Yep. It’s that time of year again. You know, the season when we all tend to eat more turkey-and-dressing, potatoes (of all forms) and homemade desserts than we ever think that we will going into the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. No wonder so many of us have the New Year’s Resolution of losing weight, right?
The thing is, there are steps that we all can take in order to properly manage our weight so that we don’t have to go through so many extremes on January 1. We have five tips that have worked pretty well for us and so we wanted to share them with you:
Plan ahead. So much temptation (and extra weight) can be avoided just by following this simply recommendation alone. Just like it’s not the best idea to go grocery shopping without a list, it’s also not smart to go to holiday parties or family gatherings without a plan in place as well. Therefore, make sure that you put some concerted effort into thinking about what you will eat and how much. Once the trays are before you, it will be much harder to do.
Eat ahead. Say that you’re going to a dinner party that is a full-course catered event. There will not just be trays of desserts, but actual tables with their own dessert themes: a table for cookies, a table for cakes—you get the picture. If you decided not to eat before going to that event, there’s a huge possibility that you are going to overdo it. One way to prevent that is by having a sensible meal with fruits, vegetables and lean meats a couple of hours prior to attending. That way, you can still enjoy the meal without overindulging yourself.
Portion control. The holidays would be a real bore (and chore) if you had to go through them without eating any fun and fattening food at all. Therefore, don’t go into the season deciding that you are going to totally deprive yourself. Instead, just make sure that you use some self-control by using portion control. One slice of pie or half of a fried turkey leg is one thing. Eating the entire pie or three legs in one sitting is something entirely different.
Work it out. One of the biggest mistakes that a lot of people make is that they think that since it is the holiday season that they should take a vacation from their workout regimen. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you were going to aerobics class before the holidays, you should still do so during the holidays. If you were cycling and drinking high protein drinks before the holidays, nothing should about that change now. Exercise is what keeps our metabolism up and running and that’s what helps to keep the calories at bay. You definitely need to do it in order to keep your weight in check.
Drink water. A lot of the calories that we put on are actually liquid-related. Alcohol, eggnog, even juices are all packed with calories. So, if you are going to partake of a meal that has a lot of carbohydrates, try and balance that out a bit by drinking some water before, during and after the meal. It has no calories, plus it can help to keep the toxins flushed out of your system. It’s definitely a happy and healthy compromise. Happy eating!
This is a guest post written specifically for this site. Opinions expressed are of the author.
