HOW TO: Stay slim and trim during the holidays

Battle Holiday Weight Gain

By Becky Lerner

 

            The holidays are indeed a time for celebration. Love, health, and happiness reign while festive coffee drinks, desserts, and rounds of gourmet meals beckon. (Hey, if Santa’s allowed cookies, so are we!) Many attempt to battle the seemingly inevitable weight gain that the holidays bring, and often times those few pounds make all the difference between us fitting comfortably into our skinny jeans or retiring to our yoga pants. But we still want to look good and feel great, especially during the holiday season. And how nice would it be to reunite with our family and friends and hear “Wow! You look great!” Keep the holiday spirit with these tips on how to beat the few pounds that taunt us.

1. Keep up your regular workout routine. Holiday travels throw your routine into shambles? If there’s a room, a street, or a gym anywhere in the vicinity, you really don’t have a reason not to keep up with your regular (or semi-regular) workout routine. Bring a resistance band with you when you travel for easy access to strength training or stretching. (Power-systems.com offers both elastic tube bands and flat bands. The former is great for strength while flat bands are great for both stretching and resistance.) Go for a run. Or head to a local gym; most gyms offer day passes for a small fee. It might be good to take a break from the hustle and bustle of a holiday household anyway!
2. Eat smart. You don’t have to pass on dessert or stray away from the candied yams. Just remember to fuel your body as you splurge. Try to fill up on healthy, substantial, efficient foods before having your treats. Being full on healthier foods will keep you full for longer as well as curb cravings for high-calorie, low value foods.
3. Increase your water intake. Wine, soda, eggnog, coffee, liquor. Remember, if it’s carbonated or caffeinated or high in calories, sugar and/or sodium, it dehydrates you. Drinking more water will not only help your body digest complex carbs and sugars in food and drink but it will help curb the hangover threat! Set a goal of three liters a day. (Roughly 12 eight-ounce glasses of water a day. Just four more than you consume already!)
4. Plan your snacks. Instead of snacking on leftover cookies or green bean casserole--even though it is a vegetable--make sure to stock the fridge with fresh fruit and veggies ready to go, like you normally do. Tendencies lean toward grabbing whatever is easy and accessible when we’re hungry. So make sure you plan for that especially when temptation calls. Other fun options: frozen grapes, an apple with a tablespoon of peanut butter or Nutella, or strawberries with a dollop of Lite Cool Whip are low calorie yet fulfilling snacks when the dessert mood strikes.
5. Have some wine or tea! This should be the easiest request to fulfill. Red wine is recommended over white to reduce the amount of sugar intake, and green tea is recommended over black or oolong to increase antioxidant intake. An antioxidant called Resveratrol in red wine and EGCG in green tea have proven to slim waistlines. Studies suggest that the caffeine in green tea may help with fat oxidation. Resveratrol is an antibiotic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and lowers the bad cholesterol, LDL. But remember, everything in moderation.

Comments

[Rehoboth Beach Delaware]

Got some good useful tips from the blog that seems to be effective in controlling the body weight during the vacation time.
It is really hard for me to control my mouth, as they say, during a vacation tour and it ends with a earning good body fat.
Appreciate your work and keep sharing your knowledge.

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