There is no more enjoyable time of the year than the holidays, and it’s a wonderful chance to reconnect with family. You also get to indulge in delicious treats that only come around on special occasions. The only downside to all of these family get-togethers featuring delicious food is trying to keep your waistline under control. It’s not uncommon for people to gain a bit of weight over the holidays, but it’s always frustrating to have to work it off in the New Year. Rather than finding yourself slaving away on an exercise bike as part of your New Year’s resolution, it’s far better to avoid weight gain in the first place. With a bit of planning and careful choices, there’s no reason why you can’t indulge in your favorite treats while staying trim at the same time.
Don’t go on a Diet – one of the biggest mistakes people make is starving themselves or going on a strict diet during the holidays. If you find yourself skipping meals or not eating altogether, you’re setting yourself up for some major cravings. Rather than forgoing breakfast and lunch just so you can even bigger dinner, it’s better to keep your metabolism up throughout the day. Remember that nutrition should be your main priority and you can actually help yourself to eat less when you eat more often throughout the day.
Keep a Journal – with all of the various dinners and celebrations to keep track of, it’s easy to lose sight of exactly how much you’re eating. A journal will be a helpful guide where you can record information regarding your meals and caloric intake. Almost any type of information can be kept in a journal so don’t be afraid to explore different types of information that will benefit you the most. You can eventually turn it into a great resource that contains helpful tips in addition to personal information that you can eventually adapt for the future.
Limit of One Serving – by limiting yourself to one serving during any meal, you’ll still have a chance to be full and enjoy whatever is being served. But in many cases, it’s the second or third helping that contains excessive calories that we simply don’t need. So go ahead and enjoy your meal, just make sure that everything you want to try is on that first place.
Be careful About Drinks and Deserts – calories don’t just come from turkeys and hams. Remember that a lot of unnecessary calories come from alcoholic beverages and desserts. While they are integral parts of any holiday meal, you need to be careful about how much you’re consuming overall. Make smart choices and enjoy both of these elements responsibly. Otherwise you could be loading yourself up on invisible calories that make an impact on the line. Even thought they might appear light and fluffy, certain deserts are some of the worst high cholesterol foods you could eat.
Enjoy and Savor – with all that delicious food in front of you it’s hard to resist the temptation to wolf it all down. But if you eat slower and savor the food, you’ll be doing yourself a huge favor. Take some time to appreciate all the work that went into the cooking and enjoy the company surrounding you. It will give your chance a stomach to become full which will reduce your cravings for more.
Exercise – here is a simple tip that almost doesn’t need mentioning, but a surprising number of people forgo this step. If you don’t want to gain weight during the holidays, then exercise! It’s such a simple concept of evil seem to ignore while focusing on how they can limit what they eat. You don’t have to work out like you’re on a fast weight loss program, but try to move around much as possible. Daily exercise will give you a lot more leeway and allow you to enjoy different types of food as well. Keep yourself fit on a regular basis so that you don’t have to go overboard once you gain weight.