The holiday season is upon us. If you’re anything like me, Thanksgiving and Christmas are exciting times, but then we’re left trying to figure out how to work off a whole weekend’s worth of over indulging. No matter how many times we hear that obesity is linked to diabetes, heart disease and cancer, many of us still find it hard to resist partaking in the entire feast for the holidays. So, I’m sharing some strategies you can try to minimize weight gain over the holiday season.
10 Tips to help you survive the holidays without gaining weight:
1. Maintain your current weight
It seems pretty counter-intuitive to me to try and lose weight over the holiday season. Try being practical and aim to maintain your current weight.
2. Use your hand to estimate serving size for better portion control.
Check out this quick how-to video.
3. Go easy on the alcohol
Egg nog and cocktails flow freely at holiday gatherings, if you limit yourself to 2, you’ll enjoy yourself & not feel deprived.
4. Use lower fat version of ingredients in recipes
Holidays feasts are comprised of calorie laden dishes and rich, decadent desserts. Try substituting 2% for whole milk, non-fat Greek yogurt for sour cream, reduced-fat (not fat free) cheese or applesauce for vegetable oil. You can also experiment with using less sugar and butter than the recipe calls for. However, use good judgement as to not compromise taste.
5. Exercise
Between holiday shopping, trimming the tree, family gatherings, office parties, spending time with your honey and every other important activity of daily living…don’t neglect yourself. My unscientific guesstimate tells me that 30 minutes a day, 5 days per week, will keep you steady on the scale.
6. Sample the dessert table
I LOVE dessert! Did I say LOVE? Peach cobbler, banana pudding (without the bananas, of course), pound cake, red velvet cupcakes & my ultimate favorite, brownies with nuts. But, I have to pace myself at the dessert table & you should too. Get a small spoonful, savor it & keep it moving. That’s all!
7. Bring a delicious, healthy snack or dish to the party
When appropriate, suggest a potluck to the host(ess). Then find a delicious, lower calorie recipe and take it with you. That way you have something figure friendly to munch on.
8. Fill 2/3 of your plate with colorful veggies, reserve the rest for carbs and meat/protein
I’m a fan of weight watchers, I successfully followed their program & lost 29 pounds in 2010. Their Good Health Guidelines are an excellent model for daily food intake.
9. Enjoy your family and friends in conversation
This is something else I learned from my Weight Watchers leader, Mrs. Joanne. Whenever you go to a social gathering where there is food, be social. Even though our culture revolves around celebrating with food, genuine satisfaction comes from socializing with loved ones. If you focus on working the room and catching up with old friends and making new, there will be less time to get mesmerized by the food. Try it, I plan to.
10. Eat until satisfied and pace yourself
This one always gets me because I like to eat. However, I’ve come a long way. I used to overeat on a regular, but now I do pretty well with eating just until I’m satisfied. One way I accomplished this was by eating more slowly. That way I really get a chance to enjoy my food and not eat as much.
Do you think you’ll try these tips this holiday season? Share the strategies you use that successfully prevent you from over-indulging.
Peace and blessings,
Meredith
these are great tips. may i also add: eat healthy at home first? then you can nibble and look polite at dinner and be all: oh i’ll just have a little, i’m full. then you’re participating and won’t hafta worry about feeling left out and you won’t overeat.
Great idea Pam! Thanks for sharing.
One I would add: Try to eat a little something before you go to the holiday event. That way you don’t get there starving and end up overeating. Thanks for the tips!
Thanks Aja! That’s a great strategy that I didn’t think of. I’ll definitely try it.
Very good tips. Everything worked out for Thanksgiving. I just came off of a 21-day fast (which included fasting from baked goods and breads). My body couldn’t handle it 🙂
These are some great ideas and presented in a way that anyone can follow! Thanks for this timely list of strategies to keep everything in order during the holiday season and all year long.
I agree with all the tips however I workout year round so I can eat guilt free on the holidays…LOL. Holidays and vacation are when I eat what I want.
I love numbers 2, 6, and 7. These are definitely ones that I can add to help me out a lot this season so that I won’t pack on any extra pounds! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
As the primary holiday cook, it’s easy for me to keep overeating to a minimum because by the time I’m done with all the cooking and taste testing, I’m not really hungry and too tired to eat LOL.
Really good tips. One spoonful of dessert will be a hard one though.
Uhhh! One spoonful of dessert? I will fail. Yes.
Yes! I started back being healthy in November because I did NOT want to gain 10 pounds! Great tips!
I love the tip about using the hand to measure! I never even thought about that!
# 5, 6 & 8 are spot on! Great tips!