You may already know that the average American gains between 8-10 lbs between Thanksgiving and New Years’ Eve. There are 3 important ways to fend off the holiday weight gain:
1) Change one pattern among your vice list
(example: 2 glasses of wine a night? Aim for wine every other night. Chocolate every day mid day? Move to green tea every day mid day, chocolate 3 days a week. Usually throw in the towel at parties but now you have a Holiday party every weekend? Make your personal rules before you get there. You know I do! Mine are: 2 drinks max (3 if its bubbly,) no dough, nuts and veggies and stop drinking at 11 pm (party rule, people – weeknights it’s much earlier!)
2) Make sure to get 3 workouts in a week
We tend to have more to do during the month of December and we can barely get it done January–November. Workouts can lose priority. Just resist that urge–you need the endorphins to manage the stress and the metabolic boost to keep burning the fat. That errand can probably wait one more day.
3) Veggies
This is the season of cheese, sugar, and dough. Smile and say thank you when your friends give you these treats. They love you. And then go to your kitchen and cut yourself some red bell pepper. And toast yourself when you get to 2013 and that scale hasn’t budged!