Beat the Holiday Bulge

Beat the Holiday Bulge

As predictable as people running to the mail box on April 15th at midnight or camping all night outside of an Apple store for a new product, is the 5-10lbs the average American gains over the Holidays. Here are some unique ways to help fight against the inevitable post-holiday spread:

1. Eat dinner at home before you go to a party

Party food, by definition, is not going to be healthy. High in sodium, fat and sugar and in convenient bite size pieces, it is tempting to overeat if you arrive at a party hungry. Eating a healthy dinner before will help curb unnecessary grazing.

2. Schedule your work outs as you would any other important appointment

There really is no such thing as not having time to exercise, it is all a matter of priority. We get really busy during this time but treating our workouts as an important appointments will help against procrastination.

3. Eat breakfast on Christmas Day

In anticipation of a large meal on Christmas Day, we tend to avoid eating until we sit down. Not eating for so many hours lowers metabolism, it makes us really hungry so we eat faster, resulting in consuming far more calories in one sitting than we usually would. Also, dehydration plays a part in hunger, so make sure you drink enough water.

4. Don’t wait for New Year’s to start your new exercise program

Having a few weeks of an exercise program under your belt before New Year’s Day means that you will be able to resume your workouts on January 2nd instead of finally getting your act together around mid January, like the rest of the population.

5. You don’t have to eat everything on your plate!

Remember how great Christmas left overs are?

6. Give the gift of fitness

Most gyms and personal trainers have gift certificates available. Encouraging family and friends to exercise will help motivate them and you. Be tactful by making sure they would appreciate it before surprising them with it, though, as this can be a sensitive subject.

7. Enjoy without guilt

The Holidays are meant to be fun so enjoy, just be sensible with eating, drinking and working out. Accept that it will be difficult to eat healthily all of the time but do not allow one unhealthy meal to ruin your whole day.

Lynda Linforth is a Performance Enhancement and Corrective Exercise specialist, a personal trainer, licensed nutritionist and owner of Trainer on the Run, a personal training company specializing in in-home and gym training. Lynda specializes in weight loss, post-rehab exercise, post-cancer exercise and nutrition. She can be reached at (626) 422 9892 or fitbritgirl@yahoo.com. Lynda has been a certified trainer since 1998.

More from Pasadena Independent