Christmas is right around the corner and with it potentially numbers ascending on the scale. But that doesn’t have to be the case. While Santa might be chubby, that doesn’t mean you have to be too. The holiday season is a time for eating, drinking, and relaxing, but too much can soon lead to excessive weight gain. That’s why the most common New Year’s resolution is weight loss.
Below are some tips you can use to help avoid weight gain this holiday season or, at the very least, keep it to a minimum.
1. Limit alcohol consumption
Alcohol is a triple threat when it comes to weight gain. For starters, alcoholic drinks contain a lot of calories. Also, alcohol can lower your willpower so that you are less able to resist the temptation of unhealthy food. Finally, alcohol can stimulate your appetite. These factors combine to make alcohol very diet-unfriendly.
You will have to do your best to go easy on alcohol if you are serious about avoiding weight gain. Limit yourself to just a couple of drinks. Unable to resist temptation? Perhaps you can request to be the designated driver so you won’t be able to drink much or not at all.
2. Workout
If you know you have a big meal coming up, you can reduce its weight gain potential by exercising an hour or so beforehand. A demanding workout prior to eating will deplete your glycogen stores and increase insulin sensitivity so that more of the food you consume will be preferentially shunted into your liver and muscle cells.
The best type of workout for glycogen depletion and increased insulin sensitivity is full-body strength training, especially when performed as a circuit. However, even a full bodyweight workout or interval training session will get the job done.
3. Don’t arrive hungry
Eating out more is a common cause of weight gain. The foods on offer probably won’t be very diet-friendly, and eating too much will definitely lead to weight gain. If you are going out to eat, or going to a party where food is going to be freely available, make sure you don’t arrive feeling hungry. That way you’ll be less likely to give in to temptation and overeat.
4. Walk
The gym might be closed, and you are probably looking forward to a break from exercising anyway, but you can still minimise weight gain by staying active. Walking is the perfect non-exercise solution. Try and clock up around 10,000 steps per day to burn those extra calories, maintain your fitness, and reduce fat gain.
5. Practise sensible nutrition
If you know you have a big meal coming your way, make sure the rest of your meals for that day are as nutritionally sensible as possible. Load up on healthy foods such as fruit and veggies, and make sure you consume adequate protein too. Just because it’s the holidays doesn’t mean your entire diet has to fall apart. Instead, and to minimise the damage of overeating, make sure all your other meals are as healthy and balanced as they can be.
Weight gain is not compulsory during the holidays. After all, the festive season is really only a few days out of the year. Keep yourself on track, and avoid gaining weight, by putting these tips into action.
