For most of us, our New Year’s Resolution always has to do with health, fitness or weight loss. Why? Because we over indulge every holiday season. From Halloween all the way until New Year’s Day we’re munching on Kit Kat bars, turkey, stuffing, cookies, pumpkin spice lattes from Starbucks and of course…candy corn.
Instead of gaining 10 pounds during the Fall with the goal of losing it before bikini season hits, why don’t we just control ourselves? Read this great guest post from Jacob Chavez, a health and fitness writer from California! He’s going to teach us how to not only control ourselves during the holiday season (yep, Starbucks just put out their holiday cups yesterday so it’s official!) but to actually lose weight along the way!
xoxo
Amanda Raye | Editor-in-Chief
With diet fads, workout trends, and a world of organic, gluten-free, low-carb and antioxidant labels, the upcoming holiday season is likely to serve as a test of will power for the health-conscious. Losing weight before the holiday season comes is a goal that many people will attempt to work toward before seeing out-of-town friends and distant relatives.
Of course, when Christmas or Hanukkah dinner comes along, and it’s time to get your grub on, the weight loss thing kind of phases out. Time to eat! But what about for those who don’t want to gain weight, but still want to enjoy the holidays? Here are a few tips that will help keep you motivated to stay fit when you’re facing those decadent dishes of November and December:
Jot Down a “Winter Weight Mission Statement”!
“I will maintain 165 pounds from November 1st through January 1st,” or “Lose 10 pounds by Christmas Eve.” Whatever your immediate fall/winter weight goals are, write them down on a piece of paper. Don’t use your smart phone notes or Facebook wall, as the goal will easily get filed away in the back of your mind to be forgotten about. Post it on a bulletin board or calendar on your wall, along with some seasonal motivational visuals. Maybe you want to send holiday photo cards to friends and relatives, and are working on maintaining or improving your physique so you can look stylish! If you have visual goals to look at every morning, it will help you focus and achieve that winter weight goal!
Eat Reasonable Portions During Holiday Meals
Only 10 percent of people end up gaining five or more pounds from the pre-holiday period up to the post-holiday period, according to a study released by the New England Journal of Medicine, explains FYILiving.com. However, the study also reports that on average, most people gain only around a pound throughout the holidays. You can relax a little bit; a plate full of turkey and stuffing and some brownie indulgence isn’t going to wreck your life. Just go easy on anything deep fried or doused in sugar. Egg nogs and margaritas can set you back quite a few calories. On Good Morning America, Dr. Oz reported that a glass of Eggnog contains 450 calories!
Find A Partner!
One great way to stick to a winter weight goal is to pair up with someone and motivate each other. It won’t be tough to find other friends or relatives with similar nutrition and fitness matters on their mind during the holidays! Challenge one another with a daily push up contest, increasing the quantity of push ups each day until Christmas or Hanukkah. Whoever does the most at the end of the challenge wins money or a special prize under the Christmas tree. But remember, don’t reward yourself with food!
Another great way to include friends or family in your mission is to text or email each other everything you ate and drank over the course of the day. The fact that someone so close to you is going to see everything you ate that day will make you want to focus on eating healthy as your teammate is relying on you to stay motivated. Regardless of how much weight you put on or off, hit the gym after the holidays, as most of us tend to forget about the weight and cardio between office parties and family dinners of the season. A little sporting will do you well!
What happens to be your favorite holiday treat? Let us know in the comments below!
