How To Prevent Holiday Weight Gain

By Eric leader-Owner/Personal Trainer
 

Staying in shape over the holidays is never an easy task. There are Halloween candies, Thanksgiving meals and desserts, and of course those Christmas cookies. So, is it inevitable that we gain weight during the holidays where can we prevent the somewhat inevitable weight gain?

No matter how strong your willpower chances are you're going to come off your diet during the holidays. With all the family events and gatherings, food will constantly be shoved in your face and indulging is almost inevitable. So, what are some ways that we can prevent this holiday weight gain?

One great tip is caloric proportioning. Basically what this entails is if you know that you are going to have a day where you are going to eat poorly make sure that you take in fewer calories during the beginning of the day to make room for those calories that you are going to be loading at the end of the day. Being conscious of the calories in versus calories out equation is always very important to be conscious of to lose weight.

Joining a like-minded community for what's your ultimate goal may be an excellent way to stay accountable during the holidays. Social platforms such as Facebook and Instagram have excellent fitness and health-related communities whereas you can join to post pictures or converse about common goals. Posting progress pictures or even just simply the positive feedback and comments from others in such a community can be very motivating and inspiring. So if extra accountability or motivation is needed sometimes joining a community on social media can help enable such feelings of motivation and inspiration. Try joining such groups you won't be disappointed.

Another effective way to keep weight off during the holidays is to notify friends and family that you are trying to keep your body weight under control. By alerting them to this fact they can keep you accountable and prevent you from eating badly in their presence. It is very hard to ask for a piece of pie when your family or friends know that you're supposed to be on a diet. Therefore by having as many people cognizant of your goals as possible will help to keep you on track.

Using a food diary or an app such as MyFitnessPal to document the foods consumed is also a major benefit. Since it is so important to understand how many calories you are taking in having such a way of tracking your calories and macros can give you an idea as to your caloric consumption. Make sure to carefully document your food intake that way you can see where you can allow for some treats.

Let's face it, it is very important to enjoy friends and family during the holiday season. Food will always be present in abundance and caloric intake will always be in a surplus. It is important to enjoy life and not deprive oneself, however if you heed the advice listed above you can win the battle of the bulge.