Winter Work: How to Survive the Holiday Season with Zero Weight Gain
Holiday Survival Guide to Keeping the Lbs. Off
By: Dylan Arseo
According to a study done by the Johns Hopkins University, the common person gains 5 to 7 lbs. during the winter months. Why is this? Well, there are several reasons (weather, seasonal affective disorder, even your sweater!) but one that I’ve encountered with myself and those around me, the holidays are a time for hot, delicious and heavy comfort foods. Tons of them. The turkey at Thanksgiving doesn’t necessarily put you to sleep like the age-old myth might suggest, it’s the combination of everything else we funnel into our bodies that hit us with the itis. While I can’t totally help you fight the occasional food coma, I will provide you my best tips to keeping your potential weight gain down this holiday season.
Tip #1: Stay active and dedicated to your gym schedule.
When the weather becomes gloomier and colder at this time of year, your desire to get out and go be active will diminish steadily. Your only physical activity this season shouldn’t only be the walking you do at the mall when you’re shopping for presents, no. Commit to at least 5 days a week of moderate to strenuous cardio and weightlifting. By remaining active, the daily calorie burn will help you stave off any unwanted pounds this season and you’ll also be able to give yourself a little leeway when you see that piece of pumpkin pie you’ve been eyeing at the Holiday christmas party.
Tip #2: Plan ahead.
Most of us have a general idea of what type of foods will be available at Holiday parties whether they be office or family events. Sweet treats, creamy alcoholic beverages, heavy and rich foods and so on and so forth. If you know you’ll be surrounded by these types of foods, plan ahead and have a few snacks on hand to munch on prior to the party. Any type of mixed nuts are a great solution since they provide that salty crunch we tend to crave during the wintertime. A suitable protein bar with at least 20 grams of protein and a banana or apple are usually my go-to’s when I’m in this situation. If you’re afraid that the rest of the party will look at you like you’ve lost your mind, just remember you’re being proactive with your fitness goals and last time I checked, that isn’t a sign of crazy at all. Don’t cave in on that commitment you’ve been working on all year.
Tip #3: Ditch your scale.
Wait, what? You said the average person gains 5-7 pounds during the winter months so how I can be mindful of my weight gain if I don’t have a scale? Simple; pay attention to how your clothes are fitting. If you have a slip up on your daily diet and eat one too many slices of pie, I know the urge to run to your scale and make sure you haven’t gained a single pound will be skyrocketing but DO NOT DO IT. As you’ve just consumed an influx of calories, your weight will undoubtedly read higher. This is lying to you and do not fall victim to it. The problem with being so reliant on the scale is when that number read 5 pounds higher than we remember, chances of us caving in and saying “Forget this stupid healthy lifestyle!” will escalate, at least for the day thus sending you into a daily spiral of bad food choices. That leads me to my next and last tip…
Tip #4: Treat yourself with discipline.
When I embarked on a healthy and fit lifestyle, I told myself I’d never eat pizza, mashed potatoes, candy or cake ever again. 8 months later, I had pizza again and the feeling I had after was horrendous. Reason for this was after depriving myself of it for so long and then eating it again, I went way overboard with how much of it I ate and really, didn’t even get to enjoy it since I went into such a blind fury of sauce and dough. Since then, I’ve learned that if I know I’ll end up eating something that wouldn’t otherwise be a part of my daily food intake, I do my best to be smart about it. On a day like Thanksgiving where I almost always know the itis will give me a huge “Welcome back!” kiss, I’ll be sure to stick to my daily gym routine to spare the calories I’ll be consuming later and not feel so guilty about having a little bit of everything. See? A little of a lot as opposed to a lot of a little. I believe you can still have that piece of cake with discipline. Discipline is stopping yourself from eating 5 slices of apple pie with a hearty dollop of vanilla ice cream and keeping it to 1 with no ice cream. During the holidays and life in general, we need enjoy ourselves and let our hair down every once in awhile so if your idea of that is nosediving into your favorite holiday comfort food, do so but be as mindful as possible with it for this’ll only benefit you and ensure you keep that dreaded holiday weight off.
We don’t need to throw all of our fitness progress out of the window during this time of year just in an attempt to reverse it for our New Year’s Resolutions, 92% of which end up failing anyways. I know no one wants to gain a single oz. yet eat any and everything this holiday season but instead of putting your willpower and discipline under house arrest this winter only to end up wildly binging later on, be a little relaxed and not so hard on yourself if and when you do get a second helping of mashed potatoes. Just be sure to accompany the spuds with a generous helping of all the vegetables present at the dinner table!
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