will want to eat more healthily more and more often. All it takes is little steps each day (that will grow into bigger and better steps over time), just as with anything else.
8 Holiday eating tips at Weight Loss Is Hard! // Dec 10, 2007 at 10:21 am
[…] Fit Slowly is running an article on how to avoid gaining weight over the holidays. For example: Never go to a party hungry–instead, eat sensible small meals throughout the day so […]
9 Smart Choices at a Christmas Party // Dec 24, 2007 at 9:19 am
[…] Toward the end of the party, Mac confided, “I violated the number one rule for avoiding holiday weight gain.” […]
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