Every year between Thanksgiving and Christmas Americans gain on average about 5.5lb and we all know why. Typically, this weight is then lost by March of the following year without any special changes in diet or exercise. However, this weight gain is a source of much anxiety and planning among the more health-conscious, or maybe just the more image-conscious among us. The way I see it, there are 2 choices when it comes to this time of year:
1. Embrace the fact that there will be some weight gain and know that it will come back off after the New Year.
2. Work to minimize this weight gain as much as possible.
In the spirit of choice #2 (although I tend to fall into the choice #1 camp myself), here are some helpful weight maintenance strategies that have been proven useful:
Use a smaller plate. This recommendation has been proven to reduce calorie consumption in more than one nutrition study. As visual creatures we just want to fill the empty space given us and if we have enormous-sized plates, we will eat more. Interestingly the researchers found no difference in satiety (feeling full) after a meal using the smaller salad-sized plates.
Watch your alcohol consumption. Extra empty calories from alcohol are sure to pack on the pounds, especially when paired with lovely rich, fatty, traditional holiday foods. For example a 6 pack of hard cider is about an extra 750 calories depending on the brand. That’s almost half your total calorie allotment for the day. Making water your main beverage will save you some of those extra pounds.
Remember that the holidays are a DAY. Allow yourself to splurge on the actual day- Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc, not all of November through December. With special coffee drinks and treats floating around all winter long it can be very easy to forget this and nibble and snack on extra treats all winter long.
If you don’t love it, don’t eat it. If you are not in love with a special holiday food, don’t eat any more of it. Those are calories that could be going towards those foods you do love.
Eat your veggies. I usually tell my patients that a healthy plate should be 50% non-starchy veggies, 25% protein, and 25% complex carbohydrates. Keeping this ratio through the holidays will help keep the bulge away. This is the only exception to the above rule (you have to eat your veggies!)
Try to maintain your regular exercise schedule. This one can be very challenging with people coming to visit, extra cooking and cleaning, and not to mention all that time spent eating. However, involving your loved ones in the activity can make this more quality time that everyone gets to spend together. That nice long walk after that big meal can be time to catch up with your aunt that you haven’t seen in forever, or that new in-law that you just met.
If all else fails, remember that the weight will come off by March 🙂