I wrote this piece for my Mind, Body, Spirit column and it ran on 12/7/07 as “Holiday Alternatives.”
Avoid Holiday Weight Gain
The Christmas season is upon us, but to eat, drink, and be merry isn’t an automatic recipe for weight gain. The amount of pounds a person adds to their body during the holiday season is controlled by the choices he or she makes concerning drink, food, and fitness.
Dietary Choices—By learning the nutritional content of foods and beverages, one can then choose wisely. Healthy dietary choices when goodies are plentiful don’t have to be a drag. For example, an eight-ounce serving—or one cup—of eggnog averages 330-440 calories and 19 grams of fat—and that’s without additions of whipped cream, ice cream, flavorings, etc. A wiser option would be an eight-ounce cup of Swiss Miss hot chocolate with marshmallows and no artificial sweeteners at 120 calories and 2.5 grams of fat. No deprivation of rich and festive there—just a wiser and healthier alternative.
Even if a person doesn’t know the calorie/fat content of foods and beverages, choices can often be made intuitively. For example, one can rightly assume a light beer has fewer calories than a margarita or mixed drink. If food or drink feels “heavy,”—it more than likely will make the one who consumes it heavy.
At parties or family gatherings, sip on a sensibly chosen beverage over three or four calories-laden ones. Since alcohol lowers inhibitions, beware. It can decimate your willpower into thinking such things as, “It’s okay to eat four brownies—just this once.” If parties provide snacks, eat a well-balanced meal beforehand, then load up on veggies and a little dip over cookies, brownies, candy, and pies. Or have one or two goodies rather than a plateful.
Fitness—Holiday busyness is often blamed for lack of fitness follow-through, but it need not be. Valuable exercise can be accomplished in the time it takes to watch a half-hour television show. Thirty minutes a day of exercise can be multi-tasked with other duties, if need be. For example, plan dinners and Christmas gifts while taking a brisk walk. Use free weights—or canned goods as free weights—to exercise the arms while watching that TV show anyway. Leg exercises, stretches and crunches can be done while you watch as well. Not only will the exercise enhance weight loss and tone muscles, it’s a great de-stresser during the hectic time of year.
Healthy dietary and fitness choices at Christmastime not only control potential weight gain to the body and de-stress the mind, they leave a person with a sense of well-being and accomplishment at the end of the holiday season. When the scales reveal no seasonal weight gain in mid-January, will the previous choices of one food or beverage over another feel like a deprivation? The triumph of positive weight management can provide an incentive to practice alternative consumption and continued exercise all year round.
