The holiday season is upon us and with it comes the opportunity to fulfill many things on our holiday wish list. More times than not our holiday wishes are not filled with chestnuts on an open fire, a white Christmas or visions of sugar plums dancing in our head. Instead you hear many wishes such as: I wish my shopping was done, I wish these cookies could bake themselves, I wish I didn’t have to drive to eight different parties in one night, or I wish I knew how I am going to pay for all of this. But my favorite wish is: I wish all these calories didn’t count; I mean it is the holidays. With all of this stress, a lot of people tend to miss out on the most wonderful time of the year.
Since I am a fitness expert, advanced certified personal trainer, let’s talk about the last wish which would be no weight gain over the holidays. Many people over estimate how much weight they may tend to gain, when in reality it is not the 5-10 lbs. which is commonly heard around the appetizer table.
In fact, The National Institute of Health estimates that during the 6 weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, Americans gain anaverage of 0.8–1.4 pounds. According to the NIH, this eating free-for-all over40 or more days accounts for 51% of the typical American’s yearly weight gain. "Although an average holiday weight gain of less than a pound may seem unimportant, that weight was not lost over the remainder of the year," Dr. Yanovski from the NIH, said. When 165 of the study volunteers were weighed a year after the study began, they had not lost the extra weight gained during the holidays, and ended the year a pound and a half heavier (1.4 lb) than they were the year before. The truth of the matter here is that is the accumulation of this weight over the years causes the real problem, not just the short term holiday binge. So, how do we still enjoy ourselves but remain weight neutral? Over the next few weeks I will share some tips to help you combat holiday weight gain.
Here is your first tip:
Don’t wait for New Year’s Day to start that exercise program, start incorporating ways to move a little more every day now, which can be walking a bit farther or taking the stairs. One of the key reasons the average exercise program only lasts about six weeks especially after New Year’s is unrealistic goals. Don’t decide you are going to wake up every day and run 5 miles if you have never stepped on a treadmill or have not seen the sunrise since college and that was because you were just getting home. This needs to fit into your lifestyle in order to be sustainable.
Remember the holidays come and go but our health is a constant, so live life to its fullest but be prepare to put the time back into you, mind, body and spirit.
For more information on my personal training programs please take a look at my website: www.wc-h.com. See you next week with another great tip on how to combat holiday weight gain. In Health - Michele Malo - Wellcome Home Fitness - wellcomehome14@gmail.com Together transformation realization is possible.
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