Surviving the Holidays
The average American gains 5-10 pounds over the holidays every year. If you eat 500 extra calories a day, this equals 3500 calories a week which translates to a gain of 1 pound a week. If you don’t lose the weight you gain, you can slowly gain a significant amount of weight every year. So, every calorie counts! It’s not hard to eat 500 calories; for example, 1 slice of pumpkin pie with whipped cream is about 500 calories. It also takes a while to burn 500 calories so think before you eat. If you can’t choose healthier options during the holiday season, portion control is the key to not gaining extra weight.
Don’t let temptation of too much food and alcohol and excuses for not exercising take over this holiday season. Here are some tips to enjoy the holidays without gaining weight:
- Make small and realistic goals for yourself. It is hard enough to not gain weight during this time; don’t set yourself up for failure.
- Don’t go to holiday parties hungry. Eat a balanced, high fiber meal or snack before you go so you are not starving when you get there.
- Eat slowly and enjoy each bite of food. This will prevent you from overeating.
- Bring mints or gum to the party, so you can have this right after you eat. This will prevent you from mindless eating.
- Cook healthy. If you are cooking this year or bringing a dish to a party; cook it low fat and healthy. For example, substitute chicken broth or skim milk for butter when making stuffing or mashed potatoes; substitute applesauce and egg whites for oil and whole eggs when making desserts and breads.
- Don’t beat yourself up with guilt. Overeating one day won’t break your eating plan. Just start over the next day.
- Eat your vegetables. Veggies are low calorie, low carbohydrate, and high in fiber and nutrients. Make veggies part of your meal so you won’t overeat the empty calorie foods.
- Save calories where you can. For example, take the skin off of your turkey or try the white meat of the turkey.
- Be careful of liquid calories. Many holiday drinks, like egg nog and apple cider, can be up to 300 calories. Alcohol can be caloric as well so try to drink in moderation.
- Get a small plate when serving yourself food or put appetizers on a napkin.
- Watch your portions. If you want to try everything, allow yourself small servings of each.
- Wait an hour or two before eating dessert. Give yourself time to digest and then take a small portion of dessert.
- Give away the leftovers!
- Drink in moderation. One glass for women and two glasses for men is moderation.
- Drink lots of water. It is important to stay hydrated and drinking water will prevent you from overeating.
- Get enough sleep. Sleeping 7-8 hours a night will help you with everyday functioning and help you make the right food choices.
- Try not to people please. Many family members will want you to eat their homemade food and lots of it; don’t feel pressure to eat everything that’s put in front of you.
- Eat mindfully. Be conscious of everything you put in your mouth and you may reconsider some of your choices and your portion sizes.
- Manage your emotions. Eating is very emotional so make sure you are in control of your food choices and your feelings about them.
- Stop eating when you are full. We tend to eat mindlessly and not pay attention to our brain telling us we are satiated.
- Relieve stress. Stress is one of the major causes of overeating. Get a massage, practice yoga, write in a journal, or find something that helps you relieve stress.
- Exercise! Keep up your normal exercise plan or increase your exercise so you can eat more!
- Try to lose some weight before the holiday or big event so you have some extra padding to splurge a little.
Use these real life object comparisons to help you with portion control:
1 cup = your fist
½ cup = ½ baseball
3 oz. = deck of playing cards
1 oz = 4 dice
1 teaspoon = water bottle cap