Background Hello, and welcome to another healthy tip essay from The Towlers, this particular one is called ‘How to Stay Fit and Healthy on Holidays’. We plan on offering additional essays on healthy lifestyle as regularly as we can, and many of them will be researched and written by well known columnists who are specialists in the subject of holidays. All the same, it is essential that you read and understand our disclaimer before being tempted to do anything drastic as a result of some of diet counsel that you read in this article.

If you’re worried about gaining weight over the holidays you’re not alone.

The average North American gains 7 to 12 pounds over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Follow these simple holiday diet tips and tricks and you’ll avoid the holiday weight gain that afflicts so many other people:

#1 Drink Water - and Lots of It.

Boring I know - but the reason this tip stays around year after year is because it works. Adequate water intake keeps your metabolism humming along at a maximum rate and staves off hunger cravings as well.

In fact many people mistake thirst for hunger and end up eating to quench their thirst. This results in more calories than you body needs and - you guessed it - excess pounds.

Models and celebrities all know about the powerful slimming effects of drinking water which is why you often see them holding a bottle of water in their hands as they dash through airports or stand around at fashion shows.

#2 Increase Your Exercise A Little Bit Every Day

Everyone deserves to indulge in holiday treats. Part of the fun of the holiday season is the amazing treats that are only around at Christmas and/or Thanksgiving.

Accept the fact that you’re going to indulge a bit - and then enjoy it! But make sure you make up for it elsewhere by increasing your exercise.

You don’t have to double your exercise time or sweat till you fall off your treadmill. Just increase your exercise time a bit every day, maybe ten minutes here, fifteen minutes there. It all adds up.

If you liked this report, “How to Stay Fit and Healthy on Holidays”, then you might like to read the following associated reports: Christmas Gift Ideas for Teens A Perfect Mother’s Day Gift How to Avoid Loneliness During Christmas Trick or Treat on Halloween Christmas Gifts for Wives

You’ll burn off those holiday treats and easily avoid extra weight gain. I have several girlfriends who have been doing this trick for years and they never gain a pound over the holidays (in fact they often lose a few!).

#3 Cut Back Where You Can At Other Meals

Did you know that the average number of calories consumed by one person during a typical Thanksgiving dinner is 7,100! That’s about 2 pounds strictly in terms of calories alone.

But not to worry. All you have to do is make small calorie cutbacks at other meals the week before and you’ll easily make up for the extra calories.

For example, instead a huge slice of pecan pie (which normally will run you about 500 calories) for desert, why not try some blueberries mixed with low fat yogurt? Instead of the bag of potato chips you usually indulge in for the big game, why not munch on air-popped, low fat popcorn?

You can save as much as 500 calories and you’re still having a salty, satisfying snack.

Bottom line: cut back where you can in little ways. You won’t miss the little sacrifices and you can then enjoy your holiday meals - guilt free!

#4 Eat What You Like - But Only A Few Bites

If you absolutely cannot imagine giving up any of your favorite treats this holiday season, give yourself permission to have a bite of everything - but only a bite!

I read somewhere that Jessica Simpson never denies herself any of her favorite foods - but she only allows herself one or two bites. And let’s face it the first couple of bites are the best tasting anyways!

#5 Don’t Eat After 7:00 pm

Experts tell us that the earlier in the day food is eaten, the more likely it is to be burned off. However when you eat late at night, this food is more likely to be stored as fat.

Celebrities like Oprah use this knowledge to their advantage and refuse to eat after a certain time like 7:00 p.m.

So if you know you absolutely must have a sweet indulgence during the day, try to have it before noon. Then towards the end of the day, snack on healthy, lower carb foods like salads, vegetable broth, fruits or lean protein.

This keeps your metabolism elevated but won’t pack on the pounds. I’ve personally used this trick before every holiday Christmas party for 5 years running and it certainly helps for getting into those slinky Christmas party dresses!

So those are 5 diet tips to avoid holiday weight gain this year. Follow them and you’re guaranteed to save yourself the stress of unwanted weight gain. Heck, you’ll probably even lose a few pounds, all in time for New Year’s Eve!

Disclaimer Whilst ‘The Towlers’ go to extreme lengths to ensure the knowledge, in the article “How to Stay Fit and Healthy on Holidays”, or in any other part on this web page, is reliable, we are not able to offer any representation, of any type on the matter of its accuracy, fullness or relevancy for a particular circumstance. Under no circumstances shall we be held responsible for any loss or damages of any form resulting from, arising from, or linked with, the use of, or misunderstanding of the weight loss counsel presented in this web site, unless it is unavoidable under law.. From time to time this website might yet provide links to other weight loss web sites. These extra links are meant to provide more diet wisdom in support of this “How to Stay Fit and Healthy on Holidays” article, or alternative weight loss advice on this web site. and are not supposed to give the impression that we support analogon websites and/or their content. In no way will we accept liability for any loss resulting from with the linked websites or the healthy lifestyle counsel detailed in any of the pages of the third party websites.

Tags: Christmas, diet, food, fun, health, holiday, thanksgiving, weight loss

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 21st, 2009 at 3:18 am and is filed under Health and Welfare, Holidays. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.