Josh Bowen: How to Survive the Holidays

November is here and so is the holiday season. Holidays are the worse when it comes to temptation to eat foods we ordinarily wouldn’t. But that does not mean we should throw our fitness goals out the window til January. Here are a few statistics and helpful hints to keep you working towards your fitness goals during the holidays.

Statistics

1. Average person will gain 10-15 lbs between November 1st and January 1st

2. 75% of all candy consumed in the United States will be consumed on Halloween

3. There will be 180 million pints of alcohol consumed on New Year’s Eve

4. Average meal for Thanksgiving is 3500 calories
The Holidays

Halloween- The Sugar Holiday. Where Insulin and Glucose run rampant.
Thanksgiving- The Overeaters Anonymous Holiday. Trytophan the cause of Nap time?
Christmas- The Sugar, Fat and Santa Holiday.
New Years Eve- The Adult Beverage Holiday.

Client Survival Tips

Be active, everyday. Do NOT cancel your workouts. Now is not the time to cancel your workouts, it is the time to squeeze them in if you are busy. These are important, each one is a momentum builder. Lift weights, do a little cardio, walk your dog…something. Everyday.

Control stress. Stress makes everything worse.

Focus on weight maintenance vs. weight loss during the holidays. If you are currently overweight and want to lose weight, this is not the time to do it. Maintenance of your present weight is a big enough challenge during the holiday season. Don’t set yourself up for failure by making unrealistic goals for yourself.

Plan on NOT dieting after the New Year. Anticipation of food restriction sets you up for binge-type eating over the holidays (“after all, if I’m never going let myself eat this again after Jan. 1st, I might as well eat as much as possible now!”) Besides, restrictive diets don’t work in the long run. They increase your loss of lean body mass vs. fat, slow down your metabolism, increase anxiety, depression, food preoccupation, and binge eating, and make weight re-gain more likely.

Eat a light snack before going to holiday parties. It is not a good idea to arrive at a party famished. Not only are you more likely to overeat, but you are also less likely to resist the temptation of eating the higher fat and higher calorie foods.

Choose your beverages wisely. Alcohol is high in calories. Liquors, sweet wines and sweet mixed drinks contain 150-450 calories per glass. By contrast, water and diet sodas are calorie-free. If you choose to drink, select light wines and beers, and use non-alcoholic mixers such as water and diet soda. Limit your intake to 1 or 2 alcoholic drinks per occasion. And, watch out for calories in soda, fruit punch, and egg nog as well.

Enjoy good friends and family. Although food can be a big part of the season, it doesn’t have to be the focus. Holidays are a time to reunite with good friends and family, to share laughter and cheer, to celebrate and to give thanks. Focus more on these other holiday pleasures, in addition to the tastes of holiday foods. The important thing to remember is balance and moderation. It’s OK to eat too much once in a while.

Maintain perspective: Overeating one day won’t make or break your eating plan. And it certainly won’t make you gain weight! It takes days and days of overeating to gain weight. If you over-indulge at a holiday meal, put it behind you. Return to your usual eating plan the next day without guilt or despair.