Let’s face it — no one wants bigger pants for Christmas,. But did you know that the average person gains seven to 15 pounds between Halloween and New Year’s Day?
This, of course, leads to the annual resolution to lose weight, this time for good.
The gyms are packed on Jan. 2 every year, the super market can’t keep up on fresh produce demands, and every American with a tight waistband is committed to making a healthy lifestyle change. Then, on or about Jan. 10, the average person quits because it’s too hard, not worth it, and because life is about living, not dieting.
Then the e-mails come out explaining that diets are bad because, well, the word “die” is in it.
What if there was a better way? What if you didn’t have to eat an extra 25 to 50 thousand calories this holiday season? What if you could have a great time, eat pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving, drink champagne on New Year’s Eve and not gain a single pound?
It may seem unlikely, but it’s possible.
The truth really can set you free. Let’s look at some numbers that may surprise you:
• 12,000 to 17,000: Average number of calories eaten on Thanksgiving
• 3,500: Number of calories necessary to gain or lose 1 pound of weight
• 4: Average number of months spent trying to lose aforementioned seven to 15 pounds of excess weight
What we have in the fourth quarter of every year is permission to lose our minds over gingerbread, fudge, hot toddies and [insert your favorite holiday treat here].
Let’s take Thanksgiving, for example. Thanksgiving is a holiday that we have morphed into a full-on food sport. From the beginning of the day through football games and right up to late-night desserts, the average number of calories consumed is 14,750.
Let’s take this number, combined with the numbers we learned earlier and understand a few more facts about the holidays:
• 2,000: Average number of calories needed to maintain bodyweight
• 3.6: Average number of pounds gained on Thanksgiving Day. (This is not “water weight.” It will not go away with a couple of “good days.”)
• 8: Average number of calories burned per minute of aerobic exercise
• 30: Average length of time, in minutes, a person will spend in hard cardiovascular exercise
• 500: Most common caloric restriction when creating deficit for weight loss
• 17: Number of days necessary to burn off those Thanksgiving Pounds — and that’s with restricted eating and regular exercise, all during the days leading up to Christmas.!
What can you do?
This is going to sound revolutionary and, quite honestly, it’s not for everyone, but here goes: Don’t gain the weight in the first place.
Ask yourself this question: “Is it worth a minimum of 17 days of focused diet and exercise to compensate for one day of overeating?” Most reasonable people will say no.
There are two things to remember if you want to avoid the typical holiday weight gain: will power is a myth, and self-discipline is a practice.
Let’s take the first point, that will power is a myth:
It’s unreasonable to ask yourself to face down your favorite holiday temptations day after day, moment after moment, and expect you to “just say no.” We are hardwired to want sugar, fat and salt.
The way to keep it out of mind is to make sure it is out of sight, and preferably off the premises. If you can’t say no to Aunt Ida’s chocolate peppermint dump cake, then don’t have it in the house.
Also, avoid situations that make you vulnerable until you have practiced self-discipline. Although cookie exchanges are all the rage each holiday season, ask yourself if you can handle having 12 dozen varieties of holiday sweets in your home this time of year.
If not, don’t participate. Find other ways to socialize with your friends.
Regarding the second point, self discipline is a practice, it remains important to break traditions and create your own routines.
There are all sorts of things you do today because someone made you do it when you were a child. And because you kept doing it over and over, it became a discipline — brushing your teeth, making your bed, and taking a shower, for example.
Add discipline into your nutritional routine by considering the following suggestions:
- · Plan your food. Know what you are going to eat. Not only will this help you with your caloric intake, but it will help you with your family food budget.
- · Know portion sizes. If you are eating food with a label, like cereal, measure out how much you are going to eat –—and don’t add more cereal just because you have milk left.
- · Plan for social situations that revolve around food, and stick to your plan. Remember, you don’t have to attend every social event to which you’re invited. Adding too many events to your calendar stops being fun and only adds to holiday stress.
- · Limit alcohol intake. Not only do alcoholic beverages add calories, but they lower your inhibitions, making it harder to make smart food choices.
- · Understand, you can have it all, just not all at once. Parent your inner 5-year-old and eat responsibly.
- · Throughout the holidays, log all of your food intake. No, you don’t have to count calories; just know what you’re eating. Sometimes taking a peek at what you’ve consumed puts into perspective the impact you might be having on your waistline.
For the “big” days, such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.:
• Exercise the morning of the event. Bend has several races on Thanksgiving including the “I love Pie Run” and the “Turkey Trot.”
• Eat a calorically light but nutritionally dense breakfast and lunch.
• Before you sit down to your meal, drink two 16-ounce glasses of water. Studies show that doing this just before eating creates a 38 percent reduction in the number of calories you would eat. (This could end up bringing your total from 14,750 to 9,145, which takes a full pound off of your consumption.)
• Before you eat anything else, fill your plate with a green salad. Afraid there won’t be one? Then bring your own. As you eat it, look around the table and decide where you really want to spend your calories. Once you know you want to eat it, take small portions and eat slowly. Engaging in conversation will help slow your intake.
• When the meal is done, don’t pass out in front of the football game. Take a cue from the kids and go outside to play.
Remember, the holidays are not about food. They are about our families and our friends gathering together. Enjoy one another more than the food, and you are less likely to overeat.
