How Not To Gain Weight Over The Holidays!
Tuesday, November 9, 2010 at 2:16PMSubmitted by Andrea Austin
The best approach to maintaining your fitness level and weight loss goals during the crazy holiday season is to prepare ahead! This means having a game plan in place every week through the new year. I know this seems challenging but, really, what better way to keep the ball rolling all the way to the New Year with your fitness lifestyle.
We are about two weeks away from Thanksgiving. Here are Andrea’s top 10 simple tips to keep the weight off without much thought…
1) Every week up to the day of Thanksgiving, add 5 minutes to your cardio each day you do cardio. This will help stave off gaining weight! Think of it as burning a bit more calories to prepare for a fun filled food festival on Thanksgiving.
2) Stay healthy by staying on track with your nutrition. Make sure to choose healthy foods every day so that you stave off any cooler weather sickness before the holiday time.
3) Eat lighter two days before Thanksgiving so you will feel excited to enjoy the day. The day after Thanksgiving do some cardio but still enjoy another day of festivities.
4) On the day of Thanksgiving choose wisely but not too strictly. In other words, rather than pouring a ton of fattening gravy over your potatoes, pour half the amount. Or, rather than eating without thinking all day, plan to enjoy a piece of pie vs. two pieces. Just cut back here and there and this effort will really pay off. And, you will not feel deprived.
5) Make a commitment to taking the stairs vs. the elevator to burn extra calories. Or, just park further away at the grocery store or shopping mall as this will burn more calories. These little choices add up to helping stave off weight gain!
6) Walk your dogs a bit further during this cooler but beautiful weather. Just adding another block or two will not only benefit you but will keep doggie happier too. If you do not have a dog, then pretend you do and go out for a daily brisk walk bundled up!
7) One meal out of every week eat no later than 6:00 pm up until Thanksgiving. Just by doing this once a week, your body will burn more calories and stored body fat.
8) During the holiday busy times, make better choices at restaurants whether at fast food joints or sitdowns. Choose salads, yogurts, baked potatoes, lean wraps, fruit, veggies, and smoothies.
9) Allow yourself one cheat meal a week but be good the rest of the time!
10) Make it a goal to maintain weight loss and not lose weight over the holidays. This is a great approach as it will keep you on track and yet you will feel like you can enjoy yourself during the season.
Remember, extremes never really work over the long haul. It is smarter to be more moderate than to be super perfect on your workouts and eating habits. Give your self a little slack over the next few weeks and then when the New Year comes you will be way ahead of the masses that head into the gym to try to lose a ton of weight because they were out of control during the holidays.
Enjoy your pre-holiday time just as much as the actual day! Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
Andrea Austin is an award winning master personal trainer, certified through The National Academy of Sports Medicine as a Personal Trainer and is a certified group fitness instructor teaching 3 master classes weekly. She holds recognition as a top personal trainer, titles in the National Physique Committee Figure Competitions (NPC), and currently sits as a judge for the NPC Regional Bodybuilding, Fitness and Figure Competitions. Contact Andrea for a totally free no obligation in person consult.
Reader Comments (1)
Great Advice Andrea! Your top 10 list will certainly provided a framework for maintaining weight during the holidays. Thumbs up!