Managing Holiday Weight Gain

I’ve never understood New Year’s resolutions because they come AFTER one has indulged a bit too much over the holidays.

As a registered dietician, I believe in weight management during this period, not weight loss. And smart weight management begins with eating and exercising properly between now and the start of 2025.

It is simply naïve to think that we should even try to lose wait during from Thanksgiving through New Year’s. But we can limit the damage with some restraint at the dinner table and some vigorous but brief exercise routines. And thus we can begin the new year with momentum toward better health.

First let’s dive into sensible eating and drinking. Most Americans eat beyond the feeling of being full and consume more than their usual amount of alcohol. It’s the holidays after all.

There is another way:

At the buffet table, choose vegetables first, and leave less room for those deep-fried coconut shrimp or mozzarella sticks.
Eat slowly. It takes at least 20 minutes for your brain to realize you’re full, so take your time before deciding if you want seconds.
Limit yourself to two glasses of wine, and alternate with lots of water.

If you follow these simple steps, I guarantee you’ll enjoy yourself just as much at the party, if not more. And you’ll thank yourself later.

Then there’s exercise. Are you puzzled and frustrated when you work out at the gym, or walk for an hour, and yet you gain pounds instead of losing them after feasting at holiday buffets? Here’s why we fail and how we can change:

Most gym workouts and walks are the wrong kind of exercise. First of all, making a commitment to work out three days a week is problematic if getting to the gym that often is unrealistic.
Spinning our wheels with the wrong type of exercise can be fixed right at home. And the correct way to exercise only takes a few minutes out or your busy holiday schedule.
My research shows that fewer exercises of shorter duration but higher impact can result in weight and girth loss, and be a more sustainable approach to adult exercise.
While my studies have focused on post-menopausal women, there is no reason the approach can’t work for everyone. What I found in three separate studies is that women increased lean mass and decreased fat mass through high intensity interval training, or HIIT. And a side benefit of HIIT usually is that you stick to the program more consistently.

I was a tri-athlete and weight was never a problem. Then menopause hit and I gained weight and my blood pressure rose. So I tried a 10-minute exercise program that includes HIIT exercises for the upper and lower body. Ten years later, I’m back to my normal weight.

The women in my research were not all former athletes, but those who adopted HIIT routines toned down the size of their abdomens, hips, waists and thighs. This success has the side benefit of reducing one’s risk of diabetes and heart disease.

So what are we waiting for gals and guys? Let’s start doing those burpees, planks, scissors moves and Pilates. Start at your own pace, and in a short amount of time, you will notice a difference in your glutes, hamstrings, buttocks and quads.

While we still may gain a few pounds over the holidays, we will have launched ourselves on a New Year’s path to looking and feeling better than we have in a long time. And the pounds will eventually come off!