How to avoid holiday weight gain

The most wonderful time of the year is well underway again. ‘Tis the season of  twinkling lights, eggnog lattes, Christmas carols, good will towards men and almost undoubtedly…holiday weight gain.

Every year between the end of November and the first of January, the average person adds seven pounds to the junk residing in their trunks. During the holidays our lives revolve around social commitments (which of course always involve food and drink), Christmas shopping, recitals, and trying to balance the countless other tasks required of us in order to prepare for a joyous celebration. All of this put together is indeed a recipe for weight gain and when you factor in the abundance of cookies, cocktails and canapés coming at you from left, right and center you’d better have a decent plan of attack if you intend on buttoning those pants in the new year.

1) Plan ahead. People don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan. You know you’re going to have a long day of shopping at the mall so pack some food to take with you or you’ll end up famished 5 hours in and hit the food court, devouring greasy Chinese and a side of trans fatty fries. Before you leave the house, throw some veggies and fruit in a ziplock, grab some almonds, fix a sandwich or stash some low fat granola bars in your purse. Now you’re prepared to re-energize yourself for more shopping and you’ve saved yourself upwards of 500 calories! Your thighs thank you.

2) Accept and embrace reality. Let’s face it…you are NOT going to resist temptation every single time! Perhaps the worst thing you can do is expect yourself to plan total abstinence from all of the delicious edible goodies that surround us this time of year. The key word here is moderation. Indulge in the shortbread, sip a rum and eggnog and pour some gravy on your mashed potatoes, just do it with moderation in mind. If you do happen to go a little overboard in your participation of the festivities don’t beat yourself up, just carry on with a new day.

3) Get off that escalator. Ok, so you may miss a few workouts this month but it’s not the end of the world. Try burning some extra calories through incidental activity.

Don’t take the escalator, use the stairs.

Park further from the entrance of the mall.

Go for a brisk 10 minute walk on your lunch break.

If you take the bus, get off a stop or two early.

Ignore the remote and get off your butt to change the channel.

Give the kid at the grocery store a break and carry your own bags to the car.

Take the dog for an extra or a longer walk and maybe add a steep hill in there too.

Last but not least, remember that January 1st is less than 2 weeks away. If your pants are a little tighter by then WorkoutBOX will help you shed the evidence of all the festive fun. Here’s wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a safe, healthy, prosperous New Year! Cheers!

About Shauna
	Shauna is a personal trainer, nutrition consultant and health and fitness writer for Workoutbox.com. She is also the creator of the "Soccer Mom weight loss program".

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