We're heading into that time of year when people tend to really pack on the pounds. Family dinners, company parties, and gift baskets full of junk food present a higher-than-average number of opportunities for us to make bad food choices. Neighbors give each other cookie plates, business colleagues give chocolate. It seems to come from every direction, doesn't it?
And then, there's the cold. Colder weather creates an urge for most people to eat more comfort foods. More stews and pastas, and heavier foods. So even if you're not eating the junk food, you may be eating more "normal" foods that are fattening.
Here are some ideas for avoiding weight gain through the holiday season. So far, this November I've actually lost nine pounds. I'm practicing what I'm preaching. If I can do it, so can you.
1. Increase your exercise. The days are getting shorter, which tends to make you feel like slowing down, right? You just gotta' fight it. All summer long I found my exercise outdoors. Golfing, landscaping, and walking my dogs every day. Now it's cold and it gets dark sooner, so I don't do any of those things. Time to switch tactics. I schedule an hour a day, five days a week at my local gym. I end up with more energy, not less.
2. Re-gift all the food you can. It starts as early as Thanksgiving. People are going to start giving you stuff. That doesn't mean you have to eat it! Every box of chocolate and bag of peanut brittle and whatever else that you give away is one that you don't eat. Now some of you will feel like it's inconsiderate to do that, but whatever happened to "it's the thought that counts?" Someone thought of you, and that's wonderful. It doesn't mean you are duty-bound to eat what they gave you! Pass along the thoughtfulness and give the food to someone else. Of course I'm talking about packaged food, food that's safe to pass on to someone else. When it comes to those cookie plates and homemade food gifts, share them with other people who will genuinely enjoy them, or simply dispose of them.
3. Increase your water intake. Most Americans are chronically dehydrated because they don't drink enough water. Increasing your water intake is going to help you feel more satiated. If the cold weather is making you feel like drinking more hot fluids, try drinking tea instead of coffee. Most teas have less caffeine than coffee, and if you steep a cup of tea, immediately pour it out, and re-steep, you'll have way less caffeine in your tea because most of the caffeine gets released during that first soaking of the leaves.
4. Snack more, so you eat less. I know that sounds wrong, but if you snack every couple hours throughout the day (healthy snacks, gang, not junk food) you are more likely to eat less when you sit down for an actual meal. Keep fresh fruit near you at work. Grab some veggie sticks for a quick snack when you get home so you're not starving at dinner time. Healthy snacking plays to our genetic development over hundreds of thousands of years as hunter/gatherers. The idea of sitting down and eating a meal is a relatively recent thing in our overall history. It's a social activity, not a nutritional necessity.
5. STOP MULTI-TASKING. I would argue this is the biggest thing. When you eat, you should be paying attention to the process of eating. If you are watching TV, driving, talking on the phone, or working then you are dividing your attention. Dividing your attention means you don't have a full appreciation for what you are eating and how much of it you are consuming, and this is where overeating really takes off. There are studies that show that when people are forced to pay attention to what they are eating they eat half as much as when they are not paying attention.
6. Lose the booze. The holidays are a time of celebration, right? This tends to lead to significantly more drinking, but alcohol has no nutritional value. Empty calories! Want a glass of chardonnay with your turkey? Ok. But watch out for the egg nog and the cocktails at all the parties you'll go to. They're just going to load you up with extra calories.
There's a real tendency to just allow the holiday season to be a time of excess. We rationalize it as healthy celebration during a joyous time of year, but we can celebrate with expanding our waistlines. The holidays are really about being with the people you love. You can do that without all the extra food.
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