How To Beat Holiday Weight Gain
Don’t look now but THE HOLIDAYS are right around the corner!
I love the holidays – Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. The holidays around our house involve a lot of eating. I like to eat just like the next person. There’s food all around, Holiday movies to watch, football games to get lost in, long-lost relatives to visit with, and children to make cookies with.
But…
The excess calories add up fast, don’t they?
It’s called “mindless eating”. So here are 3 tips to help you keep your weight in check during the “most wonderful time of the year”!
1) Stick to a schedule.
If you overeat the evening before, don’t say to yourself that you’ll fast all day to make up for it. It probably won’t work. You’ll just find a reason to do the same thing again in the evening when the food and drink start appearing. So stick to a schedule.
Eat a light breakfast (I have slow digesting oats, flaxseed, Irish oats mixed together). 2 – 3 hours later eat some protein (I have egg whites with a couple of egg yolks). 2-3 hours later eat your next meal (and repeat until 8 pm or so).
2) Drink lots of water.
You’ve probably heard this one before and it’s true.
Set out a big container of water and try to drink all of it throughout the day until it’s empty. I use a 1-gallon container. note – don’t drink too much liquid during your meals so you don’t interfere with the digestive process.
3) Exercise
Do something. Play with the kids. Take a walk before breakfast. Go to the gym and run on the treadmill. Ride a bike. Go to a boot camp or yoga class. By following these 3 tips, you’ll feel great throughout the Holidays while you enjoy eating a little more than you normally might. A fitness lifestyle is not about refraining from food and drink.
It’s about making smart decisions, having a plan, acting on those plans, and feeling great!