Staying Fit During the Holiday Season

Create a plan for the holiday season so that you can avoid regret and bloat by staying on track with your fitness goals. Here are some helpful tips to get you started:

1) Don’t attend parties hungry. Holiday parties have tons of nibbly items that can quickly lead to you consuming way more calories than you realize. Avoid those pitfalls by eating first  with a salad, some fruit, or some lean protein will fill you up and keep you from making the poor food choices that hunger can lead too.

2) Go easy on the alcohol. Skip the mystery mixed drinks and the spiked egg nog. Both are laden with a lot of empty sugar calories and in the case of the egg nog, a single four ounce serving accounts for more than 50% of your saturated fat for the day. Instead, have a glass of red wine – for most wines a 4 oz serving is less than a 100 calories and pace yourself.  If you are drinking avoid nuts, salty snacks and bar foods which will dehydrate you further and make you drink more.

3) Do carve out time to exercise. With everything that you have to squeeze into your day – shopping, cooking, work and family it can feel especially hard in the holiday season to find time to exercise. But giving yourself even twenty or thirty minutes a day can help you keep the stress

4) Don’t go back for seconds. Don’t feel afraid to say, “No thanks,” when your host offers seconds. On your first go round load your plate with vegetables first.

5) Do relax. Stress can be a major cause of overeating. A bubble bath, a walk by yourself, even just taking the time to take some deep breaths can help to manage stress and put you in a better mind space, and say no to temptation.