How you can enjoy the holidays without gaining weight
Many women gain about five to seven pounds between Christmas and New Year. When do you think we gain more? During Christmas? New Year? Or both? According to my book Fight Fat, Secrets to Successful Weight Loss by Alisa Bauman and the editors of Prevention Health Books for Women, the answer is none of the above.
It’s not one meal that adds to the weight gain during the holidays. It’s all the extra nibbling day after day.
For some women, it starts as early as Halloween with all the candies and chocolates.
There is also more access to food during the holidays — Christmas parties, family reunions, cakes and other pastries given as gifts. The holiday season is always a reason to eat and celebrate. All these food temptations make it harder to stick to our regular eating habits.
But do not worry. There are ways to avoid the holiday weight gain and still have a good time. Here are a few suggestions on how you can enjoy your Christmas parties and gatherings without gaining weight.
1. Do not starve ahead. Many of us skip a few meals to leave room for a big eating event. While your appetite may be stronger, your enjoyment of the experience won’t be improved. By dinner time, you’ll be starving and so you won’t make good decisions about what you eat.
2. Load up with lean before the party. Instead of cutting back on meals before a holiday event, appease your appetite with some low-fat food beforehand. If you curb your appetite, you will most likely make better choices.
Before the party, you can have some soup or a few pieces of fruit. When you get to your event, you won’t be as hungry and won’t go overboard.
3. Have a glass of water before eating. This will fill you up and you won’t be as hungry so you’ll eat less.
4. Pick four or five food items you like. I’ve tried this. I discipline myself by picking four or five of my favorites and eat just that. And I take small portions of each.
5. Eat slowly. Chew your food well. Savor each bite. Drink water in between so you will feel full faster. It takes 20 minutes for your brain to realize you are full. If you eat too fast, you’ll think you are still hungry and eat much more. Eating slowly also sends the message that you appreciate what you are served because you savor each bite.
6. Learn to say no when you are already full. If the host or hostess insists you have more, you can say, “I’ll just take that portion home so I can eat it later or tomorrow.” Then you don’t have to worry about making him or her feel bad. In fact, you will make him or her feel better because you like the food enough, you’ll want to eat it at a later time or even the next day.
7. Wear something that fits you. Not something loose. You will most likely eat less when you feel your dress is getting tighter.
8. Be selective. For example, if you are served turkey, eat the lean meat, peas, broccoli and go easy on the gravy and butter.
9. Leave a little margin of space between your portions of food. Leave just enough room so you can still see some plate. The result is you’ll automatically keep portions at a more reasonable size.
10. Practice recovery. What happens if you go overboard? Accept the fact that you overate, that you slipped a bit and get back on track. Return to your usual eating and exercise program. It’s okay to feel a little bad but what’s important is to do something about it. Just get back on your healthy eating plan again.
Happy Holidays!
